The effect of solid solution treatment on the hardness and microstructure of 0.6%wt C-10.8%wt Mn-1.44%wt Cr austenitic manganese steel

Abstract

Austenitic manganese steel is steel alloy that has high manganese content (10-14%wt Mn). The characteristics of austenitic manganese steel are good in toughness, ductility, and wear resistance. Effect of solid solution treatment on the hardness and microstructure of austenitic manganese steel was studied in this experiment. The solid solution treatment process of austenitic manganese steel, 0.6%wt C-10.8%wt Mn-1.44%wt Cr, was conducted by heating the material at varied temperatures (950°C, 1000°C, 1050°C) for an hour and then quenching it in two different quenching media, i.e. oil and water. Further, the samples were tempered at three different temperatures (300°C, 400°C, and 500°C) for 2 hours. The treated materials were analyzed by Rockwell Hardness Tester to obtain the information of materials hardness and by an optical microscope and XRD to investigate the microstructure phase of the treated materials. Heating the austenitic manganese steel at 950°C for an hour followed by water quenching dissolved all carbide in as-cast condition and resulted the fully austenitic on its microstructure. Carbide precipitation occurred due to the prolongation of soaking time in solid solution treatment and tempering process. The optimum hardness of sample was 53.3 HRC, which was resulted by heating this material until 1000°C for an hour, followed by water quenching and tempering at 400°C for 2 hours.