Engineering Materials

Mujtaba Tasneem & Saad Malik IM&E 003 8/12/2016

Ferrum (Iron) !

What Is Iron ???

All About Iron !

Ironis aChemical Elementwith symbolFe(ferrum) andatomic

number26. It is ametalin thefirst transition series.
It is by mass the most common element onEarth.
It is the fourth most commonelement in the Earths crust.
Iron exists in a wide range ofoxidation states, 2 to +6, although
+2 and +3 are the most common.
Iron is the 6th most common element found in the Universe.

Where To Find Ferrum In The Periodic Table ?

Atomic Number is 26
In the 4th Period
In Group 8
In the First period of Transition Elements
Almost in the center of the Periodic Table !!!

Lets Discuss Some Properties !!

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES : Phase
Solid
Melting Point
1538C
Boiling Point
2862C

Density

7.84 g/cm^3

Heat Of Fusion
13.81 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization 340 kJ/mol
Molar Heat Capacity 25.10 J/(mol.K)

Atomic Properties
Electronegativity1.83 (on Pauling scale)
Oxidation states -4,-2,-1,+1,+2,+3,+4,+5,+6
Ionization Energies 1st (762.5 kJ/mol) 2nd
(1561.9kJ/mol) 3rd (2957kJ/mol)
Atomic Radius 126 pm
Covalent Radius Low spin: 1323pm, High Spin 1526

Spectral Lines Of iron (Ferrum)

Crystal Structure Of Iron

FCC Between 1185K and 1667K

BCC a=286.65pm

Some Fun Facts About Iron !

If you ever wondered why blood is red, you may want to know that
iron has in fact a lot to do with its color. The red hue of blood cells
comes from the interaction between iron and oxygen, according
tothe University of California.
About 90 percent of all metal that is refined today is iron.
An iron pillar dating to about 400 A.D. still stands today in Delhi,
India.

Phase Diagram For Iron

1. Alpha Iron:It occurs from normal
temperature to 910 degreecentigradeand has
got body-centered cubic (BCC)lattice crystals.
2. GammaIron:This occurs from
910degreecentigradeto
1400degreecentigrade, and has got
crystalstructureof face-centered cubic (FCC)
lattice.
3. Delta Iron:This occurs from
1400degreecentigradeto
1539degreecentigrade(molten state), and
has got crystalstructureof body-centered
lattice.

Isotopes Of Iron
Naturally occurring iron consists of four stableisotopes
5.845% of54Fe
91.754% of56Fe
2.119% of57Fe
0.282% of58Fe
Of these stable isotopes, only57Fe has a nuclearspin(12).
Thenuclide54Fe theoretically can undergodouble electron
captureto54Cr, but the process has never been observed and only
a lower limit on the half-life of 3.11022years has been established

Types Of Ferrum

Pig Iron

Pig Iron is a basic raw material for all irons and produced from blast furnace.
It contains Carbon Percentage equal to 3-4%
Pig Iron from ore contains three basic forms of Iron
1. Cast iron (Made from Cupola furnace)
2. Wrought Iron (Made from Pudding furnace)
3. Steel (Made from Bessemer converter)

Wrought Iron
Wrought Iron is a mechanical mixture of pure iron and silicate slag
Its Carbon Percentage is 0.02% to 0.03%
Wrought Iron is never cast
Wrought Iron is having high ductile, corrosion resistant, fatigue resistant
It is having Tensile strength: 3380-3500 kg per square centimeter
and 2530-2670 kg per square centimeter in transverse direction
Wrought Iron's melting point: 1510 degree C, Weight 7680 kg per meter cube.
Wrought Iron's Poisson's ratio: 0.3

Malleable Cast Iron

Malleable Cast Iron is obtained from hard &brittle white iron., through a controlled
heat treatment conversion process.
Malleable Cast Iron is having Carbon % : 2 to 3 %
Malleable Cast Iron having material properties like High yield strength,
ease of machinability, corrosion resistance and high young modulus
It is having Low coefficient of thermal expansion and high wear resistance & damping vibration.
Shrinkage Allowance for this Iron is 1.5 mm / 100mm
Malleable Cast Iron is used to make Crank-shaft, rail road, universal joint etc.

Grey cast iron

Grey cast iron can also be produced from pig iron.
Grey Cast Iron is an alloy of Carbon & silicon with iron.
Carbon percentage of Grey Cast Iron: 2.5 to 3.8 %
Grey cast iron is having Self damping, good antifriction properties and
also having lowest melting point. This is the reason why grey cast iron is
mostly used in machining bed to reduce and absorb the vibration due to
self damping properties.
Applications of Grey Cast Iron : Machine tool structure, manhole covers ,
piston rings, rolling mill. Water pipes.

White cast iron

Carbon Percentage of White Cast Iron : 1.8 % to 3.6 %

White cast Iron is not machinable
Shrinkage allowance for this type of Cast Iron is 1 mm/ 100 mm.

Nodular cast iron (Ductile cast iron)

Nodular cast Iron contains Carbon % : 3.2 % & 4.2 %

Nodular cast Iron is having damping capacity intermediate between cast iron &
steel.
This iron is also having high wear resistance
Application: Pump compressor, valve, i.c engines, pipe, paper industry,
earth moving machinery.

A Look at the History !

As iron has been in use for such a long time, it has many different
names in different languages. The source of its chemical symbolFeis
the Latin wordferrum, and its descendants are the names of the
element in theRomance languages(for
example,Frenchfer,Spanishhierro,
andItalianandPortugueseferro).
Iron plays a certain role in mythology and has found various usageas
a metaphorand inin folklore. TheGreekpoetHesiod'sWorks and
Days(lines 109201) lists differentAges of mannamed after metals
like gold, silver, bronze and iron

Extraction of Iron

Iron is found in iron oxide in the earth.

Three primary iron ores: magnetite, hematite, taconite
Iron is extracted using blast furnace

Steps in Extraction Of Iron

Ores is washed, crushed and mixed with
limestone and coke
The mixture is fed into the furnace and is then melted
Coke(a product of coal, mainly carbon) is
used to convert the iron oxides to iron
Limestone helps to separate
the impurities from the metal
The liquid waste is known as slag
that floats on the molten iron

Steps In Extraction Of Iron

They are then tapped off (separated)

The iron produced is only about 90% to 95% pure.
The iron is then further refined using the
basic oxygen furnace and the electric arc
furnace to produce steel which is widely
used now.

Blast Furnace Temperatures

Blast Furnace
Ore, coke, and limestone are charged in layers into the top of a blast
furnace
Ore is the source of the iron , Coke is the source of the carbon (coke is
derived from coal, by heating in a coking oven)
Limestone acts as a fluxing slag to remove impurities like sulphur and
silica
1100-deg. air blown into bottom of furnace, burns oxygen off the iron
oxides, causing temperature in furnace to get above the melting point of
iron (approx. 3000 degrees)

Blast Furnace
Molten iron sinks to bottom of furnace, where it is tapped off from
furnace and cast into large ingots called pigspigs contain high
carbon content (4% or so), plus many impurities, such as sulphur
and silica which wasnt removed by the limestone.

Ferrous Metals - Iron and Steel

Pure iron is soft and ductile to be of much practical use.
But when carbon is added, useful set of alloys are
produced.
They are known as carbon steel.
The amount of carbon will determine the hardness of the
steel.
The carbon amount ranges from 0.1% to 4%.

Types Of Steel

Low carbon steel (mild steel)

Medium carbon steel
High carbon steel (tool steels)
Cast iron
ALLOY STEELS: Stainless steel
High speed steel

Some Common Application :

Its low cost and high strength make it indispensable in engineering
applications such as the construction of machinery and machine
tools, automobiles, the hulls of large ships, and structural
components for buildings. Since pure iron is quite soft, it is most
commonly combined with alloying elements to make steel

ROLE OF IRON IN HUMAN HEALTH

Iron has three main functions :
carrying oxygen from the lungs to the rest of
the body.
maintaining a healthy immune system.
(Body protects itself from antigens, which
includes virus, bacteria and
foreign substances that make sick)
aiding energy production.
(Iron is constituent of several enzymes
including : iron catalase,
peroxidase, and cytochrome enzymes)