Advanced Fracture Mechanics

CIE 816
Lecture 2

Department of Civil Engineering

University of Abuja
Ductile-Brittle Transition Temperature (DBTT)
Certain materials which are ductile at a given temperature, become
brittle at lower temperatures

A ductile material is one which yields before fracture (i.e. its yield
strength is lower in magnitude than its fracture strength)

The temperature at which this happens is terms as the Ductile Brittle

Transition Temperature (DBTT)

DBT can lead to failure of engineering components, which operate at

very low temperature conditions
Conditions for brittle failure of ductile materials
Ductile materials may fracture abruptly and with very little
plastic deformation under severe conditions:
(1) Very low temperature
(2) A high strain rate
(3) A triaxial stress state
Charpy V-notch (CVN) technique is most commonly used method to
determine whether or not a material experiences a ductile-to-brittle
transition with decreasing temperature and, if so, the range of
temperatures over which it occurs
Ductile-Brittle Transition Temperature (DBTT)
The ductile-to-brittle transition is related to the temperature
dependence of the measured impact energy absorption

At higher temperatures, the CVN impact energy is relatively large, in

correlation with a ductile mode of fracture

As the temperature is lowered, the impact energy drops suddenly

over a relatively narrow temperature range, below which the energy
has a constant but small value; that is, the mode of fracture is brittle
Ductile-Brittle Transition Temperature (DBTT)
This phenomenon (ductile to brittle transition) is not observed in FCC
metals (they remain ductile even at low temperatures)

Common BCC metals become brittle at low temperatures (as noted

before a decrease in temperature can be visualized as an increase in
strain rate
Ductile-Brittle Transition Temperature (DBTT)
 Ductile-Brittle Transition Temperature (DBTT)
The appearance of the failure surface is indicative of the nature of
fracture and may be used in transition temperature determinations

For ductile fracture this surface appears fibrous or dull

For totally brittle fracture surfaces have a granular (shiny) texture

Factors influencing DBTT
The transition temperature is sensitive to both alloy composition and
microstructure

For example, decreasing the average grain size results in a lowering of

the transition temperature. Hence, refining the grain size both
strengthens and toughens steels

In contrast, increasing the carbon content, while increasing the

strength of steels, also raises the CVN transition of steels
Solution
Structures constructed from alloys that exhibit this ductile-to-brittle
behavior should be used only at temperatures above the transition
temperature, to avoid brittle and catastrophic failure