Is it Iron or Steel?

• Steel is an iron-carbon alloy – that may

contain other alloying elements
• Low , Medium and High Carbon Steel
– Usually less than about 1%
• Alloy Steels such as Stainless contain other
elements such as Chromium
 Steel & Cast Iron classifications
• On the basis of the Fe‐Fe3C phase diagram,
iron‐carbon alloys can be classified as:
Up to 0.8%C – Hypo‐eutectoid steels
0.8 – 2.0%C – Hyper‐eutectoid steels
2.0 – 4.3%C – Hypo‐eutectic Cast Irons
4.3 or more %C – Hyper‐eutectic Cast Irons
• plain carbon steels are classified as:
Low carbon or Mild Steels Up to 0.3%C)
Medium carbon or Mid carbon Steels (0.3 – 0.7%C)
High carbon or Tool Steels (0.7 – 1.4%C)
 HRS vs. CRS
• HRS • HRS Characterized by:
– AKA hot finishing – ingots or – Extremely ductile (i.e. %
continuous cast shapes rolled elongation 20 to 30%)
in the “HOT” condition to a – Moderate strength (Su approx
smaller shape. 60 – 75 ksi for 1020)
– Since hot, grains recrystallize – Rough surface finish – black
without material getting scale left on surface.
harder!
– Dislocations are annihilated
(recall dislocations impede
slip motion).
 HRS vs. CRS
• CRS • CRS Characterized by:
– AKA cold finishing – coil of – Less ductlie – almost brittle
HRS rolled through a series of (i.e. % elongation 5 to 10%)
rolling mills AT ROOM – High strength (Su approx 120
TEMPERATURE. ksi for 1020)
– Since rolled at room
temperature, get crystal
defects called dislocations
which impede motion via slip!
– AKA work hardening
– Limit to how much you can
work harden before too
brittle.
– How reverse? Can
recrystallize by annealing.
 AISI - SAE Classification System

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)

• classifies alloys by chemistry
• 4 digit number
– 1st number is the major alloying agent
– 2nd number designates the subgroup alloying
agent
– last two numbers approximate amount of carbon
(expresses in 0.01%)
 Plain Carbon Steel vs. Alloy
Steel

Plain Carbon Steel (10xx)

• Lowest cost
• Should be considered first in most
application
• 3 Classifications
– Low Carbon Steel
– Medium Carbon Steel
– High Carbon Steel
 Plain Carbon Steel
1. Low Carbon (less than 0.3% carbon)
• Low strength, good formability
• If wear is a potential problem, can be carburized (diffusion
hardening)
• Most stampings made from these steels
• AISI 1008, 1010, 1015, 1018, 1020, 1022, 1025
2. Med Carbon (0.3% to 0.6%)
• Have moderate to high strength with fairly good ductility
• Can be used in most machine elements
• AISI 1030, 1040, 1050, 1060*
3. High Carbon (0.6% to 0.95%)
• Have high strength, lower elongation
• Can be quench hardened
• Used in applications where surface subject to abrasion – tools, knives,
chisels, ag implements.
• AISI 1080, 1095
 Plain Carbon Steel (10xx)

• 1018
– Low carbon Yield strength 55ksi
• 1045
– Medium carbon Yield strength 70ksi
• ASTM A36 or A37 – aka structural steel
– Low carbon Yield strength 36ksi
• 12L14
– Low carbon Yield strength 70ksi
• 1144
– Medium carbon Yield strength 95ksi
 Plain Carbon Steel vs.
Alloy Steel

Alloy Steel
• > 1.65%Mn, > 0.60% Si, or >0.60% Cu
• Most common alloy elements:
– Chromium, nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, tungsten,
cobalt, boron, and copper.
• Added in small percents (<5%)
– increase strength and hardenability
• Added in large percents (>20%)
– improve corrosion resistance or stability at high or low
temps
Alloying Elements used in
Steel

Sulfur (S) (11xx)

• Imparts brittleness
• Improves machining
• Okay if combined with Mn
• Some free-machining steels contain 0.08%
to 0.15% S
 Alloying Elements used in Steel

Nickel (Ni) (2xxx)

• Increase toughness
• Increase impact resistance
• 2% to 5%
• 12% to 20% with low amounts of C possess great
corrosion resistance
• Invar
– contains 36% Ni
– virtually no thermal expansion
– used for sensitive measuring devices
 Alloying Elements used in Steel
Chromium (Cr) (5xxx)
• Usually < 2%
• increase hardenability and strength
• typically used in combination with Ni and Mo
• 10.5% < Cr < 27% = stainless steel – used for corrosion
resistance
Molybdenum (Mo) (4xxx)
• Usually < 0.3%
• increase hardenability and strength
• Mo-carbides help increase creep resistance at elevated
temps
– typical application is hot working tools
 Alloying Elements used in
Steel

Boron (B) (14xx)

• for low carbon steels, can drastically
increase hardenability
• improves machinablity and cold forming
capacity
Aluminum (Al)
• deoxidizer
• 0.95% to 1.30%
• produce Al-nitrides during nitriding
Alloying Elements used in Steel

Manganese (Mn)
• combines with sulfur to prevent brittleness
• >1%
– increases hardenability
• 11% to 14%
– increases hardness
– good ductility
– high strain hardening capacity
– excellent wear resistance
• Ideal for impact resisting tools
Alloying Elements used in
Steel
Vanadium (V)
• Usually 0.03% to 0.25%
• increase strength
– without loss of ductility
Tungsten (W)
• helps to form stable carbides
• increases hot hardness
– used in tool steels
Alloying Elements used in
Steel

Copper (Cu)
• 0.10% to 0.50%
• increase corrosion resistance
• Reduced surface quality and hot-working ability
• used in low carbon sheet steel and structural steels
Silicon (Si)
• About 2%
• increase strength without loss of ductility
• enhances magnetic properties
 Corrosion Resistant Steel

• Stainless Steel
• 10.5% < Cr < 27% = stainless steel – used for
corrosion resistance
• AISI assigns a 3 digit number
– 200 and 300 … Austenitic Stainless Steel
– 400 … Ferritic or Martensitic Stainless Steel
– 500 … Martensitic Stainless Steel
 Stainless Steels

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Lightning II,

built by Lockheed Martin – airframe 17-7
PH – 600 series SS

Gateway Arch in St Louis – 304 series SS

 Key Points:
• Alloy steels containing at least 10% Cr are SS.
• Contain sufficient amount of Cr that they are NOT
considered low alloy.
• Corrosion resistance is imparted by the formation of
a passivation layer characterized by:
– Insoluble chromium oxide film on the surface of the metal - (Cr2O3) .
– Develops when exposed to oxygen and impervious to water and air.
– Layer is too thin to be visible
– Quickly reforms when damaged
– Susceptible to sensitization, pitting, crevice corrosion and acidic environments.
– Passivation can be improved by adding nickel, molybdenum and vanadium.
 Tool Steel

• Wear Resistant, High Strength and Tough

• High Carbon steels
• Modified by alloy additions
• AISI-SAE Classification
– Letter & Number Identification
 Tool Steel

Classification
• Letters pertain to significant characteristic
– W,O,A,D,S,T,M,H,P,L,F
– E.g. A is Air-Hardening medium alloy

• Numbers pertain to material type

– 1 thru 7
– E.g. 2 is Cold-work
Time -Temperature Transformation
• The rate of transformation depends on how
much you under cool the metal

Time for 50%

Transformation

Minimum Time required

for Transformation

Time
 Iron
• The microstructure depends on how much
you undercool the iron
• If transformation occurs at a high temperature
(near the equilibrium phase change
temperature) the microstructure will be
course
• At cooler temperatures, a finer microstructure
is formed
 Other Microstructures of Iron
• If the transformation temperature of iron is
kept above about 550 C, a lamellar
microstructure results – which we call pearlite
• At temperatures below 550 C diffusion is very
slow. The resulting microstructure changes to
round particles of cementite in a ferrite
matrix. It’s called bainite
 Pearlite

Iron Carbide (cementite) – dark, Ferrite – white

 Why Does Bainite form?
• Extremely thin lamellar layers result in a lot of
surface area at the boundary between the
cementite and ferrite
• This results in high total surface energy – too
high
• The surface energy is reduced by switching to
more rounded particles
 BAINITE

bainite (light), austenite (dark) interface

 Affect of Temperature on Bainite
• Transformation temperature affects the
bainite microstructure, just like it affects
pearlite
• Lower temperatures result in smaller
cementite particles in the ferrite matrix
 What happens if you get REALLY
COLD
• At really low transformation temperatures
diffusion basically stops
• Neither bainite or pearlite can form
• The crystal trys to change from the FCC
austenite phase to the BCC ferrite phase, but
it traps the excess C in the matrix
• The result is a BCT crystal structure – called
Martensite
 Martensite "needles" in a matrix of
austenite in a high carbon steel.
• There were great strides in optics
particularly in Germany, and in c.
1890, a gifted German
microscopist Adolf Martens
examined the microstructure, and
found, not visible to the naked eye,
many varieties of patterns at the
micron scale. In particular, hard
steels were found to have banded
regions of differently oriented,
fascinating microcrystalline phases,
whereas inferior steels had little
coherent patterning. The
characteristic patterned regions
became known as Martensite.

Magnified 1000 times. Photo take by Osmund in 1901.

 Martinsitic Reaction
• Diffusionless
• Not time dependant
• Not an equilibrium structure
• Steel Martinsite is very hard and brittle
 Tempering Steel Martinsite
• If you warm martinsite back up diffusion can
occur
• At least some of the carbon forms cementite
• By controlling the tempering temperature and
time, a wide range of properties can be
produced
Lightly Tempered Martensitic Structure
• The technique of quenching the iron into cold water is mentioned in this
gruesome description in Homer's Odyssey, describing the blinding of the
giant Cyclops (who had imprisoned Odysseus and his men in a cave). After
getting Cyclops drunk, they heat an olive stake and plunge it into his one
eye: "The blast and scorch of the burning ball singed all his eyebrows and
eyelids, and the fire made the roots of his eye crackle. As when a man who
works as a blacksmith plunges a screaming great axe blade or plane into
cold water, treating it for temper, since this is the way steel is made
strong, even so Cyclops' eye sizzles about the beam of the olive."
• (Translation after Richard Lattimore.) (Apparently the translation "treating it for
temper" is a translator's anachronism representing our modern viewpoint.)
Can you control the microstructure
that forms?
• Yes, by controlling the transformation
temperature and time
• You can get pearlite, bainite or martinsite
• Or.. Combinations of the different
microstructures
• Consider the following TTT diagram for a
eutectoid steel (0.77% C)
 Time-Temperature-Transformation for a Eutectiod Steel

Equilibrium Phase Change Temperature

700
Ps
600 Pf Pearlite

500 Bs Bf
Bainite
400 Start Time
Finish Time
300
Ms
200
Mf
100
Martinsite

0.1 1 10 100 1000 10,000 seconds