Effect of silicon on the solidification cracking behavior and metastable carbide formation in austenitic high Mn steel welds

Abstract

Addition of 1.5 wt.% Si into Fe-18Mn-0.6C steel noticeably increased the tendency of solidification cracking. Extensive segregation of Si at the dendritic and grain boundaries suppressed the formation of (Fe,Mn)(3)C eutectic carbide during solidification. On the other hand, Si segregation led to the formation of a metastable carbides consisting of a mixture of (Fe,Mn)(5)SiC and (Fe,Mn)(23)C-6. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.