18-6 Theoretical Parts

Chapter-1
Theoretical part
Abstract
Many of the important mechanical properties of steel, including
yield strength and hardness, the ductile-brittle transition
temperature and susceptibility to environmental can be improved
by refining the grain size.The quantitative improvement in
properties varies with d-1/2, where d is the grain size.
Nonetheless, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the

detailed mechanism of the grain size effect, and appropriate
definition of grain size. Each particular mechanism of
strengthening and fracture suggests its own appropriate definition
of the effective grain size, and how it may be best controlled.
Introduction:
Steel is one of the most used engineering materials. It is used in
the form of beams for building support structures, train railroads,
and reinforcing rods in concrete; in the form of plates for ship
construction; in the form of tubes for boilers in power generating
plants, car radiators, and oil and gas pipelines; in the form of sheet
metal for cars, washing machines, in the form of wire for elevator
cables, and special steels are used for cutting tools (hacksaw,
blades, drill bits, knives) and for wear resistant application such as
ball bearings. There are two main reasons for the popular use of
steels:
1- steel is abundant in the earths crust in the form of Fe2O3 and

require little energy to convert it to Fe which makes its production
inexpensive.
2- it can be made to exhibit a great variety of microstructures and

thus a wide range of mechanical properties. The microstructure
that develops in carbon steels depends on:
A-the carbon content.
B- heat treatment.
Equilibrium Phases
To understand the microstructures that can be produced by heat
treatment of steel, it is necessary to consider the Fe-C phase
diagram (Fig). There are three equilibrium phases in the phase
diagram which can be obtained by very slow cooling rates to allow
equilibrium conditions prevail. Each phase has particular
characteristics The amount of equilibrium phase changes that take
place upon slow cooling from the austenite region in the Fe-C
phase diagram into the (ferrite + cementite) phase field strongly
depends on the carbon content. Depending on the carbon content.
carbon steels can be divided into three categories: eutectoid steels
(contain exactly 0.76%C), hypo eutectoid steels (%C < 0.76), and
hypereutectoid steels (%C> 0.76). The microstructure that
develops when a eutectoid steel (0.76% C) is slowly cooled from
the austenite region to below 727 C consists of alternating layers
of and cementite. This structure is called pearlite. For hypo
eutectoid steels (%C < 0.76) the microstructure consists of pearlite
surrounded by pro-eutectoid while hypereutectoid steels
(%C>0.76) are composed of pearlite surrounded by cementite, as
illustrated in Figure 1. The equilibrium amounts of ferrite and
cementite can be calculated by the use the lever rule. The
hardness of carbon steels increases with increasing the carbon
content due to increases in the hard phase, cementite. It should be
noted that slow cooling heat treatment is not important from
practical point of view. It is used here just to demonstrate the
objectives of this experiment.
Fig(1-1) phase diagram for Fe-C
Chapter-2
2-1 Carbon effect
Carbon is an element whose presence is imperative in all steel.
Indeed, carbon is the principle hardening element of steel. That is,
this alloying element determines the level of hardness or strength
that can be attained by quenching. Furthermore, carbon is
essential for the formation of cementite (as well as other carbides)
and of pearlite and iron-carbon martensitic, with martensitic being
the hardest of the microstructures. Carbon is also responsible for
increase in tensile strength, hardness resistance to wear and
abrasion. However, when present in high quantities it affects the
ductility, the toughness and the machinability of steel
Fig(2-1)The effect of carbon on the properties of plan carbon steel

2.2.1. Carbon steel:
Carbon steel (plain carbon steel) is steel which contain main

alloying element is carbon. Here we find maximum up to 1.5%
carbon and other alloying elements like copper, manganese,
silicon. Most of the steel produced now-a days is plain carbon
steel. It is divided into the following types depending upon the
carbon content.
1. Dead or mild steel (up to 0.15% carbon)
2. Low carbon steel (0.15%-0.45% carbon)
3. Medium carbon steel(0.45%-0.8% carbon)
4. High carbon steel (0.8%-1.5% carbon)
Steel with low carbon content has properties similar to iron. As the
carbon content increases the metal becomes harder and stronger
but less ductile and more difficult to weld. Higher carbon content
lowers the melting point and its temperature resistance carbon
content cannot alter yield strength of material.
2.2.2. Low carbon steel

Low carbon steel has carbon content of 0.15% to 0.45%. Low
carbon steel is the most common type of steel as its price is
relatively low while its provides material properties that are
acceptable for many applications. It is neither externally brittle nor
ductile due to its low carbon content. It has lower tensile strength
and malleable.
2.2.3 Medium-Carbon Steels
The medium-carbon steels have carbon concentrations between

about 0.25 and 0.60 %. Additions of chromium, nickel, and
molybdenum improve the capacity of these alloys to be heat
treated, giving rise to a variety of strengthductility combinations.
2.2.4 High-Carbon Steels
The high-carbon steels, normally having carbon contents between

0.60 and 1.4 %, are the hardest, strongest, and yet least ductile of
the carbon steels.
-Applications of steel:
The possible applications of low carbon steel are very wide. The
properties are such As to extend the field of usefulness of mild
steel and enable it. Some popular uses of Low carbon steel for
various engineering application are :
1. Support bracket for agricultural tractor.
2. Gear teeth profile
3. Crane wheels.
4. Crane cable drum.
5. Gear wheel and pinion blanks and brake drum.
6. Machines worm steel.
7. Flywheel.
8. Ball bearing.
9. Railway wheels.
10. Crankshaft.
11. Shackles of lock.

2.3.Heat-Treatment of Steels:
The term heat treatment is define as a double process which

involve heating cycle which followed by cooling cycle after limited
period of time and applied on metals or its alloys in solid state in
manner ensure improvement its properties.
Fig(2-2) show sequence of steps for heat treatment
Heat treatment can be applied to steel in order to improve its

hardness, strength toughness and ductility. The type of heat
treatment used will governed by the.
1- carbon content of steel
2- And its subsequent application.

The various heat treatment processes can classify as:
A- Annealing
B- Normalizing
C- Hardening
D- Tempering
Annealing
The term annealing refers to a heat treatment in which a material

is exposed to an elevated temperature for an extended time period
and then slowly cooled. Ordinarily, annealing is carried out to
1-increase softness, ductility, and toughness.
2- produce a specific microstructure .
3- relieve stresses
Any annealing process consists of three stages:
Stage-1- heating to the desired temperature.
Stage-2- holding or soaking at that temperature.
Stage-3- cooling, usually to room temperature.
Time is an important parameter in these procedures. During

heating and cooling, there exist temperature gradients between the
outside and interior portions of the piece; their magnitudes depend
on the size and geometry of the piece.
Full Anneal
A heat treatment known as full annealing is often utilized in low-

and medium carbon steels that will be machined or will experience
extensive plastic deformation during a forming operation. In
general, the alloy is treated by heating to a temperature of about
50C above form austenite for compositions less than the
eutectoid, or, for compositions in excess of the eutectoid.
The micro structural product of this anneal is coarse pearlite (in

addition to any pro eutectoid phase) that is relatively soft and
ductile. The full-anneal cooling in the furnace by decreasing the
temperature by (10-30) C per hour; however, a microstructure
having coarse pearlite and a uniform grain structure results.
The basic aims of annealing include:
1. Softening of steel
2. Relief stresses
3. Refine grain size
4. Improve machinability
5. Homogenous structure and remove segregation
Normalizing
Steels that have been plastically deformed by, for example, a

rolling operation, consist of grains of pearlite (and most likely a pro
eutectoid phase), which are irregularly shaped and relatively large,
but vary substantially in size. An annealing heat treatment called
normalizing is used to refine the grains (i.e., to decrease the
average grain size) and produce a more uniform and desirable
size distribution; fine-grained pearlite steels are tougher than
coarse-grained ones.
The basic aim for normalizing:
1. Refine grain size and homogenous structure.
2. Produce steel has high strength and hardness
Fig() shown normalizing and annealing
.
Hardening:-
The process of hardening consist of heating the metal to a
temperature of 30-50c above the upper critical point for hypo-
eutectoid steels and by the same temperature above the lower
critical temperature for hyper-eutectoid steels. It is held this
temperature for some time and then quenched. The purposes of
hardening are to increase the hardness of the metal and to make
suitable cutting tools.
Tempering:-
This process consists of reheating the hardened steel to some
temperature below the lower critical temperature, followed by any
desired rate of cooling. The purpose is to relive internal stress, to
reduce brittleness and to make steel tough to resist shock and
fatigue.

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Chapter-1

Nonetheless, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the

1- steel is abundant in the earths crust in the form of Fe2O3 and

2- it can be made to exhibit a great variety of microstructures and

Fig(2-1)The effect of carbon on the properties of plan carbon steel

Carbon steel (plain carbon steel) is steel which contain main

1. Dead or mild steel (up to 0.15% carbon)

2. Low carbon steel (0.15%-0.45% carbon)

3. Medium carbon steel(0.45%-0.8% carbon)

4. High carbon steel (0.8%-1.5% carbon)

2.2.2. Low carbon steel

The medium-carbon steels have carbon concentrations between

2.2.4 High-Carbon Steels

The high-carbon steels, normally having carbon contents between

1. Support bracket for agricultural tractor.

2. Gear teeth profile

4. Crane cable drum.

5. Gear wheel and pinion blanks and brake drum.

6. Machines worm steel.

11. Shackles of lock.

The term heat treatment is define as a double process which

Fig(2-2) show sequence of steps for heat treatment

Heat treatment can be applied to steel in order to improve its

1- carbon content of steel

2- And its subsequent application.

The term annealing refers to a heat treatment in which a material

1-increase softness, ductility, and toughness.

2- produce a specific microstructure .

Any annealing process consists of three stages:

Stage-1- heating to the desired temperature.

Stage-2- holding or soaking at that temperature.

Stage-3- cooling, usually to room temperature.

Time is an important parameter in these procedures. During

A heat treatment known as full annealing is often utilized in low-

The micro structural product of this anneal is coarse pearlite (in

The basic aims of annealing include:

3. Refine grain size

5. Homogenous structure and remove segregation

Steels that have been plastically deformed by, for example, a

1. Refine grain size and homogenous structure.

2. Produce steel has high strength and hardness

Fig() shown normalizing and annealing

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