Comparative study on microstructures and properties of Mn-containing and Mn-free bainitic steels

ABSTRACT

The effects of Mn on the microstructure and impact-abrasion wear resistance of bainitic steel were studied. Results showed that the Mn-containing steel possessed finer microstructure and higher volume fraction of retained austenite, in comparison with the Mn-free steel. This was caused by lower transformation temperature and higher strength of undercooled austenite. The weight loss of Mn-free steel varying with the impact load was larger than that of Mn-containing steel. High strength, hardness and toughness of Mn-containing steel were conducive to improving wear resistance. More retained austenite in Mn-containing steel played an active role in work hardening and hindering crack propagation. However, the portion of retained austenite that induced martensitic transformation was the same with increasing impact-wear load.

KEYWORDS:

• Bainitic steel
• Mn content
• microstructure
• impact-abrasion wear resistance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Doctoral Foundation of Yanshan University: [Grant Number BL18028]; Natural Science Foundation of China: [Grant Number 51831008]; Postgraduate Innovation Funding Project of Hebei Province: [Grant Number 019000628]; Postdoctoral Research Projects: [Grant Number B2019005004].