On The Deformation Mechanisms in Single Crystal Hadfield Manganese Steels

Abstract

Austenitic manganese steel, so called Hadfield manganese steel, is frequently used in mining and railroad frog applications requiring excessive deformation and wear resistance. Its work hardening ability is still not completely understood. Previous studies attributed the work-hardening characteristics of this material to dynamic strain aging or an imperfect deformation twin, a so-called pseudotwin. Unfortunately, these previous studies have all focused on polycrystalline Hadfield steels. To properly study the mechanisms of deformation in the absence of grain boundary or texture effects, single crystal specimens are required. The purpose of this work is the following: (1) observe the inelastic stress-strain behavior of Hadfield single crystals in orientations where twinning and slip are individually dominating or when they are competing deformation mechanisms; and (2) determine the microyield points of Hadfield single crystals and use micro-mechanical modeling to predict the stress-strain response of a single crystal undergoing micro-twinning.