The microstructure is now a ploycrystalline pearlite with the hard-brittle proeutectoid cementite on the grain boundaries. This structure makes the alloy more brittle than the eutectoid pearlite ...
The proeutectoid cementite restricts plastic deformation to the ferrite lamellae in the pearlite and fracture occurs in the brittle grain boundary zone. In selecting such alloys for use in ...