FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF 6.4 MM (0.25 INCH) ARC-CAST MOLOBDENUM AND MOLYBDENUM-TZM PLATE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND 300 DEGREES C

THE FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF 6.4 mm (0.25 INCH) LOW CARBON ARC-CAST (LCAC) MOLYBDENUM AND ARC-CAST MOLYBDENUM-TZM ALLOY PLATE WERE MEASURED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND 300 DEGREES C USING COMPACT TNESION SPECIMENTS. THE EFFECT OF CRACK PLANE ORIENTATION (LONGITUDINAL VS. TRANSVERSE) AND ANNEALING PRACTICE (STRESS-RELIEVED VS. RECRYSTALLIZED) WERE EVALUATED. DEPENDING UPON THE TEST TEMPERATURE EITHER A STANDARD K[SUB]IC OR A J-INTEGRAL ANALYSIS WAS USED TO OBTAIN THE TOUGHNESS VALUE. AT ROOM TEMPERATURE, REGARDLESS OF ALLOY, ORIENTATION, OR MICROSTURECTURE, FRACTURE TOUGHNESS VALUES BETWEEN 15 AND 22 MPa m{sup 1/2} (14 AND 20 KSI IN{sup 1/2}) WERE MEASURED. THESE K[SUB]IC VALUES WERE CONSISTENT WITH MEASUREMENTS BY THE AUTHORS. INCREASING TEMPERATURE IMPROVES THE TOUGHNESS, DUE TO THE FACT THAT ONE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE DUCTIVE-BRITTLE TRANSITION BEHAVIOR OF MOLYBDENUM. AT 300 DEGREES C, THE FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF RECRYSTALLIZED LCAC AND ARC-CAST TZM MOLYBDENUM WERE ALSO SIMILAR AT APPROXI MATELY 64 MPa m{sup 1/2} (58 KSI IN{sup 1/2}). IN THE STRESS-RELIEVED CONDITION, HOWEVER, THE TOUGHNESS OF ARC-CAST TZM (91 MPa m{sup 1/2}/83 KSI IN{sup 1/2}) WAS HIGHER THAN THAT OF THE LCAC MOLYBDENUM (74 MPa m{sup 1/2}/67 KSI IN{sup 1/2}).