THE INFLUENCE OF NONMETALLIC INCLUSION ON STRAIN HARDENING CARBON STEEL

On a fragment of the rim of a railway wheel removed from service, the volume of the metal with non-metallic inclusions located near the tread surface was investigated. The use of the microhardness measurement technique made it possible to establish the nature of strain hardening of carbon steel near non-metallic inclusions. It showed that with a normal orientation of the plastic flow relative to the inclusion surface, the metal volumes undergo hardening. In proportion to the appearance of a fraction of the tangential component of the deformation near the nonmetallic inclusion, a decrease in the degree of hardening of the metal was observed.