STRUCTURAL STEELS

EFFECT
OF

OF

DE O X I D A T I O N

HIGH-MANGANESE

ON T H E

FRACTURE

STEEL

G. A . C h a r u s h n i k o v a ,
a n d Y u . G. R a z u m o v

Ya.

E.

UDC 669.046.558:669.$5W4-194

Gol'dshtein,

At the p r e s e n t t i m e r e s e a r c h is being conducted on the p r o p e r t i e s of F e - M n a l l o y s both h e r e and

a b r o a d . Most of this w o r k c o n c e r n s a l l o y s containing no m o r e than 3-4% Mn or no l e s s than 12% Mn. A l loys containing 5-11% Mn have been s t u d i e d v e r y l i t t l e . The main r e a s o n for this is the long-statading opinion
that r a i s i n g the m a n g a n e s e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o v e r 3% m a k e s the s t e e l e x c e e d i n g l y b r i t t l e [1-2]. It was shown
in [3] that, depending on the deoxidizing conditions, the toughness of this type of s t e e l m a y v a r y within wide
limits.
H e r e we p r e s e n t the r e s u l t s f r o m an e l e c t r o n - m i c r o s c o p i c i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the effect of d e o x i d i z i n g
with a l u m i n u m and t i t a n i u m on the f r a c t u r e of l o w - c a r b o n (C< 0.10%) m a n g a n e s e s t e e l with 8% Mn.

an~ kg-m/cm2

2#

ZO

'1
I,:/tl
till

lG

~1-

lil

9 [I,,
12
5/

...I.-T.j\
f

~'\,,

,Z

"
I

g8

,00
30g
zoo

<..

~..'--Z.9

~,

7-~..Q

~ ,

log

tJ?'-

2o0 3o0

ooo 500

I
600 ~ o
1oo 200 300 #08 500 600 ~
Terapering temperature
b

F i g . 1. F~ffeet of d e o x i d i z i n g with aluminum (a) and t i t a n i u m (b) on

the i m p a c t toughness and h a r d n e s s in r e l a t i o n to the t e m p e r i n g
t e m p e r a t u r e of 8% Mn s t e e l quenched f r o m 820~
The heat numb e r s a r e given on the c u r v e s .
Scientific R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e of M e t a l l u r g y , C h e l y a b i n s k . T r a n s l a t e d f r o m M e t a l l o v e d e n i e [ T e r m i c h e s k a y a O b r a b o t k a M e t a l l o v , No. 7, pp. 33-36, July, 1969.

539

TABLE i
6
C
=:.- _=

Si

I
~n ][ S

i
[

Composition, %
P

0.11 0,24

7,35

nlr~ ,

Tino m

Io.o25t 0,021

2 o11o 0,16 8,89 i 0.024 0,014

0,17 7,18 0025 0,013

0,24 7,74 0.026 0,012
0,21 8,55 10.0241 0,014
6 0;08 0,25 8,52 [0,029 0,014
0,36 6,84 i0.025 0,014
70,05
8 0,08 0,30 8,448'27 0,029__ 0,013__
9 0,05 0,33

3
4
5

~klnom

Tir~ ~

~. . . . . .

0,07
0,08
0,03

--

0,0080

0,008

0,10
0,10
0,10

0,061
0,080
0,030

070

0,130
0,15

0,15

070

0,15
0,20
0,40
0,15

--

0,05
0,07
0,07
0,20
0,11

0,0102
0,0084
0,0111
0,0074
0,0075
0,018

F i g . 2. E f f e c t of t e m p e r i n g t e m p e r a t u r e on t h e t y p e of f r a c t u r e of 8% Mn s t e e l (heat 2 ) q u e n c h e d f r o m 820~
(x 18,000). a) Not t e m p e r e d ; b) t e m p e r e d at 200~
e) 475~
d) 600~
T h e s t e e l s i n v e s t i g a t e d w e r e l a b o r a t o r y h e a t s m e l t e d in a 5 0 - k g i n d u c t i o n f u r n a c e .
c o m p o s i t i o n of the e x p e r i m e n t a l h e a t s is g i v e n in T a b l e 1.

The chemical

F i g u r e 1 s h o w s the e f f e c t of d e o x i d a t i o n with a l u m i n u m (a) and t i t a n i u m (b) on the i m p a c t t o u g h n e s s

of s t e e l 08G8 in r e l a t i o n to the t e m p e r i n g t e m p e r a t u r e f o l l o w i n g q u e n c h i n g . It s h o u l d b e n o t e d that t e m p e r i n g at 550-625~ is in the i n t e r e r i t i c a l r a n g e , w h i c h is due to the l o w e r i n g of the c r i t i c a l p o i n t s by m a n g a n e s e and the w i d e r a n g e of c o e x i s t e n c e of a - and ? - p h a s e s . T h e s t r u c t u r e of the s t e e l a f t e r h e a t i n g at
t h e s e t e m p e r a t u r e s is a fine m i x t u r e of f e r r i t e and a u s t e n i t e h i g h l y a l l o y e d with m a n g a n e s e a s w e l l as a
s m a l l a m o u n t of ~--phase [3]. T h u s , the t e r m " h i g h - t e m p e r a t u r e t e m p e r i n g " is only a c o n v e n t i o n in this
case.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, the steel not deoxidized with aluminum or titanium (curve 1) as well as
the steel containing a negligible amount of residual aluminum (0.008%, curve 2) is characterized by a very
low impact toughness up to a tempering temperature of 525~ it increases above this temperature.
The addition of aluminum or titanium substantially increases the impact toughness after low (200250~ and high-temperature tempering. After tempering at 300-475~ there is a sharp decrease of the
impact toughness, which is due to temper brittleness. The impact toughness also decreases after tempering above 630-650~ when the structure becomes single-phase (martensite) in place of double-phase

(~+7).
The best results (highest impact toughness) were obtained for the heats containing 0.05-0.08% aluminum or titanium.
The electron-microscopic investigation of the fracture surfaces of quenched samples and also samples tempered at 200, 475, and 600~ after quenching showed the effect of deoxidizing on the type of fracture. Carbon replicas were used; the replicas were separated electrolytically in a 5% solution of 1-12SO4 in
alcohol.
The quenched samples without aluminum or titanium fractured by shearing (Fig. 2a). Ductile components appeared in the fracture of steels with ->0.05% Al or Ti.
Tempering at 200~ resulted in completely ductile fracture of the steels with ->0.05% A1 or Ti, but
only ductile components (Fig. 2b) in the fracture of the steel without A1 or Ti.

540

F i g . 3. A l u m i n u m (a) and t i t a n i u m n i t r i d e s (b, c) in 8% Mn s t e e l ,

a, b) x 1 8 , 0 0 0 ; c) x 2 5 , 0 0 0 .

an, kg-m/cm z
a n, k g - m / c m

20

.....

ZO

'

3,/:

z5

./

:
"[I

./
,

//I

//

i~ .-"-~ ~ .
~
Y80 -]oO -,oo -6

1/z"

,j

,/

i/i

/i

2~

,"

F/,
/j
i / / , ,I

72

J/i"!J I
-ZO ZO -780 -/4g -lgO -60 -2a

Testing temperature

#
~

-780

-7~0

-ZOO -50

-20 0 ~163

Testing temperature
Fig. 5

Fig. 4
F i g . 4. Cold b r i t t l e n e s s of 8% Mn s t e e l in r e l a t i o n to d e o x i d i z i n g c o n d i t i o n s w i t h
a l u m i n u m (a) and t i t a n i u m (b). T h e h e a t n u m b e r s a r e g i v e n on the c u r v e s .
F i g . 5. E f f e c t of e l e c t r o s l a g r e m e l t i n g on the c o l d b r i t t l e n e s s and a n i s o t r o p y of
8% Mn s t e e l . 1) ESH; 2) open m e l t i n g .
) Longitudinal samples; ---)
transverse samples.
W i t h t e m p e r i n g at 475~ the c h a r a c t e r of the f r a c t u r e c h a n g e s - it b e c o m e s i n t e r g r a n u l a r ( F i g . 2c);
the d e o x i d i z i n g c o n d i t i o n s h a v e no e f f e c t on the f r a c t u r e e x c e p t t h a t the g r a i n s i z e is r e d u c e d in the s t e e l s
d e o x i d i z e d with t i t a n i u m .
W i t h t e m p e r i n g at 600~

the f r a c t u r e is d u c t i l e ( F i g . 2d).

It w a s shown in [3] that the s h a r p i n c r e a s e in the i m p a c t t o u g h n e s s r e s u l t i n g f r o m the a d d i t i o n of a l u m i n u m o r titaniL~m to m a n g a n e s e s t e e l is due to the high a f f i n i t y of t h e s e e l e m e n t s f o r n i t r o g e n . C o m b i n i n g
n i t r o g e n into s t a b l e n t t r i d e s , t h e s e e l e m e n t s s u b s t a n t i a l l y n e u t r a l i z e its h a r m f u l e f f e c t a s an e l e m e n t b l o c k ing d i s l o c a t i o n s . T h i s is c o n f i r m e d b y o u r r e s u l t s : in t h e s t e e l d e o x i d i z e d with a l u m i n u m one o b s e r v e s
a l u m i n u m n i t r i d e s , u s u a l l y l o c a t e d in the b o t t o m of d i m p l e s ( F i g . 3a); t i t a n i u m n i t r i d e s a r e o b s e r v e d in the
s t e e l d e o x i d i z e d w i t h t i t a n i u m ( F i g . 3b and c).
In the s t e e l s t e m p e r e d at 475~ h a r d l y any i n c l u s i o n s a r e o b s e r v e d a f t e r any of the d e o x i d i z i n g p r o c e d u r e s . E v i d e n t l y t h i s is due to the f a c t t h a t the i n c l u s i o n s a r e l o c a t e d in the b o d y of the g r a i n s and do
not a f f e c t f r a c t u r e a l o n g the g r a i n b o u n d a r i e s .
T h e p r e s e n c e of a l a r g e q u a n t i t y of c o a r s e t i t a n i u m n i t r i d e s , u s u a l l y o b s e r v e d at t i t a n i u m c o n c e n t r a t i o n s o v e r 0.05-0.07%, is u n d e s i r a b l e , s i n c e it l o w e r s the i m p a c t t o u g h n e s s . In h e a t 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y
the h i g h e s t i m p a c t t o u g h n e s s ( F i g . 1) and l o w e s t c o l d b r i t t l e n e s s t h r e s h o l d (]~ig. 4), the a m o u n t of t i t a n i u m

541

nitride is s m a l l and the inclusions a r e of s m a l l size. Thus, to obtain a high impact toughness it is important not only to combine the nitrogen but also use melting and c r y s t a l l i z i n g p r o c e d u r e s ensuring s m a l l
s i z e s and even distribution of the nitrides through the bulk of the ingot. This can be achieved by e l e c t r o slag r e m e l t i n g (ESR).
As Fig. 5 shows, ESR substantially i n c r e a s e s the impact toughness of s t e e l of this type (0.07% C,
8.16% Mn, 0.29% Si, 0.36% Mo, 0.05% Ti, 0.003% Aires). Also, ESR s h a r p l y reduces the anisotropy of
the steel.
Interacting with the e l e m e n t s of the alloy, titanium combines not only nitrogen but also c a r b o n into
stable c a r b i d e s and c a r b o n i t r i d e s , which m a y also i n c r e a s e the impact toughness.
CONCLUSIONS
i. The toughness of low-carbon (C < 0.10%) high-manganese
treatment but also the melting and deoxidizing conditions.

(.6-9%) steel depends not only on the heat

2. The optimal heat treatment, ensuring the highest impact toughness, is tempering in the intercritical range, which r'esults in a structure consisting of a fine mixture of ferrite and austenite highly alloyed with manganese
as well as a small amount of e-phase.
3. To obtain a high impact toughness, and particularly a low cold brittleness threshold, it is necessary to neutralize the harmful effect of the elevated nitrogen concentration (up to 0.018%) in such steels
by adding nitride-forming elements - aluminum
(0.04-0.07%) or titanium (0.04-0.07%).
4. To obtain a high impact toughness it is important not only to combine the nitrogen into stable nitrides but also to use melting and crystallizing procedures ensuring finely dispersed and evenly distributed
nitrides. This can be achieved by electroslag remelting.

LITERATURE
1.

2.
3.

542

CITED

V. D. Sadovskii and N. P. Chuprakova, in: T r a n s a c t i o n s of the Institute of Metal P h y s i c s and Metallurgy, No. 6 [in Russian], Izd. UFAN SSSR (1945).
W. R e e s , B. Hopkins, and H. T i p l e r , J. Iron Steel Inst., 169 (1951).
Ya. E. Gol'dshtein and G. A. Charushnikova, Izv. Akad. Nauk SSSR, Metallurgiya i Gornoe Delo, No. 4
(1963).