Changes in Impact Strength and Abrasive Wear Resistance of Cast High Manganese Steel Due to the Formation of Primary Titanium Carbides

Cast high-manganese Hadfield steel is commonly used for machine components operating under dynamic load conditions. Their high fracture toughness and abrasive wear resistance is the result of an austenitic structure, which - while being ductile - at the same time tends to surface harden under the effect of cold work. Absence of dynamic loads (e.g. in the case of sand abrasion) causes rapid and premature wear of parts. In order to improve the abrasive wear resistance of cast high-manganese steel for operation under the conditions free from dynamic loads, primary titanium carbides are produced in this cast steel during melting process to obtain in castings, after melt solidification, the microstructure consisting of an austenitic matrix and primary carbides uniformly distributed therein. After heat treatment, the microhardness of the austenitic matrix of such cast steel is up to 580 μHV20 and the resulting carbides may reach even 4000 μHV20. The impact strength of this cast steel varies from 57 to 129 and it decreases with titanium content. Compared to common cast Hadfield steel, the abrasive wear resistance determined in Miller test is at least twice as high for the 0.4% Ti alloy and continues growing with titanium content.