Fracture mode transition phenomena in steels as a consequence of the change of operating deformation mode

Based on the results of previous experiments the fundamentals of the ductile-to-brittle fracture transition (DBT) and transcrystalline-to-intercrystalline fracture transition (TIT) are discussed. Both transitions seem to be an intrinsic property of ferritic materials and the actual fracture mode is most probably primarily controlled by the operating deformation mode: the DBT occurs owing to deformation twinning while TIT is a consequence of grain boundary sliding. The main controlling material parameters in both transitions are discussed.