Effect of low aluminum additions in the microstructure and mechanical properties of hot forged high-manganese steels

In the present work, the effect of low aluminum additions and the hot forging process on the microstructure and non-metallic inclusions of high manganese steels is analyzed. Four high-manganese steels (HMnS) were prepared by adding low aluminum contents of 1.1 and 1.5 wt. % to four carbon austenitic steels with medium carbon content (0.3 - 0.4 wt% C) and manganese contents of 17 and 22 wt. Samples of the as-cast steels were hot forged to 1100?C to obtain an overall reduction of 70 %. Microstructural evolution was studied using microscopy techniques (OM, and SEM-EDS) and X-ray diffraction measurements for the as-cast and hot forged steels. A typical grain columnar zone formed during solidification of a cast ingot was obtained in the as-cast condition, where the microstructure consisted of nonmetallic inclusions in a fully austenitic matrix. The non-metallic inclusions were identified as Al2O3 and MnS particles. Thermomechanical treatment allows the formation of an austenitic microstructure characterized by twins in steels with high manganese content, while an austenitic-martensitic duplex microstructure was obtained in HMnS, which contained the lowest manganese contents. The highest tensile strength values were obtained for 17Mn-1Al steel, which had the smallest grain size and higher content of non-metallic inclusions. The hardness values were similar to those obtained in the as-cast condition.