PSI - Issue 81

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 81 (2026) 18–22

© 2026 The Authors. Copy from the contract: Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of DMDP 2025 organizers Keywords: pearlitic steel; cold drawing; multiscale microstructural evolution; prior austenite grain; pearlitic colonies; pearlite lamellae. 1. Introduction High-strength eutectoid pearlitic steels are used as (i) constituent materials of rails ( pearlitic rail steels ) in mass after hot rolling, as analyzed by Masoumi et al. (2019) and Ferreira et al. (2022); (ii) constituent materials of prestressed concrete structures, bridge cables and wire ropes in wire form as key elements in civil engineering ( cold drawn pearlitic steel wires ) after hot rolling and heavy cold drawing, as studied in depth in the past by Toribio (1992, 2006) and Borchers and Kirchheim (2016); (iii) reinforcement materials in vehicle tires in the form of tiny wires after heavy cold drawing ( cold drawn pearlitic steel wires ), as analyzed by Yan et al. (2019) and Mihaliková et al. (2017). Abstract This paper analyzes the anisotropy of microstructure in heavily cold drawn pearlitic steels supplied in the form of prestressing steel wires for prestressed concrete. It is shown that these materials exhibit after manufacturing a sort of anisotropic microstructure that is markedly oriented in a direction quasi-parallel to the wire axis or cold drawing direction. The article formulates a philosophical approach based on the concept of palimpsestus , studying in particular the evolution during the manufacturing stages by progressive cold drawing of the following material levels: (i) the prior austenitic grain ( zero, or virtual, or palimpsestus microstructural level ); (ii) the pearlitic colony ( first microstructural level ); (iii) the pearlite lamellae ( second microstructural level ). Results demonstrate that the slender pearlitic colony (after cold drawing) – more than the prior austenitic grain (that is also virtually cold drawn in the palimpsestus approach) – is the microstructural unit governing the cleavage facet size in the case of brittle fracture. As an epilogue, and based on the philosophical idea of palimpsestus , the paper pays a heartfelt tribute to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. VIII International Conference “In -service Damage of Materi als: Diagnostics and Prediction” (DMDP 2025) Anisotropy of microstructure in cold drawn pearlitic steel wires: A philosophical approach based on the concept of palimpsestus & A tribute to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Jesús Toribio* Fracture & Structural Integrity Research Group (FSIRG), University of Salamanca (USAL) E.P.S., Campus Viriato, Avda. Requejo 33, 49022 Zamora, Spain

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-677566723; fax: +34-980545002. E-mail address: toribio@usal.es

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Copy from the contract: Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of DMDP 2025 organizers 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.03.004