ENGD2007: Strength of Materials

CES Assignment 2: Effect of Carbon Content on Properties of

Plain Carbon Steels

Name: Nizamuddin Patel

Date: 17th October 2016

Instructions

1. Read this lab note, including the Appendix in page 5.

2. Using the CES package, find the average values of material properties/attributes of steels listed in the
table on the next page. Complete the table and graphs, and then answer the questions in the following
page.
3. This work counts towards 10% of CW in Term 1.
4. Submit this logsheet via the Blackboard by 10.00 pm, next week Thursday.

Learning outcomes

1) Understand the effect of carbon content on strength and Young’s modulus of steels
2) Understand the effect of quench hardening on strength and Young’s modulus of steels

Using CES …
(1) login the computer in the Lab using your username and password
(2) Find the CES EduPack package in the All Programs folder
(3) Click CES EduPack to open CES Selector. Then select
Level 3
Table: MaterialUniverse
Subject: All materials
Click Metals and Alloys
Click Ferrous
Click Low carbon steel, or Medium carbon steel, or High carbon steel
Click Wrought
Click the steel name and then
select heat treatment condition to open the information file.
(4) To find material’s information
 Each material’s information file contains a brief description, some technical notes, and a list of material’s
properties.
 Composition: the compositions of a material are given in weight percent over a range, for example
C: 0.7 – 1.7 %: means that the carbon (C) content ranges from 0.7% to 1.7%. The average carbon content
is found by (0.7 + 1.7) / 2 = 1.2%
 Property of the material is also given over a range with a unit. For example,

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 Compressive strength: 335 – 1.16e3 MPa: means the compressive strength of this material ranges from
335 MPa to 1160 MPa. The average value is found by (335 + 1160) / 2 = 747.5 MPa
e3 = 103

Find carbon content, tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the following carbon steels, calculate
the averages, and complete the following table.

Annealed Condition Quenched*+ 205oC Tempered

Material Carbon Tensile Young’s Carbon Tensile Young’s
Content (%C) Strength Modulus Content Strength Modulus
(MPa) (GPa) (Average) (MPa) (GPa)

1015 steel 0.155 387.5 210

1025 steel 0.25 399 205

1040 steel 0.405 525 212 0.405 897.5 212

1050 steel 0.515 637.5 212 0.515 1125 212

1060 steel 0.6 625 212 0.6 1105 212

1080 steel 0.815 615 207.5 0.815 1315 207.5

1095 steel 0.965 655 207.5 0.965 1490 207.5

* Note: select Water quench if available, otherwise select Oil quench.

** Note: 1015 and 1025 steels are not quench-hardenable.

Please Turn Over …

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Now, plot Tensile Strength against Carbon Content for both annealed and quenched + tempered steels in
the same graph below. Do the same for Young’s modulus in the second graph

Tampering effect on steel with carbon content

1600

1400
Tensile Strength (MPA)

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Carbon Content (%C)

Tensile Strength (MPa)- Annealed Tensile Strength (MPa)- Quenched + 205°C Tempered

Figure 1: Tampering Effect on steel

Tempering effect of Carbon content on Young's Modulus

(annealed and Quenched)
300

250
Young'sModulus (GPa)

200

150

100

50

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Carbon Content (%C)

Young's Modulus (GPa)- Annealed Young's Modulus (GPa)- Quenched + 205°C Tempered

Figure 2: Tampering effect on Young’s Modulus

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Carefully examine the above completed table and graphs, and attempt the following questions:

1. What makes steel strong and hard?

Steel is strong and hard due to the carbon content within the steel. The inclusion of carbon in
its molecular structure makes the steel hard.

Some of the carbon atoms dissolve in the steel lattice and therefore causing solid solution
hardening. Some carbon combines with the steel to form hard Fe3C cementite phased,
causing dispersion hardening.

2. What does it mean by quenching?

Quenching is when a metal is rapidly cooled in a liquid after being heated to a high
temperature to obtain certain material properties. This hardens the steel

3. How does carbon content affect the tensile strength of steels?

Carbon content affects tensile strength in a way, where steel with higher concentration of
carbon content will have a higher tensile strength than the steel with a lower concentration of
carbon in its molecular structure.

As can be seen in Fig 1, as the carbon content of steel increases, the tensile strength of those
steel also increases

4. How does carbon content affect the Young’s modulus of steels?

There is little correlation between carbon content and Young’s Modulus of steel.
In Fig2, you can see that the Young’s Modulus does not increase as carbon content is
increased.

5. How does hardening by quenching affect the strength and Young’s modulus of steels?
Hardening by quenching prevents low temperature processes from occurring. It does this by
reducing the time during which these undesired reactions are both thermodynamically
favourable and kinetically accessible. For instance, quenching can reduce the crystal grain size
of both metallic and plastic materials, increasing their hardness

6. The Young’s modulus of steels can be increased by adding more carbon, or by a hardening
heat treatment.

(a) True, or
(b) False

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 7. The two techniques used to increase the strength of steel are
(a) making it bigger
(b) increasing the carbon content
(c) by quenching from high temperature
(d) by casting it

8. What is the average carbon content of AISI 1070 steel? (show your working)

The Table above shows carbon composition is between 0.65 and 0.75
(0.65 + 0.75)
= 0.7
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Average Carbon Content for AISI 1070 is 0.7%

9. What is the average carbon content of AISI 4245 steel? (show your working)

Calculations (Using the Appendix): the last 2 digits in the AISI number represent the average
carbon content percentage (x10-2)

Average Carbon Content for AISI 4245 is 0.45%

10. Can you increase the Young’s modulus of steels? Explain.

From the table we can see that Young’s Modulus of steel averages around 210 GPa. The
Young’s modulus does not change after quenching. When carbon content is adjusted (from
0.15-0.95) of the steel the Young’s Modulus at its peak is 212 GPa, the lowest being 205 GPa.
The difference in Young’s Modulus is 7 GPa, which is relatively small and negligible.

However, it may be possible to increase Young’s Modulus using different methods, that have
not been tested in this report.

Although it may be possible to increase Young’s Modulus of steel; from my readings I conclude
that Young’s Modulus cannot increase significantly to have an impact.

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http://www.iron-foundry.com/AISI-1070-SAE-UNS-G10700-Carbon-Steel-Foundry.html
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Appendix:

AISI steel specification –

Four digits: X X X X
divided by 100 = carbon
content (in wt%)

Alloying condition:
10: no other alloy elements (carbon steel)
Others: alloy steels (details cannot be
revealed by the digits)

Annealing steels – heat the steel to a high temperature (800-1000oC), soak for a period of time,
then cool the steel very slowly inside the furnace, producing a structure with low strength.

Hardening of steels: heat the steel to a high temperature (800-1000oC), soak for a period of time,
then cool the steel rapidly by quenching in water or other cooling media, producing a hard structure
(called martensite) with significantly increased strength, but reduced toughness.

Tempering of steels: After quench-hardening, steels are always tempered by heating to a

temperature between 160oC and 650oC for a couple of hours to achieve the required strength and
to improve toughness.