Abstract: Tungsten films were deposited on stainless steel Charpy specimens by magnetron sputtering followed by electron beam heat treatment. Charpy impact tests and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the ductile-brittle transition behavior of the specimens. With decreasing test temperature the fracture mode was transformed from ductile to brittle for both kinds of specimens with and without W films. The data of the crack initiation energy, crack propagation energy, impact absorbing energy, fracture time and deflection as well as the fracture morphologies at test temperature of -70℃ show that W films can improve the impact toughness of stainless steel.

Key words: W film; stainless steel; Charpy impact test