Effect of Sulfur Contents on Fracture Toughness of Wheel Steels for High Speed Train

The effect of different contents of S on fracture toughness of railway wheel steels for high speed train has been researched.The results show that there are kinds of non-metallic inclusion when O content retaining at about 10×10-6,such as Al 2 O 3 inclusions and Al 2 O 3 +MnS complex inclusions and single MnS inclusions.This is connected with S content level in steel.Fracture toughness of railway steel increase obviously because of Al 2 O 3 covered by MnS around when S content is increase to about 70×10-6.It shows that,after Al 2 O 3 covering by MnS around,stresses around complex inclusion decrease rapidly till disappear when analyzed by tessellated stresses theory.That is the reason of fracture toughness rise.