Steel | Types and Manufacturing

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, with carbon content upto a maximum
of 1.5%. Most of the steel produced now-a-days is plain carbon steel or
simply carbon steel. It is divided into the following types depending upon
the carbon content:
 
1.Deadmildsteel—upto0.15%Carbon
2.Low carbon or mildsteel —0.15%to0.45% Carbon
3. Medium carbon steel — 0.45% to 0.8% Carbon
4. High carbon steel — 0.8% to 1.5% Carbon

According to Indian standards, the carbon steels are designated in the

following order:

(a) Figure indicating 100 times the average percentage of carbon

content,
(b) Letter 'C', and
(c) Figure indicating 10 times the average percentage of manganese
content. The figure after multiplying shall be rounded off to the nearest
integer.

For example 20C8 means carbon steel containing 0.15 to 0.25% (0.2%
on an average) carbon and 0.60 to 0.90% (0.75% rounded off to 0.8%
on an average) manganese.

The principal methods of manufacturing steel are as follows:

1. Cementation process. The steel made by this process is cement

steel because ferrite in the wrought iron is converted into cementite (i.e.
iron carbide). Since carbon combines with wrought iron and has its
surface covered with blisters, therefore, the steel produced by this
process is known as blister steel.

2. Crucible process. The steel produced by this method is very

homogeneous, free from slag and dirt and much superior to cement
steel. The steel so produced is known as crucible steel.

3. Bessemer process. In a bessemer process, following are the three

distinctive stages used to convert molten pig iron to steel:
(a) In the first stage (known as charging position), the molten pig iron is
poured into the converter.
(b) In the second stage (known as blowing position), the converter is
tilted to the vertical position and the air blast turned on. In this stage, the
silicon and manganese burns out which is indicated by the brown smoke
rising up through the mouth of the converter. After this, the carbon is
next to oxidise which is indicated by a white flame.
(c) In the third stage (known as pouring position), the white flame of the
burning carbon drops and the contents of the converter are poured in a
ladle. Now a small quantity of some alloy rich in carbon and manganese
(i.e. spiegeleisen or ferro-manganese) is added to produce steel of quite
good strength and ductility.

Note : The bessemer process may be acidic or basic depending upon

the lining of furnace. In the acidic bessemer process, the furnace is lined
with silica ricks. The slag produced in this process contains large amount
of silica. Since phosphorus in a pig iron cannot be removed by this
process, therefore acidic bessemer process is unsuitable for producing
steel from pig iron containing large quantities of phosphorus.

In basic bessemer process, also known as Thomas process, the furnace

is lined with a mixture of tar and burned dolomite. This process is
applicable for making steel from pig iron which contains more than 1.5%
phosphorus.

4. Open hearth process. The open hearth process of steel making is

sometimes called `Siemens-Martin Process'. This process is more
suitable than Bessemer process when a large quantity of mild steel, with
definite quality and composition, is required.

5. Duplex process. The duplex process of steel making is a

combination of acidic bessemer process and basic open hearth process.
This process is in operation at Tata Iron and Steel works, Jamshedpur
(Bihar).

6. L-D process (Linz-Donawitz process). It is the latest development in

steel making processes and is now adopted at Rourkela steel plant
where three converters of 40 tonnes capacity are working.

7. Electric process. This process is mainly used for the preparation of

high quality and special alloy steels of high melting point, The electric
process may be acidic or basic, but basic process is mostly used
because it permits extensive elimination of impurities. The basic lined
furnace of the Heroult type is especially adopted to the production of
best quality carbon and alloy steels.
Note: The steel contains small amounts of impurities like silicon,
sulphur, manganese and phosphorus. The effect of these
impurities are as follows:
Silicon in the finished steel usually ranges from 0.05 to 0.30%. It is
added in low carbon steels to prevent them from becoming porous. It
removes the gases and oxides, prevents blow holes and thereby makes
the steel tougher and harder.

Sulphur occurs in steel either as iron sulphide or manganese sulphide.

Iron sulphide because of its low melting point produces red shortness
whereas manganese sulphide does not effect so much.

Manganese serves as a valuable deoxidising and purifying agent, in

steel. When used in ordinary low carbon steels, manganese makes the
metal ductile and of good bending qualities. In high speed steels, it is
used to tougher the metal and to increase its critical temperature.

Phosphorus makes the steel brittle, It also produces cold shortness in

steel. In low carbon steels, it raises the yield point and improves the
resistance to atmospheric corrosion. The sum of carbon and phosphorus
usually does not exceed 0.25%.

Stainless Steel | Engineering

Materials
Stainless Steel is defined as that steel which when correctly
heat treated and finished, resists oxidation and corrosive attack
from most-corrosive media. The different types of stainless
steels are as follows:

1. Martensitic stainless steel. The chromium steels containing

12 to 14% chromium and 0.12 to 0.35% carbon is called
martensitic stainless steel, as they possess martensitic
structure. These steels are magnetic and may be hardened by
suitable heat treatment and the hardness obtainable depends
upon the carbon content. These steels can be easily welded
and machined.

2. Ferritic stainless steel. The steels containing greater

amount of chromium (from 16 to 18%) and about 0.12% carbon
are called ferritic stainless steels. These steels have better
corrosion resistant property than martensitic stainless steels.

3. Austenitic stainless steel. The steel containing high

content of both chromium and nickel are called austenitic
stainless steels. The most widely used steel contains 18%
chromium and 8% nickel. Such a steel is commonly known as
18/8 steel. These steels are non-magnetic and possesses
greatest resistance to corrosion and good mechanical
properties at elevated temperature.

Effect of grain size on mechanical

properties of metals
What is the effect of grain size on mechanical properties of
metals? All solid metals are crystalline and the crystals or
grains are made up of several atoms. The grain size has an
important effect on the mechanical properties of a metal. The
size of the grains depends upon a number of factors, but the
principal one is the heat treatment to which the metal has been
subjected.

When a low carbon steel is heated, there is no change in grain

size upto the *lower critical point and it is same for all steels
(723° C). At this temperature, birth of new grains takes place.
At the upper critical point, the average grain size is a minimum.
Further heating of the steel causes an increase in the size of
the grains, which in turn governs the final size of the grains
when cooled. Some steels like medium carbon steel and many
alloy steels when heated to a higher temperature, known as
coarsening temperature, the grain size increases very rapidly.
The coarsening temperature is not a fixed temperature and
may be changed by prior hot or cold working and heat
treatment.

*The temperature point at which the change starts on heating is

called lower critical point and the temperature point where this
change ends in heating is called upper critical point. It varies
according to the carbon content in steel.

The quenching of steel from the upper critical point results in a

fine grained structure, whereas slow cooling or quenching from
a higher temperature yields a coarse grained structure. The
coarse grained steels are less tough and have greater
tendency for distortion than those having a fine grain. A fine
grained steel, in addition to being tougher, are more ductile and
have less tendency to distort or crack during heat treatment.
What is Metallography
What is Metallography? The study of internal structure of a
metal or alloy, in relation to its physical and mechanical
properties, under a microscope is called metallography.

When the structure of a metal is seen with the naked eye or by

low power magnification, then it is said to be macrography and
the observed structure is macrostructure. On the other hand,
when the structure of the metal is seen at high magnification,
then it is said to be micrography and the observed structure is
called microstructure.

Allotropic Forms of Pure Iron

Allotropic Forms of Pure Iron - we know that pure substances
may exist in more than one crystalline form. Each such
crystalline form is stable over more or less well defined limits of
temperature and pressure. This is known as allotropy or
polymorphism. The pure iron exists in the following three
allotropic forms:

(a) Alpha iron which exists from the room temperature to 910°

C. The alpha iron is ferromagnetic at room temperature. It has
a body centred cubic (B.C.C.) structure.

(b) Gamma iron which exists between 910° C to 1404° C. It

has a face centred cubic (F.C.C.) structure.

(c) Delta iron which exists between 1404° C to 1539° C

(melting point of pure iron). It has a body centred cubic (B.C.C.)
structure but has longer cube edge than B.C.C. structure of
alpha iron.

Heat treatment of engineering

materials
The process of heat treatment is carried out first by heating the
metal and then cooling it in the caustic soda solution, brine,
water, oil or air. The purpose of heat treatment is to soften the
metal, to change the grain size, to modify the structure of the
material and to relieve the stresses set up in the material after
hot or cold working. The various heat treatment processes
commonly employed in engineering practice are as follows:

1. Annealing. It is one of the most important process of heat

treatment of steel. Following are four types of annealing:

(a) Full annealing. The purpose of full annealing is to soften

the metal, to refine the grain structure, to relieve the stresses
and to remove trapped gases in the metal. The process
consists of heating the steel 30-50 degree celcius above the
upper critical temperature for hypo-eutectoid steel and by the
same temperature above the lower critical temperature for
hyper-eutectoid steels. It is held at this temperature for
sometime and then cooled slowly in the furnace.

(b) Process annealing. It is also known as low temperature

annealing or sub-critical annealing. This process is used for
relieving the internal stresses previously set up in the metal and
for increasing the machinability of the steel. In this process,
steel is heated to a temperature below or close to the lower
critical temperature (generally 550° C - 650° C), held at this
temperature for sometime and then cooled slowly.
(c) Spheroidise annealing (spheroidising). It is usually
applied to high carbon tool steels which are difficult to machine.
The operation consists of heating the steel to a temperature
slightly above the lower critical temperature (730° C to 770° C).
It is held at this temperature for sometime and then cooled
slowly to a temperature of 600° C. The spheroidising improves
the machinability of steels, but lowers the hardness and
tensile strength.

(d) Diffusion annealing (Homogenization). This process is

mainly used for ingots and large castings. After diffusion
annealing, the castings undergo full annealing to improve their
properties or to refine grain structure. The process consists of
heating the steel to a high temperature (1100° C — 1200° C). It
is held at this temnerature for 8 to 20 hours and then cooled to
800° C — 850° C inside the furnace for a period of about 6 to 8
hours. It is further cooled in the air to room temperature.

2. Normalising. The normalising is done for the following

purposes:

(a) To refine the grain structure of the steel to improve

machinability, tensile strength and structure of weld.
(b) To remove strains caused by cold working processes.
(c) To remove dislocations caused in the internal structure of
the steel due to hot working.
(d) To improve certain mechanical and electrical properties.

The process of normalising consists of heating the steel 30°C

— 50°C above its upper critical temperature for hypo-eutectoid
steels or Acm line for hyper-eutectoid steels. It is held at this
temperature for about fifteen minutes and then allowed to cool
down in still air. The process of normalising is frequently
applied to castings and forgings etc.

3. Hardening. The main objects of hardening are

(a) To increase the hardness of the metal so that it can resist
wear.
(b) To enable it to cut other metals, i.e. to make it suitable for
cutting tools.

The process of hardening consists of heating the metal to a

temperature of 30°C to 50°C above the upper critical point for
hypo-eutectoid steels and by the same temperature above the
lower critical temperature for hyper-eutectoid steels. It is held at
this temperature for a considerable time and then quenched
(cooled suddenly) in a suitable cooling medium.

4. Austempering. The austempering is misnomer because it is

not a tempering process, but a hardening process. It is also
known as isothermal quenching. In this process, the steel is
heated, above the upper critical temperature, at about 875°C
where the structure consists entirely of austenite. It is then
suddenly cooled by quenching it in a salt bath or lead bath
maintained at a temperature of
about 250°C to 525°C.

5. Martempering. This process is also known as stepped

quenching or interrupted quenching. It consists of heating steel
above the upper critical point and then quenching it in a salt
bath kept at a suitable temperature.

6. Tempering. The tempering (also known as drawing) is done

for the following reasons:

(a) To reduce brittleness of the hardened steel and thus to

increase ductility.
(b) To remove internal stresses caused by rapid cooling of
steel.
(c) To make steel tough to resist shock and fatigue.

The tempering process consists of reheating the hardened

steel to some temperature below the lower critical temperature,
followed by any desired rate of cooling.

7. Surface hardening or Case hardening. In many

engineering applications, it is desirable that a steel being used
should have a hardened surface to resist wear and tear. At the
same time, it should have soft and tough interior or core so that
it is able to absorb any shocks etc. This type of treatment is
applied to gears, ball bearings, railway wheels etc. The various
surface or case hardening processes are as follows:

(a) Carburising
(b) Cyaniding
(c) Nitriding
(d) Induction hardening and
(e) Flame hardening
Non-ferrous Metals and Alloys
Non-ferrous metals and alloys - We have already discussed
that the non-ferrous metals are those which contain a metal
other than iron as their chief constituent. The various non-
ferrous metals used in engineering practice are aluminum,
copper, lead, tin, zinc, nickel etc. and their alloys. These non-
ferrous metals and their alloys are discussed, in brief, as
follows:

1. Aluminum and its alloys: The chief source of aluminum is a

clayey mineral called bauxite which is a hydrated aluminum
oxide. It is extensively used in air craft and automobile
components where saving of weight is an advantage. The main
aluminum alloys are as follows:

(a) Duralumin. The composition of this alloy is as follows:

Copper = 3.5 — 4.5% ; Manganese = 0.40 — 0.70% ;
Magnesium = 0.40 — 0.70% ; and the remaining is aluminum.

This alloy possesses maximum strength (about 400 MPa) after

heat treatment and age hardening. After working, if the metal is
allowed to age for 3 or 4 days, it will be hardened. This
phenomenon is known as age hardening.

(b) Y-alloy. It is also called copper-aluminum alloy. The

composition of this alloy is as follows:
Copper = 3.5 4.5% ; Manganese = 1.2 —1.7% ; Nickel = 1.8 —
2.3% ; silicon, magnesium, iron = 0.6% each ; and the
remaining is aluminum.

This alloy is heat treated and age hardened like duralumin. It

has better strength than duralumin at high temperature.

(c) Magnalium. It is made by melting the aluminum with 2 to

10% magnesium in a vacuum and then cooling it in a vacuum
or under a pressure of 100 to 200 atmospheres. It also contains
about 1.75% copper.

(d) Hindalium. It is an alloy of aluminum and magnesium with

a small quantity of chromium. It is produced as a rolled product
in 16 gauge, mainly for anodized utensil manufacture.

2. Copper and its alloys: The copper is one of the most widely

used non-ferrous metal in industry. It is not found in pure state
form under the earth. It occurs in some minerals such as coper
glance, copper pyrites, malachite and azurite.

The copper alloys are broadly classified into the following two
groups:

(a) Copper-zinc alloys (Brasses), in which zinc is the principal

alloying metal, and
(b) Copper-tin alloys (Bronzes), in which tin is the principal
alloying metal.

The most widely used copper-zinc alloy is brass. This is

fundamentally a binary alloy of copper with zinc each 50%.
There are various types of brasses, depending upon the
proportion of copper and zinc. Brasses are very resistant to
atmospheric corrosion and can be easily soldered.

The alloys of copper and tin are usually termed as bronzes.

The useful range of composition is 75 to 95% copper and 5 to
25% tin. In corrosion resistant properties, bronzes are superior
to brasses. Some of the common types of bronzes are as
follows:

(i) Phosphor bronze. When bronze contains phosphorus, it is

called phosphor bronze. Phosphorus increases the strength,
ductility and soundness of castings. It contains 87 — 90%
copper, 9-10% tin and 0.1-0.3% phosphorus. The alloy
possesses good wearing qualities and high elasticity. It is used
for bearings, worm wheels, gears, nuts, linings. It is also
suitable for making springs.

(ii) Silicon bronze. It contains 96% copper, 3% silicon and 1%

manganese or zinc. It has good general corrosion resistance of
copper combined with higher strength. It is widely used for
boilers, tanks, stoves or where high strength and good
corrosion resistance is required.

(iii) Beryllium bronze. It is a copper base alloy containing

about 97.75% copper and 2.25% beryllium. It has high yield
point, high fatigue limit and excellent cold and hot corrosion
resistance. It is particularly suitable material for springs, heavy
duty electrical switches, cams and bushings. It has a film
forming and a soft lubricating property, which makes it more
suitable as a bearing metal.

(iv) Manganese bronze. It contains 60% copper, 35% zinc and

5% manganese. This metal is high resistant to corrosion. Worm
gears are frequently made from this bronze.

(v) Aluminum bronze. It is an alloy of copper and aluminum.

The aluminum bronze with 6-8% aluminum has valuable cold
working properties. The 6% aluminum alloy has a fine gold
colour which is used for imitation jewellery and decorative
purposes.

3. Gun metal: It is an alloy of copper, tin and zinc. It usually

contains 88% copper, 10% tin and 2% zinc. This metal is also
known as Admirality gun metal. The zinc is added to clean the
metal and to increase its fluidity. It is extensively used for
casting boiler fittings, bushes, bearings, glands etc.

4. Babbit metal: A tin base alloy containing 88% tin, 8%

antimony and 4% copper is called babbit metal. It is a soft
material with a low coefficient of friction and has little strength.

5. Nickel base alloys: The most important nickel base alloys

are as follows:

(a) Monel metal. It is an important alloy of nickel and copper. It

contains 68% nickel, 29% copper and 3% other constituents. It
resembles nickel in appearance and is strong, ductile and
tough. It is superior to brass and bronze in corrosion resisting
properties.

(b) K-alloy. It consists of 3% aluminum and 0.5% titanium, in

addition to the composition of monel metal. It has better
mechanical properties than monel metal.

(c) Inconel. It consists of 80% nickel, 14% chromium and 6%

iron. This alloy has excellent mechanical properties at ordinary
and elevated temperatures. It is used for making springs which
have to withstand high temperatures and are exposed to
corrosive action.

(d) Nichrome. It consists of 65% nickel, 15% chromium and

20% iron. It is used in making electrical resistance wire for
electric furnaces and heating elements.
(e) Nimonic. It consists of 80% nickel and 20% chromium. It is
widely used in gas turbine engines.
Structure of Solids
Structure of Solids - All solid substances are either amorphous
solids or crystalline solids. In the amorphous solids, the atoms
are arranged chaotically, i.e., the atoms are not arranged in a
systematic order. The common amorphous solids are wood,
plastics, glass, paper, rubber etc. In crystalline solids, the
atoms making up the crystals arrange themselves in a definite
and orderly manner and form. All solid metals such as iron,
copper, aluminium etc. are crystalline solids. The definite and
orderly manner and form of atoms producing a geometrical
shape in the aggregate is called space lattice or crystal lattice.

A crystal is composed of unit cells. A unit cell contains the

smallest number of atoms, which when taken together have all
the properties of the crystals of the particular metal. The unit
cells are arranged like building blocks in a crystal, i.e. they have
the same orientation and their similar faces are parallel. A unit
cell may also be defined as the smallest parallelopiped which
could be transposed in three coordinate directions to build the
space lattice. The space lattice of various substances differ in
size and shape of their unit cells.

According to Bravais (a scientist), there are fourteen possible

types of space lattices, but the following three types are usually
found in most of the metals.

1. Body centred cubic (B.C.C.) space lattice. In a unit cell of

body centred cubic space lattice, there are nine atoms. The
eight atoms are located at the corners of the cube and one
atom at its centre, as shown in Fig. 13.1 (a). This type of lattice
is found in alpha iron, tungsten, chromium manganese,
molybdenum, tantalum, barium, vanadium etc.

2. Face centred cubic (F.C.C.) space lattice. In a unit cell of

face centred cubic space lattice, there are fourteen atoms. The
eight atoms are located at the corner of the cube and six atoms
at the centres of six faces, as shown in Fig. 13.1 (b). This type
of lattice is found in gamma iron, aluminium, copper, lead,
silver, nickel, gold, platinum, calcium etc.

3. Close packed hexagonal (C.P.H.) space lattice. In a unit

cell of close packed hexagonal space lattice, there are
seventeen atoms. The twelve atoms are located at the twelve
corners of the hexagonal prism, one atom at the centre of each
of the two hexagonal faces and three atoms are symmetrically
arranged in the body of the cell as shown in Fig. 13.1 (c). This
type of lattice is found in zinc, magnesium, cobalt, cadmium,
antimony, bismuth, beryllium, titanium, zirconium etc.

Iron-Carbon Equilibrium Diagram

A modified iron-carbon diagram is shown in Fig. 13.2. The point
A (1539° C) on the diagram is the melting point of pure iron.
The point E shows the solubility limit of carbon in gamma iron
at 1130° C (1.7%). The iron carbon alloys containing upto 1.7%
carbon are called steels and those containing over 1.7% carbon
are called cast irons. The iron carbon alloys containing 4.3%
carbon are called eutectic cast irons, above 4.3% carbon are
termed as hyper-eutectic cast iron and those in the range of 1.7
to 4.3% carbon are called hypo-eutectic cast irons.

We have already discussed that the temperature point at which

the change starts on heating is called lower critical point and
the temperature point where this change ends in heating is
called upper critical point. The range between these two critical
points is known as critical range. The temperature at which the
change starts (i.e. lower critical point) is same for all steels (i.e.
723° C), but the ending point of transformation (i.e. upper
critical point) varies according to the carbon content in steel. It
will be seen that for a steel containing 0.8% carbon (wholly
pearlite), there is only one critical point.

Notes:
1. The steels which contain less than 0.8% carbon are known
as hypo-eutectoid steels which consists of ferrite and pearlite.
2. The steels which contain 0.8% carbon are known as
eutectoid steels which consists entirely pearlite.
3. The steels which contain above 0.8% carbon are known as
hyper-eutectoid steels which consists of cementite and pearlite.
4. Cementite consists of 93.33% iron and 6.67% carbon.
5. Pearlite consists of 87% ferrite and 13% cementite.