ANIRUDHA SAMANT

REG NO.- 16BME1044

SLOT- C1

ALLOY STEELS
Alloy steel is steel that is alloyed with a variety of elements in total amounts between 1.0%
and 50% by weight to improve its mechanical properties.

Types of steels –
 Low carbon steels
 Medium carbon steels
 High carbon steels
 HSLA steels
 Dual phase steels
 Tool steels
 TRIP steels
 Stainless steels
Low Carbon Steels –
Plain carbon steels are iron-carbon alloys in which the properties are mainly derived from the
presence of carbon
Eg: Mn, Si, S, and P

Another group of low-carbon alloys are the high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA)

steels. They contain other alloying elements such as copper, vanadium, nickel, and
molybdenum in combined concentrations as high as 10 wt%, and possess higher
strengths than the plain low-carbon steels. Most may be strengthened by heat
Medium-Carbon Steels –
The medium-carbon steels have carbon concentrations 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. They are most often utilized
in the tempered condition, having microstructures of tempered martensite.
The plain medium-carbon steels have low hardenabilities
High-Carbon Steels –
The high-carbon steels, normally having 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 and, as such, are especially wear
resistant and capable of holding a sharp cutting edge. The tool and die steels are
high-carbon alloys, usually containing chromium, vanadium, tungsten, and molybdenum.
These alloying elements combine with carbon to form very hard and wearresistant
carbide compounds
Stainless Steels –
The stainless steels are highly resistant to corrosion (rusting) in a variety of environments,
especially the ambient atmosphere. 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

Types:
 Martensitic stainless steel
 Ferritic stainless steel
 Austenitic stainless steel
Martensitic stainless steel –
 Cr : 11.5 to 18%
 Magnetic
 Can be coldworked without difficulty
 Can be machined easily
 Good toughness, good corrosion resistance
 Can be easily hot worked
Ferritic stainless steel –
 Cr : 14 to 27%
 Low in carbon content, higher Cr content
 Magnetic, cold-worked or hot-worked
 Hardened by cold working only – not by heat treatment
 Used extensively for deep drawn parts such as vessels.
Austenitic stainless steel –
 Cr-Ni and Cr-Ni-Mn type stainless steels
 Total content of Cr and Ni is at least 23%
 These are austenitic, nonmagnetic in annealed condition
 They do not harden by heat treatment
 Can be hot worked and cold-worked
 Extremely shock resistant
 Best high temperature strength and resistance to scaling
 Corrosion resistance is better than ferritic and martensitic stainless steels

Dual-phase steel (DP steel) –

It is a high-strength steel that has a ferritic–martensitic microstructure. DP steels are
produced from low or medium carbon steels that are quenched from a temperature above
A1 but below A3 determined from continuous cooling transformation diagram. This results in
a microstructure consisting of a soft ferrite matrix containing islands of martensite as the
secondary phase (martensite increases the tensile strength). Therefore, the overall behavior of
DP steels is governed by the volume fraction, morpology (size, aspect ratio, interconnectivity,
etc.), the grain size and the carbon content.
Their advantages are as follows:

 Low yield strength

 Low yield to tensile strength ratio (yield strength / tensile strength = 0.5)
 High initial strain hardening rates
 Good uniform elongation
 A high strain rate sensitivity (the faster it is crushed the more energy it absorbs
 Good fatigue resistance

TRIP steels –

 TRIP steel is a high-strength steel typically used in the automotive industry. TRIP
stands for "Transformation induced plasticity." It is known for its outstanding
combination of Strength and Ductility.
 TRIP steel has a microstructure consisting of retained Austenite in a ferrite matrix.
Apart from Retained Austenite it also contains hard phases
like Bainite and Martensite. The higher silicon and carbon content of TRIP steels
results in significant volume fractions of retained austenite in the final
microstructure.
 TRIP steels use higher quantities of carbon than Dual Phase steels to obtain
sufficient carbon content for stabilizing the retained austenite phase to below
ambient temperature. Higher contents of silicon and/or aluminium accelerate
the ferrite/bainite formation. They are also added to avoid formation of carbide in
the bainite region.
Tool steels –
 Tool steels usually contain significantly more alloying elements than alloy steels

 The most significant metallurgical difference between tool steels and the other steels
is their microstructure. A fully hardened carbon steel or alloy steel would have only
martensite as the predominant phase. Most tool steels have a hardened structure of
martensite and alloy carbides

 Require special heat treatment processes.

 Better hardenability than most carbon and alloy steels.

 High heat resistance.

 Easier to heat treat .

 Most tool steels are sold as hot-finished shapes such as rounds and bars.

Effect of alloying elements on steels –

Manganese –
 Deoxidizer- Reacts with oxygen in ferrous oxide and joins in slag
 Removes harmful FeS
 Improves strength by forming solid solution in ferrite
 Reduces red-shortness- brittleness at high temperatures
 Ranges from 0.5 -0.8%

Silicon –
 Deoxidizer
 Forms solid solution with ferrite – increases yeild point
 Ranges from 0.35-0.5%

Sulphur –
 Comes from raw material and furnace gases
 Harmful impurity- forms low melting point FeS at grain boundaries

Phosphorus –
 Comes from raw material
 Content should be kept low (0.02-0.5%)
 Forms Fe3P which is brittle
 Increases the tensile strength and yield point but reduces ductility and toughness
Carbon –
 The most important constituent of steel
 It raises tensile strength, hardness, and resistance to wear and abrasion
 It lowers ductility, toughness and machinability

Chromium –
 Increases tensile strength, hardness, hardenability, toughness, resistance to wear and
abrasion, resistance to Corrosion, scaling at elevated temperatures

Cobalt –
 Increases strength and hardness and permits higher quenching temperatures and increases
the red hardness of high speed steel.
 It also intensifies the individual effects of other major elements of steel

Vanadium –
 Increases strength, hardness, wear resistance and resistance to shock impact.
 It retards grain growth, permitting higher quenching temperatures.
 It also enhances the red-hardness of properties of high speed metal cutting tools
 CAST IRON
Cast iron is group of iron carbon alloy with carbon content greater than 2%

Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature.

Carbon (C) ranging from 1.8–4 wt%, and silicon (Si) 1–3 wt% are the main alloying
elements of cast iron.

TYPES OF CAST IRONS –

1. White Cast Iron

2. Malleable Cast Iron

3. Grey Cast Iron

4. Chilled Cast Iron

5. Ductile Cast Iron (SG Cast Iron)

White Cast Iron –

 It is the cast iron that displays white fractured surface
due to the presence of cementite.
 It has a lower silicon content (graphitizing agent) and
faster cooling rate, the carbon in white cast iron
precipitates out of the melt as the metastable phase
cementite, Fe3 C, rather than graphite.
 White iron is too brittle for use in many structural
components.

Properties –

 It has good hardness and abrasion resistance and relatively low cost.
 It has superior tensile strength.
 It has high malleability.

Application –

 It finds use in such applications as the wear surfaces (impeller and volute) of slurry
pumps.
 It is used as shell liners and lifter bars in ball mills and autogenous grinding mills.
 It is used in balls and rings in coal pulverisers.
Malleable Cast Iron –
 Malleable iron starts as a white iron casting that is then
heat treated at about 900 °C.
 Graphite separates out much more slowly in this case,
so that to form it into spheroidal particles rather than
flakes.
 In general, the properties of malleable cast iron are
more like mild steel. There is a limit to how large a part
can be cast in malleable iron, since it is made from
white cast iron

Properties –

 Mellable cast iron have high toughness.

 It has high ductility.
 It has good impact resistance.
 It has good wear resistance.

Applications –

 It is used in parts that are to be coined or pierced.

 It is used in parts for maximum machinability.

Grey Cast Iron –

 Grey cast iron is characterised by its graphitic
microstructure, which causes fractures of the material to
have a grey appearance.
 It is the most commonly used cast iron and the most
widely used cast material based on weight.
 Most cast irons have a chemical composition of 2.5–
4.0% carbon, 1–3% silicon, and the balance is iron.
 Grey cast iron has less tensile strength and shock
resistance than steel, but its compressive strength is
comparable to low and medium carbon steel.
 Base structures for machines and heavy equipment that are exposed to vibrations are
frequently constructed of this material.
Properties –

 It is resistant to deformation.
 They are very effective in damping vibrational energy.
 It has high low melting point.
 It has resistance to deformation.
 It haslow melting point.
 It has high compressive strength.
 It has high tensile strength.

Ductile Cast Iron (SG Cast Iron) –

 It is also called nodular cast iron or spheroidal
graphite iron
 Tiny amounts of magnesium or cerium added
to these alloys slow down the growth of
graphite precipitates
 Along with careful control of other elements
and timing, this allows the carbon to separate
as spheroidal particles as the material
solidifies.
 The properties are similar to malleable iron,
but parts can be cast with larger sections.

Ductile iron owes its remarkable mechanical properties to the spheroidal shape of its
graphite–

 tensile strength impact resistance,

 high elastic limit,
 good elongation.
Applications –
 Ductile iron is specifically useful in many automotive components.
 It is used as pipes for water and sewer lines.
Compacted graphite Cast Iron –
Iron has characteristics midway between ductile and gray iron
and combines many of the properties of both. Compacted
graphite iron is challenging to make with uniformity,
Waupaca Foundry closely monitors the Producing process.

This type of iron provides many advantages –

 Compacted graphite iron has characteristics midway
between ductile and gray iron and combines many of the
properties of both.
 Compacted graphite iron is challenging to make with
uniformity, Waupaca Foundry closely monitors the
increased dampening properties

Chilled cast iron –

 It is difficult to cool thick castings fast enough to solidify the melt as white cast iron
all the way through.
 However, rapid cooling can be used to solidify a shell of white cast iron, after which
the remainder cools more slowly to form a core of grey cast iron.
 The resulting casting, called a chilled casting, has the benefits of a hard surface and a
somewhat tougher interior.

Properties –

 It has high hardness.

 It has high strength.
 It has high toughness.

Alloying elements and their effects –

Cast iron's properties are changed by adding various alloying elements. Next
to carbon, silicon is the most important alloyant because it forces carbon out of solution.

A low percentage of silicon allows carbon to remain in solution forming iron carbide and the
production of white cast iron.
A high percentage of silicon forces carbon out of solution forming graphite and the
production of grey cast iron.
Other alloying agents, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, titanium and vanadium
counteracts silicon, promotes the retention of carbon, and the formation of those carbides.

Nickel and copper increase strength, and machinability, but do not change the amount of
graphite formed.
The carbon in the form of graphite results in a softer iron, reduces shrinkage, lowers strength,
and decreases density.

Sulphur is largely a contaminant when present, forms iron sulphide, which prevents the
formation of graphite and increases hardness.
The problem with sulphur is that it makes molten cast iron viscous, which causes defects. To
counter the effects of sulphur, manganese is added because the two form into manganese
sulphide instead of iron sulphide. The manganese sulphide is lighter than the melt so it tends
to float out of the melt and into the slag. The amount of manganese required to neutralize
sulphur is 1.7 × sulphur content + 0.3%. If more than this amount of manganese is added,
then manganese carbide forms, which increases hardness and chilling, except in grey iron,
where up to 1% of manganese increases strength and density.
Nickel is one of the most common alloying elements because it refines the pearlite and
graphite structure, improves toughness, and evens out hardness differences between section
thicknesses.
Chromium is added in small amounts to reduce free graphite, produce chill, and because it is
a powerful carbide stabilizer; nickel is often added in conjunction. A small amount of tin can
be added as a substitute for 0.5% chromium. Copper is added in the ladle or in the furnace, on
the order of 0.5–2.5%, to decrease chill, refine graphite, and increase fluidity.
Molybdenum is added on the order of 0.3–1% to increase chill and refine the graphite and
pearlite structure; it is often added in conjunction with nickel, copper, and chromium to form
high strength irons.
Titanium is added as a degasser and deoxidizer, but it also increases fluidity. 0.15–0.5%
Vanadium is added to cast iron to stabilize cementite, increase hardness, and increase
resistance to wear and heat. 0.1–0.3% zirconium helps to form graphite, deoxidize, and
increase fluidity.
Bismuth is added, on the scale of 0.002–0.01%, to increase how much silicon can be added.
In white iron, boron is added to aid in the production of malleable iron; it also reduces the
coarsening effect of bismuth.