Temper-brittleness: Part I - Unalloyed Steels

It was until recently accepted that unalloyed steels were not susceptible to temper-brittleness and that alloying elements introduced temper brittleness. A directly oppo-site view has been set forth in this paper , namely that unalloyed steels are not only susceptible to temper-brittleness but also temper-embrittle much more rapidly
th.rn alloyed steels based on the observations of brittle transition temperature ranges. Temperbrittleness and strain-age-emhrittlement are discussed in relation to minor or residual chemical constituents like nitrogen, oxygen , etc. The role of stabilizing elements like alum-inium , titanium, vanadium and of nitrogen in minimizing and often wholly suppressing temper - brittleness and strain- ageing is discussed at some length. The subject of
blue-brittleness has also been touched upon. The observed
phenomena are considered in terms of dislocations and certain gaps in the theory are pointed out.