Dynamic fracture toughness and Charpy impact properties of an AISI 403 martensitic stainless steel

Dynamic fracture toughness and Charpy impact properties of a normalised and tempered AISI 403 martensitic stainless steel obtained from instrumented impact tests are presented. Procedures for estimating dynamic fracture toughness (KId) from the load-time traces obtained in instrumented tests of unprecracked Charpy V-notch (CVN) specimens are considered. The estimated KId values show reasonable agreement with those obtained from instrumented drop-weight and precracked Charpy tests. Also, except in the upper transition and uppershelf regions, the ASME KIR curve is generally conservative (i.e. gives lower KId values) when compared to the above KId estimates. The conservatism of the ASME KIR at the upper transition and uppershelf temperatures needs verification/validation. The lowest KId values estimated at the lower shelf temperatures for the above steel, namely, 33-42 MPa√m are in good agreement with the reported values of 35-50 MPa√m for the same steel in the literature. (orig.)