Unraveling the Mechanism of Toughness Fluctuation in Ultra-High-Strength Casing from the Perspective of Crystallography

The microstructure and impact toughness in an ultra-high-strength casing were investigated, attempting to reveal the reason for toughness fluctuations along the casing in terms of crystallography. The morphological structures at the head of the casing are lath bainite, while those at the end are granular bainite and lath bainite. The head exhibits a higher density of high-angle grain boundaries dominated by block boundaries and a higher impact toughness than the end, showing an inhomogeneous microstructure and causing toughness fluctuations in the casing. The higher density of block boundaries in the head resulted from weaker variant selection because of its higher cooling rate than the end. Therefore, the underlying reason for the toughness fluctuations lies in the varying densities of the block boundaries along the casing triggered by uneven cooling.