Work hardening of austenitic manganese hardfacing deposits

Four test methods were investigated for their ability to discriminate among various austenitic manganese hardfacing deposits as regards work hardening capacity. The test methods are 1) Rockwell C testing in Brinell hardness impressions made with varying loads, 2) Meyer's Law applied to Brinell impressions made with varying loads, 3) tensile testing and 4) a newly devised dropweight indentation test. Of these, only the dropweight indentation test discriminated successfully among ordinary 14% Mn austenitic manganese steel, rich 20% Mn austenitic manganese steel and 15% Mn-15% Cr austenitic manganese steel. The two more highly alloyed austenitic manganese compositions were found to offer higher resistance to indentation than do the ordinary austenitic manganese compositions. These results are being applied to high impact situations such as rail frogs.