Study of Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Chilled ASTM A216 Grade WCB Steel

Mechanical properties of steels play a very important role in the development of structures, machines and other products. Therefore, it is necessary for design engineers to know the properties of steel under specified loading condition. This paper deals with the production of ASTM A216 grade WCB steel with different chilling rates and to study the microstructure and mechanical properties of the same. The mold for the casting is prepared by CO2 molding procedure. Two metallic, one non-metallic and one sub-zero chills were used for the study. Care is taken to have the same metal flow rate and pouring temperature for all the casting blocks during casting. The resulting casting blocks were tested for their strength, hardness and wear. The properties depend on the location of the casting from where specimens were taken. Results of the investigation reveal that under cooling during solidification is responsible for better wear resistance during abrasive wear and appreciable enhancement in the strength and hardness.