MATERIALS OF

CONSTRUCTION
Chemical Engineering Design (Towler & Sinnot)
Material Properties
1. Mechanical properties – are physical properties that a material
exhibits upon the application of forces
2. The effect of high temperature, low temperature, and thermal
cycling on material properties
3. Corrosion resistance
4. Any special properties
5. Ease of fabrication
6. Availability in standard sizes
7. Cost
1. Mechanical Properties
a. Strength – tensile strength
b. Stiffness – elastic modulus (Young’s modulus)
c. Toughness – fracture resistance
d. Hardness – wear resistance
e. Fatigue resistance
f. Creep resistance
a. Tensile Strength
The tensile strength (tensile stress) is a measure of basic
strength of a material. It is the maximum stress that the material will
withstand, measured by a standard tensile test. The older name for
this property, which is more descriptive of the property, was
Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS).
Tensile tests are used to determine how materials will
behave under tension load. In a simple tensile test, a sample is
typically pulled to its breaking point to determine the ultimate
tensile strength of the material. The amount of force (F) applied to
the sample and the elongation (∆L) of the sample are measured
throughout the test.
b. Stiffness
Stiffness is the ability to resist bending and buckling. It is a
function of the elastic modulus of the material and the shape of
the cross-section of the member (the second moment of area)

◦ Bending – is a phenomenon when a straight thing that has a

longitudinal axis changes its shape from a straight line to a curve.
◦ Buckling – is a mode of failure under compression of a structural
component that is thin with respect to its length.
Bending
Buckling
c. Toughness
Toughness is associated with tensile strength, and is a
measure of the material’s resistance to crack propagation.

◦ Ductile materials – stop propagation of crack by local yielding at

the crack tip
◦ Brittle materials – weak in tension but strong in compression;
under compression, any incipient cracks present are closed up
d. Hardness
The surface hardness is an indication of a material’s ability to
resist wear. This will be an important property if the equipment is
being designed to handle solids, or liquids containing suspended
solids which are likely to cause erosion.

◦ Abrasion – is the process of scuffing, scratching, wearing down,

marring, or rubbing away.
Hardness tests
◦ Hardness tests that measure the depth of indenter penetration
include: Rockwell, Instrumented Indentation Testing, and Ball
Indentation Hardness.
◦ Hardness tests that measure the size of the impression left by the
indenter include: Vickers, Knoop, and Brinell.
e. Fatigue
Fatigue failure is likely to occur in equipment subject to
cyclic loading (rotating equipment such as pumps and
compressors, equipment subjected to temperature or pressure
cycling)

Cyclic loading – is the application of repeated or fluctuating

stresses, strains, or stress intensities to locations on structural
components
f. Creep
Creep (also called cold flow) is the gradual extension of the
material under a steady tensile stress, over a prolonged period of
time. It usually important only at high temperatures.

◦ Creep strength – the stress to cause rupture in 100,000 hours at

the test temperature.
2. Effect of Temperature
◦ The tensile strength and elastic modulus of metals decrease with
increasing temperature.
◦ Creep resistance will be important if the material is subjected to
high stresses at elevated temperatures.
◦ At low temperatures, metals that are normally ductile can fail in a
brittle manner
3. Corrosion Resistance
a. Uniform corrosion – general wastage of material
b. Galvanic corrosion – dissimilar metals in contact
c. Pitting – localized attack
d. Intergranular corrosion
e. Stress corrosion
f. Erosion-corrosion
g. Corrosion fatigue
h. High-temperature oxidation and sulfidation
i. Hydrogen embrittlement
4 Components of an
Electrochemical cell
1. Anode – the corroding electrode
2. Cathode – the passive, noncorroding electrode
3. The conducting medium – the electrolyte – the corroding fluid
4. Completion of the electrical circuit – through the material
Cathodic areas
◦ Dissimilar metals
◦ Corrosion products
◦ Inclusions in the metal, such as slag
◦ Less well-aerated areas
◦ Areas of differential concentration
◦ Differentially strained areas
a. Uniform Corrosion
◦ Uniform corrosion descries the more or less uniform wastage of
material by corrosion, with no pitting or other forms of local
attack.
◦ Corrosion rates are usually expressed as penetration rates in
inches per year (ipy), or mills per year (mpy)
corrosion rate
12w
ipy=
tAρ
w = mass loss in time t, lb
t = time, years
A = surface are, ft2
ρ = density of material, lb/ft3
* 1 ipy = 25 mm per year
b. Galvanic Corrosion
◦ If dissimilar metals are placed in contact, in an electrolyte, the
corrosion rate of the anodic metal will be increased, as the metal
lower in electrochemical series will readily act as a cathode.
◦ Also called bimetallic corrosion or dissimilar metal corrosion
◦ The corrosion rate will depend on the relative areas of the anodic
and cathodic metals
c. Pitting
◦ Pitting is the term to very localized corrosion that forms pits in the
metal surface
◦ If material is liable to pitting, penetration can occur prematurely
d. Intergranular Corrosion
◦ Preferential corrosion of material at the grain (crystal boundaries)
◦ Common form of attack on alloys (rarely with pure metals)
◦ Usually caused by a differential couple being set up between
impurities existing at the grain boundary
e. Effect of Stress
◦ Stress corrosion or stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is mechanism
of cracking propagation that occurs when a susceptible material
is under the combination of a particular environment and tensile
stresses applied.
◦ Corrosion fatigue is used to describe the premature failure of
materials in corrosive environments caused by cyclic stresses.
f. Erosion-Corrosion
◦ Erosion-corrosion is used to describe the increased rate of attack
caused by a combination of erosion and corrosion.
◦ If a fluid stream contains suspended particle, or where there is
high velocity or turbulence, erosion will tend to remove the
products of corrosion and any protective film, and the rate of
attack will be markedly increased.
g. High-Temp. Oxidation & Sulfidation
◦ High temperature oxidation of a metal is a corrosion process
involving the reaction between the metal and the atmospheric
Oxygen at elevated temperatures.
◦ High temperature sulfidation is probably the most common high
temperature corrosion nemesis in the refining industry, since there
are very few “sweet” refineries still in operation.
Sulfidation
h. Hydrogen Embrittlement
◦ Hydrogen embrittlement is the name given to the loss of ductility
caused by the absorption (and reaction) of hydrogen in a metal.
◦ During hydrogen embrittlement (also known as 'hydrogen
assisted-cracking'), hydrogen is introduced to the surface of a
metal and individual hydrogen atoms diffuse through the metal
structure. Adsorbed hydrogen species recombine to form
hydrogen molecules, creating pressure from within the metal. This
pressure can increase to levels where the metal has reduced
ductility, toughness, and tensile strength, up to the point where it
cracks open (hydrogen-induced cracking, or HIC).
Selection for Corrosion Resistance
1. Temperature
2. Pressure
3. pH
4. Presence of trace impurities
5. The amount of aeration
6. Stream velocity and agitation
7. Heat transfer rates
Corrosion Table
The corrosion tables provide an initial guide to the selection of
materials and are intended to facilitate understanding of the
different types of corrosion damage that can arise due to poor
material selection.
Contamination
With some processes, the prevention of the contamination of a
process stream, or a product, by certain metals, or the products of
corrosion, overrides any other considerations when selecting
suitable materials. This is to ensure quality of product, cost-
efficiency of process and safety.
Surface Finish
Stainless steel is widely used, and the surfaces, inside and out, are
given a high finish by abrasive blasting and mechanical polishing.
This is done for the purposes of hygiene, to prevent material
adhering to the surface, and to aid cleaning and sterilization.