Effect of Decarburization on Microstructure Formed During Quenching on the Process of Destabilizing Austenite to Increase the Wear Resistance of Hadfield's Steel

Abstract Decarburization of high-carbon steels in the process of heat treatment is considered a very undesirable phenomenon, which one usually tries to prevent. Meanwhile, a method for decarburizing hardening of Hadfield Mn high-carbon steels is proposed. It is shown that it is possible to increase its wear resistance (optimally by a factor of ∼ 4) due to destabilization of austenite under the influence of decarburization quenching at a temperature of 1150 °C, accompanied by a decrease in the carbon content from 1.26% to 0.6 – 0.34% (depending on the aging time from 30 to 120 min) and, correspondingly, an increase in the depth of the decarburized layer in the range of 0.8 – 2.3 mm. This is explained by the realization of deformation induced martensitic γ→∊' and γ→α' transformations in the surface layer during the wear process, which cause self-strengthening and stress relaxation effects.