In thisstudy,thefracturefailureofthe4Cr13stainlesssteellinkagecomponentsincircuit
breakerswasstudied.Themicrostructureandmorphologyoffracturesurfacewere
observedbyscanningelectronmicroscopyandopticalmicroscopy.Amicro-Vickerstester
measuredthehardnessofthecomponents.Thetensilestrengthandstrainofthe
componentsweredeterminedbyauniversaltestingmachine.Theresultsshowthat
fracturefailuremodewasquasi-cleavagefracture,andsomedimplesandedgesof
cleavagewerepresentonthefracturesurface.Thesubstandardsampleexhibitedhigher
hardnessthanthestandardsample.Thehighhardnesscouldcausethestrongrigidityand
less toughness,whichwasnothelpfultobendthesamplestoformhookstructure.The
heat treatmentinfluencedthemechanicalpropertiesofthe4Cr13components.With
increasingthetemperingtemperature,thehardnessofthecomponentwasdecreased
whenthequenchingtemperaturewaskeptstable.