Evolution of damage and fracture in two families of Ni–Cu–Mo sinter-hardened steels with various initial porosities

The damage evolution of two families of industrial sinter-hardened low alloy steels with different density levels was studied by means of mechanical tests coupled with microstructural observations. Several differences between the families were highlighted through the characterization of their microstructure, hardness and porosity. The presence of nickel rich austenite was revealed in the first family and larger pores were found in the latter. This work shows that those metallurgical characteristics markedly influence the behavior in tension and the damage evolution during mechanical loading. The ultimate tensile strength and the elongation at fracture are up to twice as high for the first family than for the second one which points out the beneficial role of the austenite as well as the detrimental role of larger pores to the mechanical properties. A fractography analysis showing mixed fracture modes supports these results. Two stages in the evolution of damage were highlighted by the evolution of the Young's modulus during loading–unloading tests up to fracture of specimens. As plastic deformation increases, a competition takes place between the damage growth in the neighborhood of the pores and plasticity mechanisms inside the metallic matrix. The evolution law linking a scalar damage parameter to the deformation was finally identified considering only plasticity mechanisms thanks to a previous continuum damage mechanics model developed within the framework of thermodynamics.