Fracture Toughness of Iron Boride Layers Obtained by Paste Boriding Process

The fracture toughness of the Fe2B phase was evaluated in this study. Formation of the Fe2B boride is carried out though paste boriding process applied on AISI 1045 steel surface. The treatment was carried out at temperatures of 1193, 1223 and 1273 K for 6 h using a 5 mm thick boron paste. A Vickers microhardness tester was used to generate microcracks at a load of 200g. The indentations were made across the thickness of the iron boride layer at four different distances from the substrate. The experimental results show that the critical stress intensity factor KIC for the Fe2B phase shows a potential law dependence on crack length; this contradicts the concepts of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics, which establish that the fracture toughness value is a constant of the material.