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8.1CLASSIFICATION OF STEEL
Steels can be classified by a variety of different systems depending on:
strengthening
is
accomplished
by
cold
work.
Microstructures
in
the
tempered
condition,
having
microstructures
of
tempered
martensite. The plain medium-carbon steels have low hardenabilities and can
be successfully heat treated only in very thin sections and with very rapid
quenching rates. Applications include railway wheels and, gears, crankshafts,
and other machine parts.
ordinary
steels
contain
amounts
of
manganese,
silicon,
effect
than
if
the
same
quantity
of
impurity
were
evenly
Excessive
coring
concentrates
the
impurity
in
the
grain-boundary
regions often producing the effect of very brittle inter granular films. The
extent to which coring of a particular element is indicated by the distance
between the compositions intersected with solidus and liquidus lines at any
temperature on the appropriate equilibrium diagram. Thus in Fig. 6.1A the
relative compositions of solid (S) and liquid (L) are very far at any
temperature and this may lead to excessive coring. Since relatively pure
metal is solidifying it follows that the bulk of the impurity element becomes
concentrated in
the metal
which
solidifies
lastin
the grain
boundary
regions. In Fig. 6.1B, however, the compositions of the solid (S) and the
liquid (L) remain close to each other throughout solidification and this will
lead to a relatively even distribution of the impurity element throughout the
microstructure
and
consequent
lack
of
dangerous
crystal-boundary
determines
the
resultant
structure
of
the
steel
and,
hence,
the
Annealing
The
term
'annealing'
describes
number
of
different
thermal
treatments which are applied to metals and alloys. Annealing processes for
steels can be classified as follows:
1-Stress-relief Annealing
The recrystallisation temperature of low carbon steel is about 500C,
so that, during a hot-rolling process recrystallisation proceeds simultaneously
with rolling. Thus, working stresses are relieved as they are set up.
Frequently, however, we must apply a considerable amount of cold work to
low carbon steel, as, for example, in the drawing of wire. Stress-relief
annealing then becomes necessary to soften the metal so that further drawing
operations can be carried out. Such annealing is often referred to as 'process'
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annealing, and is carried out at about 650C. It should be noted that process
annealing is a sub-critical operation, that is, it takes place below the lower
critical temperature (A1). In this treatment, there is no phase change and the
constituents ferrite and cementite remain in the structure throughout the
process.
2-Spheroidising Annealing
Spheroidising used to improve the machinablity of carbon steel. This
process included spheroidisation of pearlitic cementite of high carbon steel.
The
spheroidised
temperature
condition
is
produced
by
annealing
the
steel
at
between 650 and 700C, that is, just below the lower critical
during
annealing
and
will
produce
much
smaller
cementite.
globules
of
3-Annealing of Castings
The cast structure of a large body of steel is extremely coarse. This
is due mainly to the slow rates of solidification and subsequent cooling
through the austenitic range. Thus, a 0.35% carbon steel will be completely
solid in the region of 1450C(see Fe-Fe3c diagram),but, if the casting is large,
cooling, due to the lagging effect of the sand mould, will proceed very slowly
down to the point (approximately 820C) where transformation to ferrite
begins. By the time 820C has been reached, therefore, the austenite crystals
will
be
accordance
extremely
with
large.
the
Ferrite,
equilibrium
which
diagram,
then
begins
deposits
to
first
precipitate
at
the
in
grain
tensile strength is not greatly affected by this treatment, both toughness and
ductility are improved.
Figure 9.9 Structural changes occurring during the annealing of a steel casting (approx
0.35% carbon). The as-cast Widmanstatten structure is reheated to some temperature above
its upper critical and then allowed to cool in the furnace.
Normalizing
In normalizing steel is heated at about 30-50C above its upper
critical (thus the normalising temperature depends upon the carbon content of
the steel) , holding it at that temperature only just long enough for a uniform
temperature to be attained throughout the workpiece,
from the furnace and allowed to cool in still air. This relatively rapid method
of cooling limits grain growth
steel is often superior to that of an annealed one when machined , and the
strength and hardness of this steel are higher than the annealed steel. The
type of structure obtained by normalising will depend largely upon the
thickness of cross-section, as this will affect the rate of cooling. Thin sections
will give a much finer grain than thick sections, the latter differing little in
8
Hardening
When a piece of steel, containing sufficient carbon, is cooled rapidly
from above its upper critical temperature it becomes considerably harder than
it would be if allowed to cool slowly. The degree of hardness produced can
vary,
and
is
dependent
upon
such
factors
as
the
initial
quenching
temperature; the size of the work; the constitution, properties and temperature
of the quenching medium; and the degree of agitation of the quenching
medium. Water quenching of a steel containing sufficient carbon produces an
extremely
hard
structure
called
martensite
which
appears
under
the
Carbon is still in solution in the iron and has not been precipitated as iron
carbide as it would have been if the steel had been cooled under equilibrium
conditions.
However,
X-ray
crystallographic
examination
of
martensite
shows that despite very rapid cooling which has prevented the precipitation
of iron carbide, the lattice structure has nevertheless changed from FCC
(face-centred cubic) to something approaching the BCC (body-centred cubic)
structure which is normally present in a steel cooled slowly to ambient
temperature. This BCC type structure is considerably supersaturated with
carbon since at ambient temperatures only 0.006% carbon is retained in
solution
under
equilibrium
conditions.
Consequently
the
presence
of
pearlitic or bainitic because it has cooled more slowly. If, however, small
amounts of such elements as nickel, chromium or manganese are added to the
steel, it will be found that the martensitic layer is much thicker than with a
plain carbon steel of similar carbon content and dimensions which has been
cooled at the same rate. Alloying elements therefore 'increase the depth of
hardening', and they do so by slowing down the transformation rates( to
pearlite). The liability to produce quench-cracks, which are often the result of
water-quenching, is reduced in this way.
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Tempering
In this process quenched component heats or tempers in order to
relieve the internal stresses and reduce the brittleness. During tempering,
which is always carried out below the lower critical temperature, martensite
tends to transform to the equilibrium structure of ferrite and cementite. The
higher
the
tempering
temperature
the
more
closely
will
the
original
and
hardness
fall
progressively,
whilst
toughness
and
ductility
First Stage
First stage occurs at temperatures below 200 C. This stage involves
conversion of the martensite to low carbon martensite (0.25%C) plus epsilon
carbide (). -carbide is metastable and richer in carbon than cementite and
is described by the formula Fe2.5C (or Fe5C2). low carbon martensite retains
some degree of tetragonality because it still contains more carbon in solid
solution than would ferrite; there are no changes in the morphology of the
martensite crystals. At this stage a slight increase in hardness may occur
because
of
Brittleness
the
is
presence
significantly
of
the
reduced
finely-dispersed
as
quenching
but
hard
stresses
-carbide.
disappear
in
Second Stage
The second stage of tempering occurs between 200 and 300C. It
refers directly to the conversion of retained austenite to bainite (ferrite+
carbide) .this stage is important when there are significant quantities of
retained austenite.
11
Third Stage
Third stage start at 300C. At this stage -carbide begins to transform
to ordinary cementite and this continues as the temperature rises. In the mean
time the remainder of the carbon begins to precipitate from the low carbon
martensite also as cementite and in consequence the martensite structure
gradually reverts to one of ordinary BCC ferrite. Above 500C the cementite
particles coalesce into larger rounded globules in the ferrite matrix. This
structure was formerly called sorbite
or
Figure 9. 12 The relationship between mechanical properties and tempering temperature for a
steel containing 0.5% carbon and 0.7% manganese in the form of a bar 25mm diameter,
previously water quenched from 830C.
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approximately C-shaped curves indicate the time necessary for the austenite
to
rapid
quenching
to
any
predetermined
temperature.
Transformation
is
transformation
becomes
more
sluggish
as
the
temperature
falls
14
such
as
might
be
encountered
during
normalising.
Here
does not begin again until the MS line is reached at R, when the remaining
austenite begins to transform to martensite. Thus the final structure at room
temperature is a mixture of pearlite, martensite and traces of retained
austenite.
Figure9.15The effect of
cooling rate on the structure
for eutectoid TTT diagram.
non-eutectoid
TTT
diagram
as
shown
in
figure
9.16.
one
major
difference is that the curves of the hypoeutectoid steel have been shifted to
the left. While the curves of hypereutectoid steel have been shifted to the
right. A second major difference is that another transformation line has been
added, that
hypoeutectoid
proeutectoid
cementite
for
hypereutectoid.As
shon
in
6.11Martempering or Marquenching
When we cool the steel under conditions of the kind indicated in Fig.
9.17c. Here the steel is quenched into a bath at temperature E and left there
long enough to permit it to reach a uniform temperature throughout. It is then
removed from the bath and allowed to cool so that martensite will begin to
form at F. The net result is that, by allowing the core to attain the same
temperature as the surface whilst in the bath at temperature E. The final aircooling will not be rapid enough to allow a large temperature gradient to be
set up, and both core and surface will become martensitic at approximately
the same time. thus minimizing the tendency towards quench-cracking.
6.12 Austempering
This process illustrated in Fig.9.17D. Here the steel is quenched into a
bath at a temperature above that at which martensite can be formed and
allowed to remain there long enough for transformation to be complete at G.
Since
transformation
importance
when
to
bainite
heat-treating
is
complete
components
of
at
G.
Austempering
intricate
section.
is
Such
since
precipitation
is
slow,
whilst
at
lower
temperatures
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Ruling Section
It
became
necessary
for
manufacturers
to
specify
the
maximum
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