Unconventional Pearlitic Pseudocolonies Affecting Macro-, Micro- and Nano-structural Integrity of Cold-drawn Pearlitic Steel Wires: Resembling van Gogh, Bernini, Mantegna and Picasso

Prestressing steel wires are manufactured by cold drawing during which a preferential orientation is achieved in the matter of pearlitic colonies and lamellae. In addition to this general trend, special (unconventional) pearlitic pseudocolonies evolve during the heavy-drawing manufacture process affecting the posterior macro-, micro- and nano-structural integrity of the material. This paper discusses the important role of such a special microstructural unit (the pearlitic pseudocolony) in the fracture process in air (inert) environment in the presence of crack-like defects, as well as in the case of environmentally assisted cracking (stress corrosion cracking by localized anodic dissolution) or hydrogen embrittlement. Results clearly demonstrate the key role of pearlitic pseudocolonies in promoting crack deflection (and thus mixed-mode propagation) after a global mode I cracking, especially in the case of fracture in air and stress corrosion cracking.