Alloys

An alloy is a metallic substance consisting of a mixture of two or more metals or of a metal with
a non-metal such as carbon to obtain desirable properties. An alloy is obtained by cooling the
molten mixture of the pure constituent elements.

Alloying improves the fundamental properties of metals such as tensile strength, hardness, lustre
and resistance to corrosion. An alloy can be considered as a uniform mixture made by melting
the components together and solidifying the mixture. The components of an alloy are mixed in
the desired proportion and should not undergo any chemical changes during the process of
alloying. The elements in an alloy must be soluble in each other when molten and must not
separate into different layers when the mixture is cooled and solidified. There are certain alloys
that are compounds, such alloys are called intermetallic compounds.

An alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical
conductivity, ductility, opacity and luster. Alloys are economically important and more useful
than the pure metal from the steel alloys, used in everything from buildings to automobiles to
surgical tools, to exotic titanium alloys used in the aerospace industry, to beryllium-copper alloys
for non-sparking tools. In some cases, a combination of metals may reduce the overall cost of the
material while preserving important properties. In other cases, the combination of metals imparts
synergistic properties to the constituent metal elements such as corrosion resistance or
mechanical strength. Examples of alloys are steel, solder, brass, pewter, duralumin, bronze and
amalgams.

S/N Alloy Percentage Uses

composition
1. Brass Cu – 60-80% Zn For making nuts, bolts, tubes,
– 20-40% rods, ornaments, moving parts
of clocks and watches,
musical instruments and for
general metal work.

2. Bronze Cu – 90% Sn For making coins and medals;

– 10% sculptures and for general
metal work.

3. Steel Fe – 99.5% C Construction of bridges, ships,

– 0.5% cars and machinery.
 4. Stainless steel Fe – 60-80% Making cutlery, tools and
Cr – 10-20% surgical instruments.
Ni – 10-20%
5. Duralumin Al – 95% Construction of aircraft, ships,
Cu – 3% cars, spacecraft and moving
Mg – 1% parts of machines
Mn – 1%
6. Soft solder Pb – 50-70% For welding of metals
(Soldering Sn – 50-30% (soldering) except aluminum.
wire)
7. Type metals Pb – 70-75% For printing, plumbing and
Sb – 15-20% metal work.
Sn – 5-10%
8. Permallory Fe – 25% For making permanent
Ni – 75% magnet.

9. Alnico Fe – 20-25% Tiny permanent magnet used

Al – 10-15% in loud speakers and
Ni – 15 -30% telephones.
Co – 5- 35%
10. Silver coinage Ag – 90-91% For making coins
Cu – 10-9%
11. Dentist’s Hg – 70% For dental fillings, artificial
amalgam Cu – 30% dental teeth.

12. Magnallum Mg – 70% Al Tools for beam of chemical

– 30% balances, automobile and
airplane parts.

13. Chromel Cr – Thermocouple

Ni -
14. Magnico Mg – Tiny permanent magnet and
Ni – electrical components
Co –
Fe -

Note that permallory, chromel and magnico are other alloys that are very useful but less common
Classification of the metal alloys:
All metal alloys may be classified as ferrous or nonferrous alloys. A ferrous alloys has
iron as its main element. A alloy is still considered ferrous even if it contains less than 50
percent iron, as long as it contains more iron than any other one metal. A alloy is
nonferrous if it contains less iron than any other metal.

1- Ferrous alloys are that contain iron as the base metal. The properties of ferrous alloys
may be changed by adding various alloying elements. Ferrous alloys include steel, cast
iron and the various steel alloys.
2- Nonferrous alloys include a great many metals that are used mainly for metal plating
or as alloying elements, such as tin, zinc, silver, gold, aluminum, magnesium, titanium,
nickel and copper.

Classification of ferrous alloys:

Ferrous alloys include steel, cast iron and the various steel alloys, The only difference
between iron and steel is the carbon content. Cast iron contains more than 2-percent
carbon, while steel contains less than 2 percent. An alloy is a substance composed of two
or more elements.

Therefore, all steels are an alloy of iron and carbon, but the term “alloy steel” normally
refers to a steel that also contains one or more other elements. For example, if the main
alloying element is tungsten, the steel is a “tungsten steel” or “tungsten alloy.” If there is
no alloying material, it is a “carbon steel.” Classification of ferrous alloys is shown in fig.
(26).
 Fig. (26) Classification of ferrous alloys.

(A) Carbon Steels:

1-Low-Carbon Steels are produced in the greatest quantities of all the different steels.
These generally contain less than about 0.25 wt% C and are unresponsive to heat
treatments intended to form martensite; strengthening is accomplished by cold work.
Microstructures consist of ferrite and pearlite constituents.

2-Medium-Carbon Steels have carbon contents between about 0.25 and 0.60 wt%. These
alloys may be heat treated by austenitizing, quenching, and then tempering to improve
their mechanical properties. Then, microstructures consist of tempered martensite.

3-High-Carbon Steels have carbon contents between 0.60 and 1.4 wt%, are the hardest,
strongest, and yet least ductile of the carbon steels. They are almost always used in a
hardened and tempered condition.

B) Alloy Steels:
1-The tool steels are high-carbon alloys, usually containing chromium, vanadium, tungsten, and
molybdenum. These alloying elements combine with carbon to form very hard and wear-
resistant carbide compounds (e.g., Cr23C6, V4C3, and WC).

2-The stainless steels are highly resistant to corrosion (rusting) in a variety of environments.
Their predominant alloying element is chromium; a concentration of at least 11 wt% Cr is
required. Corrosion resistance may also be enhanced by nickel and molybdenum additions.
Stainless steels are divided into three classes on the basis of the predominant phase constituent of
the microstructure—martensitic, ferritic, or austenitic. Some stainless steels are frequently used
at elevated temperatures and in severe environments because they resist oxidation and maintain
their mechanical integrity under such conditions; the upper temperature limit in oxidizing
atmospheres is about
(1000˚C).
C) Cast Irons:
Cementite (Fe3C) is a metastable compound, and under some circumstances it can be made to
dissociate or decompose to form α-ferrite and graphite, according to the reaction

1-Gray Iron has the carbon and silicon contents vary between 2.5 and 4.0 wt% C and 1.0 and
3.0 wt% Si, respectively. For most of these cast irons, the graphite exists in the form of flakes
(similar to corn flakes), which are normally surrounded by an α-ferrite or pearlite matrix.
Because of these graphite flakes, a fractured surface takes on a gray appearance, hence its name.

2-White Iron is low-silicon cast irons (containing less than 1.0 wt% Si). For rapid cooling rates,
most of the carbon exists as cementite instead of graphite. A fracture surface of this alloy has a
white appearance, and thus it is termed white cast iron.

Structure of Simple Alloy

Interstitial couples and bonding.

Metals can be melted, physically mixed in their liquid states, and cooled together to form a
homogeneous mixture called an alloy

Alloys can also be made from metals mixed with non-metals such as carbon

The properties of an alloy are often different than those of the metals it contains

An interstitial alloy is composed of atoms with vastly different radii

The larger atoms are arranged in an orderly lattice and the smaller atoms occupy the
interstices or spaces between the larger atoms.

Steel, composed of iron and carbon,is an example of an interstitial alloy.