Plain Carbon & Alloy

Steels
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Plain Carbon & Alloy Steels

 Plain carbon Steels: .008 – 2.0 % C
no alloying elements added
impurities of Mn, Si, Cu are limited

 Alloy Steel: alloying elements have been

added to promote specific properties
more expensive than carbon steels

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 Effects of Additions
 Cr reduces critical cooling rate
increases hardenability
increases strength at high temperatures
 Mn increases hardenability
combination with S prevents hot shortness
increases banding
 Mo increases hardenability
increases toughness and strength at temperature
decreases temper brittleness
 Ni increases strength in ferrite
increases hardenability

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Definitions of Terminology
 Hardenability
Ability to form martensite even with slow cooling rates

 Hot shortness
Tendency to separate along grain boundaries when worked at high
temperatures, caused by low melting constituents

 Banding
Inhomogeneous distribution of alloying elements

 Temper brittleness
Segregation of impurities at grain boundaries during slow cooling
trough critical range

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 AISI & SAE Designations of
Steels
10xx – Plain carbon steel
41xx – Cr 0.50 or 0.95, Mo 0.12 or 0.20
43xx – Ni 1.80, Cr 0.50 or 0.80, Mo 0.25
87xx – Ni 0.55, Cr 0.50, Mo 0.25
93xx – Ni 3.25, Cr 1.20, Mo 0.12

E 52100 – C 1.00, Cr 1.45

 xx indicates carbon content in 1/100 of %

example: 1045 = .45% C

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Single Phase Structures

 Ferrite
 Austenite
 Martensite
 Delta Ferrite
 Cementite
 Primary Carbide (only in tool steels)
 Graphite (only in cast irons)

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 Ferrite
 α-iron
 body centered cubic structure
 0.008% C max.
 no twins
 magnetic
 soft
 rounded grain boundaries
 name derived from Latin
word for iron: ferrum
 HB 100 - 250

100x
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Austenite
 γ-iron
 face centered cubic structure
 non magnetic
 angular grain boundaries
 twins
 soft
 HB 100 – 400
 not stable at room temperature
 named after English professor
Sir W. Chandler Roberts-Austen

Twin line
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 Martensite
 needle like
 hard
 body centered tetragonal structure
 forms generally with rapid cooling
 hardness depends on C content
.10% C – HRC 38
.65% C – HRC 65
 named after German professor
Adolph Martens

1000x

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Martensite
 un-tempered martensite
 hard & brittle
 low ductility & toughness
1000x

 tempered martensite
 improved toughness
 improved ductility
 good hardness

1000x

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 Martensite

Lath Plate
Low C High C

Soft Hard

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Delta Ferrite

 similar to ferrite
 only stable in stainless
steels
 slightly different crystal
dimensions
 only visible in the etched
condition
 inclusions are visible in
the as polished condition

500x
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 Cementite
 iron carbide
 Fe3C
 very hard and brittle
 does not etch with nital
 outlined by picral
 6.67% C by weight
 HB 1000 - 2000
 no grain boundaries
 more pink than ferrite

cementite
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Primary
Carbides
 harder than cementite
 present in tool steels
 do not dissolve during heat
treatment
 formed with W, V, Mo, Ti, Cr
 MC, M2C, M6C, M7C3, M23C6

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 Graphite

 most stable form of carbon

 primary graphite is formed
during cooling
 secondary graphite during
heat treatment
 present in most cast irons
 7 different shapes of
graphite (ASTM A247)

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Two Phase Structures

 Pearlite
 Spheroidite
 Bainite

 Troostite
 Sorbite

Troostite and Sorbite are obsolete terms, no longer in use

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 Pearlite
 lamellar eutectoid of ferrite and
cementite
 takes time to form
 width of lamellas depends on
the cooling rate
 slow cooling: wide spacing,
soft, HRB 85
 fast cooling: fine spacing,
harder, up to HRC 40
 name derives from the mother of
pearl appearance
 HB 175 - 400

Cementite - dark Ferrite - white

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Etching of Pearlite

 nn

Len Samuels

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 Spheroidite
 ferrite and cementite
 equilibrium structure
 cementite lamellas are
spheroidized by heat
treatment
 soft (HRB 82 – 88)
 easily workable

Cementite
Ferrite
1000x
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Bainite
 ferrite and cementite
 feathery appearance
 etches darker than martensite
Upper  properties between
martensite and pearlite
 bainite is a final structure, no
additional heat treatment
required
 upper bainite resembles
pearlite
 lower bainite resembles
martensite
Lower

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 Hardness Comparison of
Structures
Ferrite 100 – 250 HB
Austenite 100 – 400 HB
Cementite 1000 – 2000 HB
Martensite 200 – 700 HB
Pearlite 170 – 370 HB
Spheroidite 150 – 170 HB
Bainite 400 – 600 HB

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Phase
Diagram
 Range of compositions
 Slow cooling only
 Equilibrium diagram
 .77%C = eutectoid
composition
 Liquidus line – everything
above is liquid metal
 Solidus line – everything
below is solid metal

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 Iron/Carbon Phase Diagram

non-magnetic
α

Ac- chauffage Ar - refroidissment

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Phase Diagram - Terminology

 Allotropy – solid metal has
more than one crystal
structure (α and γ iron)
 Eutectic –
Liquid ↔ Solid 1 + Solid2
Liquid ↔ γ + Fe3C (cementite)
 Eutectoid –
Solid1 ↔ Solid 2 + Solid 3
γ ↔ α + Fe3C (pearlite)
 Intermetallic – fixed
chemistry ( Fe3C)

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 Phase
Diagram
 Phases present
during slow cooling
Acm
in each region

 Eutectoid = Pearlite
 Eutectic =
Ledeburite

From A. Tomer: The Structure of Metals

Through the Optical Microscope

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Phase Diagrams Answer the

Following Questions:
 What phase or phases are present at specific
temperatures?
 What phases are possible with specific
compositions?
 What is the weight percentage of each phase in the
microstructure?

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 Phase
Diagram

 Steels - no more than 2% C

 Higher C – cast irons
 Heat treating – solid
condition only
 Below A1 no change in
structure

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Lever Rule for

Phase %

a - 100% γ
a b - % α = Z-Y/Z-X x 100
= 0.2 / 0.6 x 100
Y = 33% α
X Z
b % γ = Y-X/Z-X x 100
= 0.4 / 0.6 x 100
c = 67% γ
c- %α=?
%γ=?

X ≈ 0%C Y = 0.4%C Z = 0.6%C

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 Percentage of
Phases at Point C

% α = Z-Y/Z-X x 100
a
= 0.4 / 0.8 x 100
= 50 % α
Y
X Z
b % γ = Y-X/Z-X x 100
= 0.4 / 0.8 x 100
C = 50 % γ

X ≈ 0%C Y = 0.4%C Z = 0.6%C

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Time – Temperature – Transformation Diagram

0.77% C – eutectoid composition

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 TTT Diagram
Answers the following questions:

 What cooling rates are required to produce a

completely martensitic structure?
 What is the martensite finish temperature?
 What is the transformation temperature and
time to produce bainite?

Note: each alloy has a different TTT diagram

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0.80% C
TTT diagrams are developed by plotting beginning and
ending times of phase transformations at various
temperatures

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Time – Temperature – Transformation Diagram

0.77% C – eutectoid composition

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TTT Diagram

air hardening steel

shallow hardening
steel

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 Continuous
Cooling Curve

medium carbon
steel

Jominy test results

MEI Course 59, Lesson 4

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Heat Treatment of Steel

 Annealing – softening
high temperature followed by slow cool
 Normalizing – grain refinement and homogenization
high temperature with air cool
 Hardening – achieve high hardness, martensite
high temperature followed by rapid cooling
 Tempering – toughen hardened structure
low temperature
 Stress Relieving – reduce stresses from manufacturing
lower than tempering, no structure change
 Sub Zero Cooling – remove retained austenite
liquid nitrogen, -100°F

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 Heat
Treating
of
Steels

available @ tempil.com

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Portion of phase diagram used for heat treating

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 Annealing
 Critical Range Annealing
between A1 & A3 – low carbon steels
 Full Annealing
heated into austenitic range
 Isothermal Annealing
constant temperature – high carbon steels
 Recrystallization Annealing
removes cold work
 Spheroidization Annealing
many techniques – specific structure

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Normalizing

 Does not produce a specific structure

 Heating above A3 followed by air cool
 Strengthen large sections
 Make structures more uniform
 Can be followed by tempering

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 Hardening
 First heat into austenite field, 50 to 100 ° F
(25 – 50ºC) above A3
 Then rapidly cool in order to form martensite
(water, oil, polymer, air)
 Structure is untempered martensite – hard
and brittle, low ductility and low toughness
 Quench medium depends on TTT diagram
 Mild quenching is preferred, less stresses

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 Hardness depends on C content, not alloy

 Hardness of 1.0%C is lower than 0.9%C –

retained austenite higher in 1.0%C

 Cr, Mn, Mo have large influence on

hardenability (not hardness)

 Jominy test determines hardenability

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 Jominy Test

Austenetize and quench end of Measure and plot hardness

specimen from end at 1/16” (1.5 mm)
intervals
S – hardenability of the material
S x 2 diameter material will be hardened through

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Tempering
 Increases toughness and ductility
 Submicroscopic carbides diffuse out of as
quenched martensite needles
 The higher the tempering temperature, the
better the toughness & ductility
 The higher the temperature, the lower the
strength
 Tempering time has little influence on the
tempering results

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 Tempering

Note: hardness relates directly to mechanical properties for

carbon and alloy steels

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Gibeon Meteorite 20x

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