SPHERICAL INDENTATION APPROACH TO DETERMINE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HADFIELD’S STEEL

Abstract

Hadfield’s steel has been widely used for railway switch and frogs because of its desirable mechanical behavior under high load applications. Austenitic Hadfield´s steel containing about 1.2 mass % of C and 12 mass % of Mn is known for a high resistance to impact wear caused by rapid cold work hardening. In this study, several methods have been performed to examine the mechanical properties of Hadfield’s steel. Dislocations and white etching layers were observed during metallographic analysis. Besides that, indentation method was applied for evaluation of the elastic-plastic response of the surface. In addition to our previous studies, the spherical indentation method was introduced to obtain more accurate results for rough(uneven) surface. Force-Indentation depth graphs were examined by the specific method, moreover, real rail sample, with or without explosive hardening samples were compared by means of the new method.