MSE 270 Midterm Examination

October 31, 2012, 50 minutes

Answer all questions in separate exam booklets. Show all work for which you wish to
receive partial or full credit. Some useful data: R = 8.314 J/(mol K); F = 96485 C/mol eTotal points = 50.

1. Diffusion (20 points). You wish to perform carburization of 1020 steel, which is
iron with a carbon content of 0.2 wt %, at 927oC in order to increase the surface
hardness of the material without adversely affecting its bulk ductility. How much
time is necessary (in minutes) to increase the carbon content to 0.4 wt% at 50 mm
below the surface using a gas atmosphere that creates a concentration of 0.9 wt%
at the surface? The pre-exponential factor of the diffusion coefficient of carbon in
iron is 2.0 x 10-5 m2/s, and the activation energy for the diffusion coefficient of
carbon in iron is 142 kJ/mol. An error function table is given below.

2. Fatigue (12 points). Explain the mechanism of fatigue failure by explaining why
failure occurs at lower stresses when an object is cyclically loaded than when it is
statically loaded. Name at least 1 strategy for improving the fatigue lifetime of an
object.

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3. Phase transformations (18 points total) Referring to the included Time

Temperature Transformation (TTT) diagram for eutectoid carbon steel, answer
the following questions for a 0.77 wt% C steel:
(a) (6 pts) Explain the shape of the TTT curve. Why is there a knee at
intermediate temperatures corresponding to low times, with longer times at
both high and low temperatures? (Hint: relate the shape of the curve to
nucleation and growth kinetics.)
(b) (4 pts) How much time is required for austenite to fully transform at 500oC?
After the transformation, what microstructural constituent(s) and phase(s) will
be present?
(c) (4 pts) If austenite is very quickly (instantly) cooled (i.e. quenched) to
180oC, then held for 1 day, and then slowly cooled (e.g. air cooled) to room
temperature, what microstructural constituent(s) and phase(s) will be present?
(d) (4 pts) Which of the two microstructures in parts (b) and (c) will be
strongest? Which will be most ductile? Why?

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