Chapter 1

Aircraft Materials – Ferrous Characteristics

Hanoi, 11-2021
Nguyen Van Tang - USTH 1
 Content

1. Properties of Metals

2. Carbon Steels & Cast Irons

3. Carbon Steel Classification

4. Steel Alloys

5. Classification of Carbon Steel & Steel Alloys

6. Properties of Steel Alloys

7. Heat Treatment

Nguyen Van Tang - USTH 2

 Properties of Metals

 Metals

is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a

lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well
Properties of Metals

Periodic table
 Properties of Metals

 Homogeneity

 A material is homogeneous if at all points it has the same chemical and physical
properties.

 The majority of metals and alloys are regarded as homogeneous.

 Wood and composites are not, they are heterogeneous

 Properties of Metals

 Isotropy

A material is isotropic if it shows the same physical properties in all the directions of
the structure.

Metals and alloys are generally isotropic

Plastics, composite materials and wood are

not isotropic (anisotropic)

Wood is more resistant in the direction of

fibres than perpendicular to the direction of
the fibres
 Properties of Metals

 Malleability

A metal which can be rolled, hammered or pressed into various shapes without
breaking or leaving some other detrimental effect, is said to be malleable.

This property is identical to ductility but

applies to compression

Aluminum, copper, gold, certain brasses

and certain stainless steels are very
malleable (A % > 35%) and they can
withstand deep stamping
 Properties of Metals

 Density

Density is the weight of a unit volume of a material.

Density is an important consideration when choosing a material to be used in the

design of a part in order to limit weight of the aircraft.
 Properties of Metals

 Fusibility

Fusibility is the ability of a metal to become

liquid by the application of heat.

Metals are fused in welding.

 Properties of Metals

 Heat conductivity

Heat conductivity is the property which enables a metal to carry heat

The heat conductivity of a metal is especially important in welding because it

governs the amount of heat that will be required for proper fusion.

Heat Flux = -k * (Temperature2 – Temperature1)/Thickness

 Properties of Metals

 Electrical conductivity

Electrical conductivity is the property which enables a metal to carry electricity

Electrical current density (𝐽)

Electrical conductivity (σ)

Electric field (𝐸 )

Electrical current (𝐼 )

Cross-sectional area (A)

 Properties of Metals

 Thermal expansion

Thermal expansion refers to contraction and expansion that are reactions

produced in metals as the result of heating or cooling

Heat applied to a metal will cause it to expand or become larger

 Carbon steels, cast irons and steel alloys

 The term “ferrous” applies to the group of metals having iron as their principal
constituent

 Carbon steels and cast irons:

Steel = iron + % carbon

Adding carbon to iron  improve the properties of iron:

Strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance…

 Carbon steels and cast irons:

Percentage content of carbon:

 Up to 2.06%  Carbon – Steels

 2.06% to 4.3%  Cast Irons

Low carbon steels High carbon steels

0% 0.25% 0.55% 0.8% 2.06%

Medium carbon steels Tool carbon steels

 Carbon steels classification

1. Low Carbon Steels %C < 0.25

 Good formability

 Good weld ability

 Low strength
 Low cost

Applications :

For making such items as: safety wire, certain

nuts, cable bushings, or threaded rod ends

Sheet form  secondary structural parts & clamps

Tubular form  moderately stressed structural parts

 Carbon steels classification

2. Medium Carbon Steels 0.25 < %C <0.55

 Good toughness & ductility

 Relatively good strength

 May be hardened by quenching

Applications :

adaptable for machining or forging, and

where surface hardness is desirable.

• rolls
• axles,
• screws,
• cylinders,
• crankshafts,
• heat treated machine parts. Typical crankshaft
 Carbon steels classification

3. High Carbon Steels 0.55 < %C >0.8

 High Strength

 Hardness & Wear resistance

 Moderate ductility

Applications :

• rope wire,
• screw drivers,
• hammers,
• wrenches,
• band saws.
 Carbon steels classification
4. Tool carbon steels (%C > 0.8)

Properties :

 very high strength,

 hardness and wear resistance,
 poor weldability,
 low ductility.

Applications:

• Punches
• Shear blades
• Springs
• Milling cutters
• Knives
 Steel alloys

The addition of other metals changes or improves the chemical or physical

properties of the base metal for a particular use.

Carbon steel forms the base of those alloy steels produced by combining
carbon steel with other elements known to improve the properties of steel.

A base metal to which small quantities of other metals have been added is
called an alloy
 Steel alloys

 Classification of carbon steel and steel alloys

To facilitate the discussion of steels, some familiarity with their nomenclature is

desirable.

Numerical Index sponsored by:

 SAE: Society of Automotive Engineers
 AISI: American Iron and Steel Institute

four-numeral series is used to designate the plain carbon and alloy steels

five numerals are used to designate certain types of alloy steels

 Steel alloys

 Classification of carbon steel and steel alloys

SAE
4 digits: Type
designation

1xxx Carbon steels

SAE
2xxx Nickel steels
3xxx Nickel-chromium steels
4xxx Molybdenum steels
5xxx Chromium steels
 First digit:
1  carbon steel 6xxx Chromium-vanadium steels
2-9  alloy steels 7xxx Tungsten steels
Nickel-chromium-molybdenum
8xxx
steels
9xxx Silicon-manganese steels
 Steel alloys

 Classification of carbon steel and steel alloys

The second digit indicates the concentration of the major element in percentiles (1
equals 1%)

Example:

SAE 51xx indicates a chromium steel alloy, containing 1% of chromium

The last two digits indicate the carbon concentration to 0.01%.

Example

SAE 5130 indicates a chromium steel alloy, containing 1% of chromium and 0.30%
of carbon
 Steel alloys

 Classification of carbon steel and steel alloys

Example Carbon and alloy steel grades

SAE designation Type, and composition by weight
Carbon steels
10xx Plain carbon (Mn 1.00% max.)
11xx Resulfurized
12xx Resulfurized and rephosphorized
15xx Plain Carbon (Mn 1.00–1.65% max.)
Manganese steels
13xx Mn 1.75%
Nickel steels
23xx Ni 3.50%
25xx Ni 5.00%
Nickel-chromium steels
31xx Ni 1.25%; Cr 0.65%, or 0.80%
32xx Ni 1.75%; Cr 1.07%
33xx Ni 3.50%; Cr 1.50%, or 1.57%
34xx Ni 3.00%; Cr 0.77%
 Steel alloys

1.Carbon Steel :

 Low Carbon Steel : 0.1 to 0.25 % Carbon

 Medium Carbon Steel: 0.25 to 0.55 % Carbon

 High Carbon Steel : 0.55 to 0.8 % carbon

 Steel alloys

2. Nickel Steel Alloys:

 Produced by combining Nickel with Carbon Steel

 3 to 3.75% Nickel is commonly used

 Increases the hardness

the tensile strength

the elastic limit of steel without decreasing the ductility

 Intensifies the hardening effect of heat treatment

 SAE 2330 steel is used extensively for aircraft parts, such as bolts, terminals,
keys, clevises, and pins
 Steel alloys

3. Chromium Steel Alloys

 Produced by combining Chromium with Carbon Steel

 Chromium can be added to carbon steel around 11%

 High in hardness

 High in strength

 High in corrosion resistant properties

 Particularly adaptable to heat-treated forgings

 Steel alloys
4. Chromium-Nickel or Stainless Steel Alloys:

 Chrome-nickel or stainless steels are the corrosion resistant metals.

 Principal alloy of stainless steel is Chromium

 18-8 Steel is most often used in Aircraft Construction

 18% chromium
 8% Nickel
 Strength may be increased by cold working

 May be rolled, drawn, bent or formed in any shape…

 Expand about 50% more than mild steel & conduct heat only 40% as rapidly
 they are more difficult to weld

https://blog.inoxmare.com/eng/2018/07/19/steels-designations-aisi-standards/
 Steel alloys
4. Chromium-Nickel or Stainless Steel Alloys:

 Stainless steel can be used for almost any part of an aircraft

 Common applications are in the fabrication of exhaust collectors, stacks and

manifolds, structural and machined parts, springs, castings, tie rods, and
control cables.

Stainless steel parts

 Steel alloys

5. Chrome- Vanadium Steel Alloys:

 18% Vanadium & 1% Chromium

 When heat treated:

• Strength
• Toughness
• Resistance to wear and fatigue

 SAE 6150 is used for making springs

 Chrome-vanadium with high carbon content, SAE 6195, is used for ball and
roller bearings
 Steel alloys

6. Chrome- Molybdenum Steel Alloys:

 Small percentages of Molybdenum (Mo)

 (Mo) raises the ultimate strength of steel without affecting ductility or workability

 Tough & Wear resistant

 Harden throughout when heat treated

 Adaptable for welding  used for welded

structural parts and assemblies
 Steel alloys

6. Chrome- Molybdenum Steel Alloys:

 Practically replaced carbon steel in fabrication of:

 Fuselage tubing
 Engine mounts
 Landing gears
 Other structural parts

Fuselage tubing
Most commonly used:
0.25-0.55% Carbon, 0.15 Molybdenum, 0.5-1.1% Chromium
 Steel alloys

7. Inconel:

 Nickel-Chromium-Iron Alloy resembling Stainless Steel

 Corrosions resistant steel in appearance

Well suited for service in extreme environments subjected to

pressure and heat

 Most commonly used in Aircraft exhaust systems

Inconel exhaust part

 Heat treatment

Heat Treatment is the controlled heating and cooling of metals to alter

their physical and mechanical properties without changing the product
shape

Heat Treatment  increasing the strength of material, but it can also be

used to alter certain manufacturability objectives such as improve
machining, improve formability, restore ductility after a cold working
operation.

Steels are particularly suitable for heat treatment, since they respond well
to heat treatment and the commercial use of steels exceeds that of any
other material.
 Heat treatment

Phase diagram of an iron-carbon alloying system

 Heat treatment

Allotropes of iron, showing

the differences in lattice
structures

Phase diagram of an iron-carbon alloying system

 Heat treatment

Carrying out the heat

treatment by using furnace

Small furnace

furnace used in industrial

 Heat treatment

The usual methods of heat-treating alloy steels are:

 Annealing

 Normalizing

 Hardening

 Tempering

Successful heat treatment requires close control over all factors affecting the
heating and cooling of a metal.
 Heat treatment

Stages of Heat Treatment :

1. Stage 1:
Heating the metal slowly to ensure a uniform temperature
2. Stage 2:
Holding the metal at a given temperature for a given time, until the desired internal
structure change take place
3. Stage 3:
Cooling the metal to room temperature by quenching
Quenching is done in oil, water, brine or some other medium
 Heat treatment

 ANNEALING

Annealing is a process by which the properties of steel are enhanced to meet

machinability requirements.

Heating the steel slightly above the critical temperature of steel (723 °C) and
allowing it to cool down very slowly.

1. Full Annealing

Heating the steel to 30 to 50°C above the critical temperature of steel

Maintaining it for a specified period of time

Then allowing the material to slowly cool down inside the furnace without
any forced means of cooling
 Heat treatment

2. Partial Annealing

Heating to about 650°C.

The temperature is maintained constantly for a few hours and allowed to cool down
slowly

3. Subcritical Annealing
There is no phase transformation
 Heat treatment

 Annealing:
 Heat treatment

Advantages of Annealing :

 Softens the steel

 Enhances & Improve the machinability of steel

 Increases the ductility of steel

 Enhances the toughness of steel

 Improves the homogeneity in steel

 Prepares the steel for further heat treatment

 Removes micro internal stresses

 Heat treatment

 NORMALIZING:

The material is heated above austenitic phase

and then cooled in air.

This gives relatively faster cooing and hence

enhanced hardness and less ductility

The purpose of normalizing is to remove the

internal stresses induced by heat treating,
welding, casting, forging, forming, or
machining
 Heat treatment

 HARDENING

Hardening consists of heating the steel to a set temperature and then cooling
it rapidly (quenching) by plunging it into oil, water, or brine.

Then, the carbon atoms are trapped, and the result is a very hard, brittle
steel

This steel crystal structure is now a body centered tetragonal (BCT) form
called martensite.

Hardening increases the hardness and strength of the steel, but makes it
less ductile
 Heat treatment

Slow cooling Cementite (Fe3C)

Austenite ( 𝛾 𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝐹𝑒)
fast cooling Martensite

Structure of the
austenite (fcc) and
martensite (fct)
crystal phases
 Heat treatment

Surface Hardening:

 Improve wear resistance

 Lower impact resistance & fatigue life

Surface Hardening methods:

Heating and cooling to get required phase

Thermo-chemical treatment
Induction heating
Flame hardening
Carburizing
Nitrating
Cyaniding
 Heat treatment

Tempering

• Done subsequent to quench hardening (too brittle)

• After quenching, the material is reheated to a temperature of 150 to 400°C

 Troosite structure

• Softer & tougher structure

• Material heated to a temperature of 400 to 700°C  Sorbite structure

• Softer but more ductile and tougher structure
Heat treatment
Heat treatment
Crystal structure and
phase diagram
 Crystal Structures

 A crystalline material is one in which the atoms are situated in a

repeating or periodic array over large atomic distances

 The atoms will position themselves in a repetitive three-dimensional

pattern, in which each atom is bonded to its nearest-neighbor atoms
 Crystal Structures

 Some of the properties of crystalline solids depend on the crystal

structure of the material, the manner in which atoms, ions, or
molecules are spatially arranged

 There is an extremely large number of different crystal structures all

having long-range atomic order, these vary from relatively simple
structures for metals to exceedingly complex ones
 UNIT CELLS
 The atomic order in crystalline solids indicates that small groups of atoms
form a repetitive pattern

 it is often convenient to sub-divide the structure into small repeat entities

called unit cells

 A unit cell is chosen to represent the symmetry of the crystal structure,

wherein all the atom positions in the crystal may be generated by
translations of the unit cell integral distances along each of its edges
 CRYSTAL SYSTEMS

 The unit cell geometry is completely defined in terms of six parameters:

the three edge lengths a, b, and c, and the three interaxial angles 𝛼, 𝛽, 𝛾

 termed the lattice parameters of a crystal structure

 CRYSTAL SYSTEMS

there are seven different possible combinations of a, b, and c and 𝛼, 𝛽, 𝛾

each of which represents a distinct crystal system.
CRYSTAL SYSTEMS
 SINGLE CRYSTALS

 For a crystalline solid, when the periodic and repeated arrangement of atoms
is perfect or extends throughout the entirety of the specimen without
interruption, the result is a single crystal

 Single crystals exist in nature, but they may also be produced artificially

Photograph of a garnet single crystal

that was found in Tongbei, Fujian Province, China.
 POLYCRYSTALLINE MATERIALS

 Most crystalline solids are composed of a collection of many small

crystals or grains

such materials are termed polycrystalline

Schematic diagrams
of the various stages
in the solidification
of a polycrystalline
material
 PHASE DIAGRAM

Understanding of phase diagrams for alloy systems is extremely important

 there is a strong correlation between microstructure and mechanical

properties, and the development of microstructure of an alloy is related to
the characteristics of its phase diagram

 provide valuable information about melting, casting, crystallization,

and other phenomena
 PHASE DIAGRAM

SOLUBILITY LIMIT

 For many alloy systems and at some

specific temperature, there is a
maximum concentration of solute atoms
that may dissolve in the solvent to form
a solid solution

this is called a solubility limit

 The addition of solute in excess of this

solubility limit results in the formation of
another solid solution or compound that
has a distinctly different composition
 PHASE DIAGRAM

PHASES

 A phase may be defined as a

homogeneous portion of a
system that has uniform
physical and chemical
characteristics.

 Every pure material is

considered to be a phase, so
also is every solid, liquid, and
gaseous solution

The solubility of sugar (C12H22O11) in a

sugar water syrup.
 MICROSTRUCTURE

 Physical properties and, in particular, the

mechanical behavior of a material depend
on the microstructure

 In metal alloys, microstructure is

characterized by the number of phases
present, their proportions, and the manner
in which they are distributed or arranged

 The microstructure of an alloy depends on

such variables as the alloying elements
present, their concentrations, and the heat
treatment of the alloy Microstructure of steel
 Phase equilibrium

 refers to equilibrium as it applies

to systems in which more than
one phase may exist

 Phase equilibrium is reflected by a

constancy with time in the phase
characteristics of a system
 ONE-COMPONENT (OR UNARY) PHASE DIAGRAMS

 Much of the information about the control of the phase structure of

a particular system is conveniently and concisely displayed in what is called
a phase diagram

 There are three externally controllable parameters that will affect phase
structure:

 temperature

 pressure

 composition

 Phase diagrams are constructed when various combinations of these

parameters are plotted against one another
 ONE-COMPONENT (OR UNARY) PHASE DIAGRAMS

The simplest and easiest type of phase diagram to understand is that for a one-
component system, in which composition is held constant

At point O , solid, liquid, and

vapor phases are
simultaneously in equilibrium
with one another

O : triple point

Pressure–temperature phase diagram for H2O

 Binary Phase Diagrams

 Another type of extremely common phase diagram is one in which temperature

and composition are variable parameters, and pressure is held constant—
normally 1 atm

 Binary phase diagrams are maps that represent the relationships between
temperature and the compositions and quantities of phases at equilibrium,
which influence the microstructure of an alloy

 Many microstructures develop from phase transformations, the changes that

occur when the temperature is altered

 This may involve the transition from one phase to another, or the appearance or
disappearance of a phase
 BINARY ISOMORPHOUS SYSTEMS

 The liquid L is a homogeneous

liquid solution composed of both
copper and nickel

 The 𝛼 phase is a substitutional

solid solution consisting of both
Cu and Ni atoms

 At temperatures below about

1080oC, copper and nickel are
mutually soluble in each other in
the solid state for all
compositions

 The copper–nickel system is

termed isomorphous because of
this complete liquid and solid
solubility of the two components.
 DEVELOPMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURE IN ISOMORPHOUS ALLOYS

Equilibrium Cooling

treat the situation in which the

cooling occurs very slowly, in that
phase equilibrium is continuously
maintained.

consider the copper–nickel system

specifically an alloy of composition 35
wt% Ni–65 wt% Cu as it is cooled
from 1300 oC
 DEVELOPMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURE IN ISOMORPHOUS ALLOYS

Nonequilibrium Cooling

In virtually all practical solidification

situations, cooling rates are much too
rapid to allow compositional
readjustments and maintenance of
equilibrium

Consequently, microstructures other

than those previously described develop