Hardening phenomena of Mn-austenite steels in the cutting process

Material 12Mn is a manganese austenitic (Hadfield) wear resistant steel. Its resistence can be further increased by strain hardening by cold work or by careful consideration of cutting forces. In machining of 12Mn steel, microhardness in the cutting zone extremly increases and influences on tool life. The right selection of cutting tools and parameters is a difficult task, becouse corresponding machining conditions are very constrained. The influence of heat treatment on the machinability of 12Mn is also very important.