The effect of the austenite grain refinement on the tensile and impact properties of cast Hadfield steel

This paper studied the effect of the austenite grain refinement on the tensile and impact properties of a cast Hadfield steel (12 % Mn, 1.2 %C and 0.65 % Si). The austenite grain refinement was obtained by hafnium inoculation. Microstructural characterization showed that the Hf-refined cast Hadfield steel featured a grain size of 600 µm, while the non-refined condition presented a grain size of 3000 µm. Mechanical test results indicated that the austenite grain refinement promoted an increase in the values of the yield stress (6%), the ultimate tensile strength (37%), the toughness (88%), the work-hardening coefficient (50%) and the Charpy absorbed energy (15%). Microscopic characterization of the fractured test-pieces indicated that the grain refinement increased the proportion of plastic deformation by the twinning mechanism and furthermore improved the values of the mechanical properties of the cast Hadfield steel considerably.