Abstract
The aim of these investigations was first of all to evaluate the fracture toughness (Klc) changes of the hot‐work tool steels depending on the non‐metallic inclusions (NMI) volume fraction (melting technology). The tests were carried out on two types of the hot‐work tool steels, i. e. H13 and H11 according to AISI. As a result of these investigations, supplemented by the detailed fractographic analysis, it has been revealed that uniform arrangement of NMI in the structure can be considered as harmless for the fracture toughness of tool steels.At high steel hardness values, the NMI, because of their action with a very small plastic strain zone, can be treated as natural obstacles in the crack propagation. At low hardness values of tool steels, achieved as a result of tempering at high temperatures, the role of NMI in the process of crack formation of these steels is limited by carbides precipitated from martensite. The micro‐voids are formed round these carbides, which, connecting earlier than the voids formed round NMI, set the path of cracking and determine the steel fracture toughness.
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