IRON IRON-CARBON DIAGRAM

IRON IRON-CARBON DIAGRAM

Eutectic
eutectoid
Pearlite and
Cementine

Austenite

Ferrite
Pearlite and
Carbide
Pearlite

Steel Cast iron

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 Outline
 Introduction
 Cooling curve for pure iron
 Definition of structures
 Iron-Carbon equilibrium phase diagram – Sketch
 The Iron-Iron Carbide Diagram - Explanation
 The Austenite to ferrite / cementite transformation
 Nucleation & growth of pearlite
 Effect of C %age on the microstructure of steel
 Relationship b/w C %age & mechanical properties of
steel

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 Cooling curve for pure iron

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 Definition of structures
Various phases that appear on the
Iron-Carbon equilibrium phase
diagram are as under:
• Austenite
• Ferrite
• Pearlite
• Cementite
• Martensite*
• Ledeburite
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 Unit Cells of Various Metals

• FIGURE - The unit cell for (a) austentite, (b) ferrite, and (c) martensite. The effect of
the percentage of carbon (by weight) on the lattice dimensions for martensite is
shown in (d). Note the interstitial position of the carbon atoms and the increase in
dimension c with increasing carbon content. Thus, the unit cell of martensite is in
the shape of a rectangular prism.
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 Microstructure of different phases of steel

The microstructure of
a) Austenite
b) Ferrite
c) and d)
Pearlite

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 Definition of structures
• Ferrite is known as α solid solution.
• It is an interstitial solid solution of a small amount
of carbon dissolved in α (BCC) iron.
• stable form of iron below 912 deg.C
• The maximum solubility is 0.025 % C at 723C and
it dissolves only 0.008 % C at room temperature.
• It is the softest structure that appears on the
diagram.

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 Definition of structures

Ferrite
• Average properties are:
– Tensile strength = 40,000 psi;
– Elongation = 40 % in 2 in;
– Hardness > Rockwell C 0 or
> Rockwell B 90

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 Definition of structures

• Pearlite is the eutectoid mixture

containing 0.80 % C and is formed
at 723°C on very slow cooling.
• It is a very fine platelike or lamellar
mixture of ferrite and cementite.
• The white ferritic background or
matrix contains thin plates of
cementite (dark).

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 Definition of structures

Pearlite
• Average properties are:
– Tensile strength = 120,000 psi;
– Elongation = 20 % in 2 in.;
– Hardness = Rockwell C 20, Rock­well B
95-100, or BHN 250-300.

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 Definition of structures

• Austenite is an interstitial solid solution of

Carbon dissolved in  (F.C.C.) iron.
• Maximum solubility is 2.0 % C at 1130°C.
• High formability, most of heat treatments begin
with this single phase.
• It is normally not stable at room temperature.
But, under certain conditions it is possible to
obtain austenite at room temperature.

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 Definition of structures

Austenite
• Average properties are:
– Tensile strength = 150,000 psi;
– Elongation = 10 percent in 2 in.;
– Hardness = Rockwell C 40,
approx; and
– toughness = high
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 Definition of structures
• Cementite or iron carbide, is very hard, brittle
intermetallic compound of iron & carbon, as
Fe3C, contains 6.67 % C.
• It is the hardest structure that appears on the
diagram, exact melting point unknown.
• Its crystal structure is orthorhombic.
• It is has
– low tensile strength (approx. 5,000 psi), but
– high compressive strength.

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 Definition of structures
• Ledeburite is the eutectic
mixture of austenite and
cementite.
• It contains 4.3 percent C and is
formed at 1130°C.

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 Definition of structures
Martensite - a super-saturated solid solution of
carbon in ferrite.
It is formed when steel is cooled so rapidly that the
change from austenite to pearlite is suppressed.
The interstitial carbon atoms distort the BCC ferrite
into a BC-tetragonal structure (BCT).; responsible for
the hardness of quenched steel

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 The Iron-Iron Carbide Diagram
• A map of the temperature at which different phase
changes occur on very slow heating and cooling in
relation to Carbon, is called Iron- Carbon Diagram.
• Iron- Carbon diagram shows
– the type of alloys formed under very slow
cooling,
– proper heat-treatment temperature and
– how the properties of steels and cast irons can
be radically changed by heat-treatment.

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 Various Features of Fe-C diagram
Phases present
L
a ferrite
d BCC structure
BCC structure Ferromagnetic
Paramagnetic Fairly ductile

g austenite Fe3C cementite

FCC structure Orthorhombic
Reactions Non-magnetic Hard
ductile brittle
Peritectic L + d = g
Max. solubility of C in ferrite=0.022%
Eutectic L = g + Fe3C

Eutectoid
02/05/2023 g = a + Fe3C Max. solubility of C in austenite=2.11%
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 Three Phase Reactions
• Peritectic, at 1490 deg.C, with low wt% C
alloys (almost no engineering importance).
• Eutectic, at 1130 deg.C, with 4.3wt% C, alloys
called cast irons.
• Eutectoid, at 723 deg.C with eutectoid
composition of 0.8wt% C, two-phase mixture
(ferrite & cementite). They are steels.
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 How to read the Fe-C phase diagram
Eutectic
eutectoid
Pearlite and
Cementine

Austenite

Ferrite
Pearlite and
Carbide
Pearlite

Steel Cast iron

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 The Iron-Iron Carbide Diagram
The diagram shows three horizontal lines which indicate
isothermal reactions (on cooling / heating):
• First horizontal line is at 1490°C, where peritectic
reaction takes place:
Liquid +  ↔ austenite
• Second horizontal line is at 1130°C, where eutectic
reaction takes place:
liquid ↔ austenite + cementite
• Third horizontal line is at 723°C, where eutectoid
reaction takes place:
austenite ↔ pearlite (mixture of ferrite &
cementite)
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 Delta region of Fe-Fe carbide diagram
Liquid +  ↔ austenite

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Ferrite region of
Fe-Fe Carbide
diagram

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 Simplified Iron-Carbon phase diagram
austenite ↔ pearlite (mixture of ferrite & cementite)

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The Austenite to ferrite / cementite transformation in
relation to Fe-C diagram

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 The Austenite to ferrite / cementite
transformation in relation to Fe-C diagram
In order to understand the transformation
processes, consider a steel of the eutectoid
composition. 0.8% carbon, being slow cooled along
line x-x‘.
• At the upper temperatures, only austenite is
present, with the 0.8% carbon being dissolved in
solid solution within the FCC. When the steel cools
through 723°C, several changes occur
simultaneously.
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The Austenite to ferrite / cementite transformation in
relation to Fe-C diagram

• The iron wants to change crystal structure

from the FCC austenite to the BCC ferrite,
but the ferrite can only contain 0.02%
carbon in solid solution.
• The excess carbon is rejected and forms the
carbon-rich intermetallic known as
cementite.

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 Pearlitic structure

• The net reaction at the

eutectoid is the formation of
pearlitic structure.
• Since the chemical
separation occurs entirely
within crystalline solids, the
resultant structure is a fine
mixture of ferrite and
cementite.
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 Schematic picture of the formation and
growth of pearlite

Cementite
Ferrite

Austenite
boundary

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 Nucleation & growth of pearlite

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The Austenite to ferrite / cementite transformation in relation to Fe-C diagram

• Hypo-eutectoid steels: Steels having less than 0.8%

carbon are called hypo-eutectoid steels (hypo means
"less than").
• Consider the cooling of a typical hypo-eutectoid alloy
along line y-y‘.
• At high temperatures the material is entirely
austenite.
• Upon cooling it enters a region where the stable
phases are ferrite and austenite.
• The low-carbon ferrite nucleates and grows, leaving
the remaining austenite richer in carbon.
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 The Austenite to ferrite / cementite
transformation in relation to Fe-C diagram
• Hypo-eutectoid steels- At
723°C, the remaining austenite
will have assumed the eutectoid
composition (0.8% carbon), and
further cooling transforms it to
pearlite.
• The resulting structure, is a
mixture of primary or pro-
eutectoid ferrite (ferrite that
forms before the eutectoid
reaction) and regions of pearlite.

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 The Austenite to ferrite / cementite transformation in
relation to Fe-C diagram

• Hyper-eutectoid steels (hyper means "greater

than") are those that contain more than the
eutectoid amount of Carbon.
• When such a steel cools, as along line z-z' , the
process is similar to the hypo-eutectoid steel,
except that the primary or pro-eutectoid phase is
now cementite instead of ferrite.

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 The Austenite to ferrite / cementite transformation in
relation to Fe-C diagram
• As the carbon-rich phase nucleates and grows, the
remaining austenite decreases in carbon content,
again reaching the eutectoid composition at 723°C.
• This austenite transforms to pearlite upon slow
cooling through the eutectoid temperature.
• The resulting structure consists of primary
cementite and pearlite.
• The continuous network of primary cementite will
cause the material to be extremely brittle.
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The Austenite to ferrite / cementite transformation in
relation to Fe-C diagram

Hypo-eutectoid steel showing primary cementite along grain

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boundaries pearlite
 The Austenite to ferrite / cementite
transformation in relation to Fe-C diagram
• It should be noted that the transitions as
discussed, are for equilibrium conditions,
as a result of slow cooling.
• Upon slow heating the transitions will
occur in the reverse manner.

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The Austenite to ferrite / cementite transformation in
relation to Fe-C diagram
• When the alloys are cooled rapidly, entirely
different results are obtained, since sufficient time
may not be provided for the normal phase
reactions to occur.
• In these cases, the equilibrium phase diagram is no
longer a valid tool for engineering analysis.
• Rapid-cool processes are important in the heat
treatment of steels and other metals (to be
discussed later in H/T of steels).
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Principal phases of steel and their Characteristics

Crystal
Phase Characteristics
structure
Ferrite BCC Soft, ductile, magnetic

Soft, moderate
Austenite FCC strength, non-
magnetic

Compound of Iron
Cementite & Carbon Fe3C Hard &brittle

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 Alloying Steel with more Elements

• Teutectoid changes: • Ceutectoid changes:

(wt%C)
0.8
T Eutectoid (°C)

1200 Ti Si
Mo W 0.6 Ni
10 00 Cr

C eutectoid
Cr 0.4
8 00 Si
Mn
Mn 0.2 W
600 Ti Mo
Ni
0
0 4 8 12 0 4 8 12
wt. % of alloying elements wt. % of alloying elements

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 Cast Irons
-Iron-Carbon alloys of 2.11%C
or more are cast irons.
-Typical composition: 2.0-
4.0%C,0.5-3.0% Si, less than
1.0% Mn and less than 0.2%
S.
-Si-substitutes partially for C
and promotes formation of
graphite as the carbon rich
component instead Fe3C.

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 Applications
• It is used tailor properties of steel and to heat
treat them.
• It is also used for comparison of crystal
structures for metallurgists in case of rupture
or fatigue

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 Thanks

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