Section 4.

Steel
Did you know? Iron is abundant in the universe, found in the sun and many types of stars in considerable
quantity. The core of the earth is thouht to be made up of nickel and iron, and is hotter than the Sun!s
surface. This intense heat from the inner core causes material in the outer core and mantle to move around
"convection currents#.
Carbon Steel
Steel is an alloy of iron "$e# and carbon "%#, with &.' to '.&4( carbon by weiht. %arbon is the most
cost)effective alloyin material for iron, but various other alloyin elements are used such as mananese,
chromium, vanadium, and tunsten. %arbon and other elements act as a hardenin aent, preventin
dislocations in the iron atom crystal lattice from slidin past one another.
Carbon Steel ANSI def'n General Def'n Applications and properties
*ow carbon steel &.&+,&.-+( .&.-( Soft, ductile. /asy to form.
0ild Steel &.-1)&.'2( &.-)&.'+(
*ow tensile strenth, but it is cheap and
malleable3 surface hardness can be increased
throuh carburi4in.
0edium carbon steel &.5&,&.+2( &.'+)&.4+(
6alances ductility and strenth and has ood wear
resistance3 used for lare parts, forin and
automotive components.
7ih carbon steel &.1,&.22( &.4+)-.&(
8ery stron, used for sprins and hih)strenth
wires.
9ltra)hih carbon
steel
-.&,'.&(
-.&)-.+&(
":-.+( rare#
8ery hard ) knives, punches. 9sually anythin
over -.'( would be made with powder
metallury and is considered a hih alloy carbon
steels.
%ast Iron , '.+)4.&(
*ower meltin point, easy castin, lower
touhness and strenth than steel.
8aryin the amount of alloyin elements and the way they incorporated into the steel "solute elements,
precipitated phase# influences such properties as hardness, ductility and tensile strenth of the resultin
steel. ;ith increased carbon content steel becomes harder and stroner than iron, but also more brittle.
The ma<imum solubility of carbon in iron "in austenite reion# is '.-4( by weiht, occurrin at --42 =%3
hiher concentrations of carbon or lower temperatures will produce cementite "very brittle#. >dd any
more carbon and you et cast iron, which has a lower meltin point and is easier to cast.
Wrought iron containin only a very small amount of other elements, but contains -,5( by weiht of
sla in the form of particles elonated in one direction, ivin the iron a characteristic rain. It is more
rust)resistant than steel and welds more easily. It is common today to talk about !the iron and steel
industry! as if it were a sinle entity, but historically they were separate products.
Steel has been produced for thousands of years, but it became common after more efficient production
methods were devised in the -?th century. The 6essemer process in the mid -@&&!s made steel relatively
ine<pensive for mass)produced oods. $urther refinements in the process, such as basic o<yen
steelmakin, further lowered the cost of production while increasin the quality of the metal. Today, steel
is one of the most common materials in the world and is a maAor component in buildins, tools,
automobiles, and appliances.
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Hardening of Steel
Temper colours can be used as a uide to temperature. >lloys such as stainless steel form thinner films
than do carbon steels for a iven temperature and hence produce a colour lower in the series. $or
e<ample, pale straw corresponds to 5&&=% for SS, instead of '5&=% for %S.
Temper Colour Temp C
!amples applications
Bale straw '5& Blanin and slottin tools
Dark straw '4& 0illin cutters, drills
6rown '+& Taps, shear blades for metals
6rownish)purple '1& Bunches, cups, snaps, twist drills, reamers
Burple '?& Bress tools, a<es
Dark purple '@& %old chisels, setts for steel
6lue 5&& Saws for wood, sprins
Dark 6lue 4+&)1+& Touhenin for constructional steels
"ID#$ %roperties and Grain Structure& ''C ()*+
,These are a-ailable on the net.or/0 but not on the .ebsite1
%art ($ What is a grain2 ,"ideo1
-. The patches seen on a alvanised obAect are crystals or grains of 4inc.
'. >ll metals are made up of rains, but they are usually invisible "too small to see or same shine/colour#.
5. Etchin BrocessC 0irror finish, powerful acid, washed and sealed.
4. In a pure metal, the rains are different colours because of the way they reflect the light.
+. Tiny crystals row outward until they meet. /ach fully grown crystal is called a rain.
%art 3$ 4ecr5stallisation ,"ideo1
-. 6efore cold workin the rains are similar si4e and shape
'. %old workin elongates the grains, increases hardness and strength increases, reduces ductility.
4. >t 5+&%, new rains form in the >l to replace old rains. %alled recrystallisation
+. Decrystallisation softens, lowers the strenth, ductility increased
1. /<cessive recrystallisation temp ives poor mechanical properties
%art +$ Heat Treatment of Steel ,"ideo1
-. Steel rains are too small to be visible ) need a microscope appro< '+& times manification.
'. FerriteC *iht coloured. 0ade of iron. Ductility to the steel
5. PearliteC darker coloured. *ayers of Iron E Iron %arbide. 7ardess and strenth to the steel
4. -&&( Bearlite is about &.@(%. Bearlite, recrystallisation temperature ?'&%.
+. Normalising ) cooled in air, reduced rain si4e and more uniform shape, touhness increased
1. Quenching ) increases hardness. Fot enouh time for pearlite to form, so a needlelike strcture forms )
martensite. 8ery hard and brittle.
?. Tempering ) "after quenchin# restores touhness. 0odifies the martensite needles with small flakes of
carbon. This ives hardness >FD touhness.
@. &.-(% steel "0ild Steel#. Decrystalisation 2&&%. Fot enouh carbon to produce martensite.
Iron6Carbon 7uilibrium Diagram
>n /quilibrium diaram is a raph of the different structural arranements that occur within a rane of an
alloyin element.
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This diaram shows how iron and carbon combines I$ it is cooled slowly "in equilibrium#. 9nder '( is
steel, over '( is cast iron. %ementite $e
5
% has 1.1?(% and it is basically a ceramic. The eutectoid
"pearlite# at / has &.@5( %, less carbon is a hypoeutectoid steel ">#, and reater is hypereutectoid "6#.
>lpha iron "ferrite#, amma iron "austenite, which only e<ists at hih temperature#, and delta iron
"another hih temp structure#.
>llotropic chanes take place when there is a chane in crystal lattice structure. $rom -+52G)-4&&G% the
delta iron has a body)centered cubic lattice structure. >t -4&&G%, the lattice chanes from a body)centered
cubic to a face)centered cubic lattice type. >t '-&G%, the curve shows a plateau but this does not sinify
an allotropic chane. It is called the %urie temperature, where the metal chanes its manetic properties.
Two very important phase chanes take place at &.@5(% and at 4.5( %. >t &.@5(%, the transformation is
eutectoid, called pearlite. These ' phases separate out in layers.
amma "austenite# )): alpha E $e5% "cementite#
>t 4.5( % and '&11G$, the transformation is eutectic, called ledeburite.
*"liquid# )): amma "austenite# E $e5% "cementite#
This is way too much carbon for steel.
Allo5 Steels
/ffects of alloyin elements on tool steel propertiesC
%arbonC Daisin carbon content increases hardness slihtly and wear resistance considerably.
Dramatic increases to hardness H strenth when heat treated.
0ananeseC Small amounts of of 0ananense reduce brittleness and improve foreability. *arer
amounts of mananese improve hardenability, permit oil quenchin, and reduce quenchin
deformation.
SiliconC Improves strenth, touhness, and shock resistance.
TunstenC Improves Ihot hardnessI ) used in hih)speed tool steel.
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8anadiumC Defines carbide structure and improves foreability, also improvin hardness and wear
resistance.
0olybdenumC Improves deep hardenin, touhness, and in larer amounts, Ihot hardnessI. 9sed
in hih speed tool steel because it!s cheaper than tunsten.
%hromiumC Improves hardenability, wear resistance and touhness.
FickelC Improves touhness and wear resistance to a lesser deree.
Includin these elements in varyin combinations can act syneristically, increasin the effects of usin
them alone.
Tool Steels
Tool steels are covered in >ustralian Standard >S-'52 and is virtually the same as the >merican >ISI
tool steel classification. "Similarly with 6ritish Standard 41+2# $or e<ampleC >S -'52 rade 7-5 hot
work tool steel containin &.5+( carbon, +.&( chromium, -.+( molybdenum and -( vanadium would
be written as J4&%r0o8+- in DIF "Kerman#.
7ih Speed Steels, for e<ampleC >S -'52 rade 0' %ontainin &.@+( carbon, 4.&( chromium, +.&(
molybdenum, 1.&( tunsten, '.&( vanadium would be written as S 1)+)' in DIF.
Klossary
-. >lloyC > metallic substance that is composed of two
or more elements.
'. >usteniteC $ace)centered cubic iron or an iron alloy
based on this structure.
5. 6ainiteC The product of the final transformation of
austenite decomposition.
4. 6ody)centeredC > structure in which every atom is
surrounded by eiht adAacent atoms, whether the atom
is located at a corner or at the center of a unit cell.
+. %ementiteC The second phase formed when carbon is
in e<cess of the solubility limit.
1. %ritical pointC Boint where the densities of liquid and
vapor become equal and the interface between the two
vanishes. >bove this point, only one phase can e<ist.
?. Delta ironC The body)centered cubic phase which
results when austenite is no loner the most stable
form of iron. /<ists between '@&' and '++' derees
$, has 6%% lattice structure and is manetic.
@. /utecticC > eutectic system occurs when a liquid
phase tramsforms directly to a two)phase solid.
2. /utectoidC > eutectoid system occurs when a sinle)
phase solid transforms directly to a two)phase solid.
-&. $ace)centeredC > structure in which there is an atom at
the corner of each unit cell and one in the center of
each face, but no atom in the center of the cube.
--. $erriteC 6ody)centered cubic iron or an iron alloy
based on this structure.
-'. $ine pearliteCDesults from thin lamellae when coolin
rates are accelerated and diffusion is limited to shorter
distances.
-5. 7ypereutectoidC 7ypereutectoid systems e<ist below
the eutectoid temperature.
-4. 7ypoeutectoidC 7ypoeutectoid systems e<ist above
the eutectoid temperature.
-+. *edeburiteC /utectic of cast iron. It e<ists when the
carbon content is reater than ' percent. It contains
4.5 percent carbon in combination with iron.
-1. *iquidus *ineC Ln a binary phase diaram, that line or
boundary separatin liquid and liquid E solid phase
reions. $or an alloy, the liquidus temperature is that
temperature at which a solid phase first forms under
conditions of equilibrium coolin.
-?. 0artensiteC >n unstable polymorphic phase of iron
which forms at temperatures below the eutectoid
because the face)centered cubic structure of austenite
becomes unstable. It chanes spontaneously to a
body)centered structure by shearin action, not
diffusion.
-@. 0icrostructureC Structure of the phases in a material.
%an only be seen with an optical or electron
mircoscope.
-2. BearliteC > lamellar mi<ture of ferrite and carbide
formed by decomposin austenite of eutectoid
composition.
'&. BhaseC > homoeneous portion of a system that has
uniform physical and chemical characteristics.
'-. Bhase diaramC > raphical representation of the
relationships between environmental constraints,
composition, and reions of phase stability, ordinarily
under conditions of equilibrium.
''. BolymorphicC The ability of a solid material to e<ist in
more than one form or crystal structure.
'5. MuenchC To rapidly cool
'4. Solidus *ineC Ln a phase diaram, the locus of points
at which solidification is complete upon equilibrium
coolin, or at which meltin beins upon equilibrium
heatin.
'+. SolubilityC The amount of substance that will dissolve
in a iven amount of another substance.

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