METALLURGY LAB 2021

Lab Manual
List of Experiments
1. Specimen preparation technique
First cycle
2. Phase diagram
3. Heat treatment of steels
4. Hardenability test
5. Specimen identification Second cycle
6. Sand strength & Permeability test
7. Tensile, Fatigue & Impact Test.
8. Project assignment for each group – a group should consist of 5
members.
The title of the project is ‘material selection’. This will help you understand the
course overall. The project is to select any mechanical equipment (preferably) or
any other equipment/system/device of your choice and is expected to do the
following activities
 Identify the crucial parts of the selected equipment
 Identify the parts main functions
 Identify the required properties of the parts
 Select the suitable material for the identified part in the equipment
scientifically. i.e. Justify the identified material is satisfying the
functional requirements.
Finally, submit your project as a group in a poster format, which should be
laminated A3 paper size.

Note 1: Marking scheme for the project include poster submission (clarity/aesthetic
presentation, technical content, project presentation and viva voce)
Note 2: Marking scheme for lab exercise include in-lab observations, Q&As and lab
report.
Note 3: The first cycle of lab exercise include 1 & 2. The second cycle comprises from 3
to 7. You can formally start your project as soon as you complete the lab part.

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Note 4: If necessary, any other relevant information will be given to you F2F and/or
posted in Moodle.
Note 5: Any questions asked in the lab manual under each experiment, answer for it in
just one or two pages at the maximum. IT SHOULD BE OF YOUR OWN WORDS;
though you could refer to any text, please don’t copy-paste; otherwise, it will be
penalized under plagiarism (refer to course outline).

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Phase Equilibrium diagram

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4. What are the Safety precautions to be taken during phase diagram exercise?

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 Heat Treatment of Steels

Procedure:
1. Four small cylindrical workpieces of given steel specimen are heated in the
muffle furnace to its austenitizing temperature of 8400C and maintained at that
temperature for 30 minutes.
2. The hot pieces are taken out, and one of them is quenched in water and one in oil.
Of the remaining two pieces, one of them is allowed to cool to room temperature
in air, and the other is buried in the sand.
3. After the pieces are cooled to the room temperature in different cooling media,
they are taken out and cleaned.
4. The hardness of each specimen is determined on the case, at different points of
the specimen using the Rockwell hardness testing machine.

Results:
 Write a theory of heat treatment processes
 Tabulate the hardness results obtained with the different cooling media for the
given specimens
 Draw the bar chart for the same aforementioned and comment on it, what you
understand from this experiment.
 Safety precautions to be taken during this exercise

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 Hardenability Test

Procedure:
1. The Jominy specimen (shown in fig. 1) is heated in the muffle furnace to its
austenitizing temperature of 8400C and maintained at that temperature for 30
minutes.
2. Then the specimen is turned from furnace to Jominy apparatus using tongs and
put on its holder followed by allowing the water to quench the end of the
specimen
3. The velocity of water sprayed at the end of a standard specimen is to be
maintained constant throughout the process of cooling
4. This quenching process is continued till the specimen attains the room
temperature.
5. Remove the Jominy specimen from the fixture and grind a flat on the side of the
specimen.
6. Mark points on the ground surface at a constant interval of 1.6 mm up to 60 mm
distance from the quenched end as shown in Figure 2.
7. Take the hardness reading using a Rockwell hardness testing machine on the interval
marked on the specimen

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 Figure 1 Jominy end quench fixture (1” = 25.4 mm)

Fig. 2. Hardness vs distance

Results:
 Write a theory of hardenability processes.
 Tabulate the hardness readings against the distance from the quenching end.
 Plot useful graphs resulting from the experiment and comment on them.
 What is the difference between hardness and hardenability?
 Safety precautions to be taken during this exercise.

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 Specimen Identification

Procedure: follow the specimen preparation technique, however, choose the etchant
according to the specimen given and view under the microscope.

Result:
 Notify the microstructure observed, on which identify the given specimen.
 Write the theory or importance of micrography or metallography on the identified
specimen in engineering.
 Safety precautions to be taken during this exercise

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 Sand Strength Test

Procedure:

The following gives the procedure for compression testing. Take some time to understand
the working of the CRG Universal Sand Strength Testing Machine.

1.) Take 0.152kg moist sand. Fill into the rammer tube. Drop the rammer (7kg) three
times from a fixed height of 10cm. The length of the specimen required for the
compression strength is 4.9cm.
2.) Remove the specimen. Use the rammer to push the specimen up the tube then
carefully take it out.
3.) Take 0.152 kg of dry sand and prepare an identical sample as in 1 and 2 above.
4.) Place the sand specimen on the two support pins of the test attachment.
5.) Turn the hand wheel of the machine clockwise and compress the specimen at a slow
and constant rate until failure.
6.) Record the load reading on the pressure gauge at failure
7.) The compressive strength was found by dividing the maximum load at failure by
the cross-sectional area of the specimen.
8.) Repeat steps 4 to 7 for the dry specimen as well.
9.) Note your results and observations.

Discussion:

1.) What is the typical theoretical range of values for foundry sand compression
strength?
2.) How does sand compression strength affect the application of sand in industries,
mainly in solidification (casting process)?
3.) What are the desired properties for foundry sand?
4.) Write the theory or importance of sand strength test in engineering application
relevant to metallurgy
5.) Safety precautions to be taken during this exercise

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 Permeability Test

Procedure:

The falling head permeability set up is shown in Figure 1. The permeameter is a

commercial product consisting of a standard xx m3 compaction mold fixed with a base plate
containing a porous stone and an outlet tube. The cover is fixed with a vent valve and
connection for attaching a water supply. Three different size standpipes are available which
are burettes attached to the permeameter using a pinch clamp on the rubber hose. A meter
stick is used to obtain the initial and final heads, Ho and Hf respectively.

The equation to be used for this test is:

2.303  a  L  Ho 
k  log 
At  Hf 

Where:

k= permeability coefficient (cm/s)

A = cross sectional area of soil sample. (cm2)
a = cross sectional area of glass pipe (cm2)
Ho = starting head (cm)
Hf = ending head (cm)
L= length of soil specimen. (cm)
T = total time for falling head. (s)

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 1) Weigh the permeameter mold without the base plate and porous stone attached.
Also measure the inside mold diameter and height to calculate the cross-sectional
area and sample length, as well as the cross-sectional area of the burette.
2) Prepare the sand sample with the required moisture content. Note the weight of
the empty container, the weight of the container with dry sand and the weight
with water added to the sand.
3) Put the sand sample prepared in the permeameter mold through the extension
collar and compact it with the help of the rammer. Remove the extension collar
after compaction and trim the excess sand level with the mold top. Note the
weight of the compacted sand plus the mold.
4) Remove the base plate and place the bigger porous plate at the bottom, replace the
compacted sand onto the porous plate and put the smaller porous plate on the top.
5) Assemble the top cover of the mold and secure properly.
6) Choose a suitable diameter glass pipe. Connect the permeability mold containing
the sand samples through the top nozzle inlet provided on the drainage cap of the
mold to the glass burette. Tighten the Hoffman pinch cock on the plastic tub and
fill the glass standpipe with water.
7) Open the inlet valve and outlet valve to saturate the sand specimen and remove all
air. Once the steady flow is achieved (the permeameter should now be free of air
bubbles), close both valve and fill the glass standpipe with water to a convenient
height. Record this initial height as Ho.
8) Open the inlet valve and the outlet valve and simultaneously start timing the test.
Allow water to flow through the sample until the desired known final water height,
Hf. Note the time and initial and final heights.
9) Calculate the coefficients of permeability using the given equation.
10) Refill the glass burette and repeat step 8 twice. Take an average of the values.
11) Note your results and observations.

Discussion:

1) How does sand permeability affect the quality of solidification (casting)?

2) What other engineering applications apart from the solidification process require
knowledge of sand permeability?

3) What is the theoretical (value) range of permeability for cast-iron solidification? Is

there any difference in your measured value to the theoretical value? If so, what
factors could cause the difference?

4) Write the theory or importance of permeability test in engineering application

relevant to metallurgy

5) Safety precautions to be taken during this exercise

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 Tensile Test

Procedure:
1. Initial measurement of the specimens to be carried out, such as gauge length (Lo),
diameter (Do).
2. The tensile test is carried out by gripping the ends of the specimen in a respective
top and bottom gripper of UTM
3. Apply the pulling load on to the specimen till it fractures.
4. During the tensile test, the tensile load, as well as the elongation of a specimen,
should be observed, which helps in plotting the stress-strain curve as shown in the
above figure
5. After fracture, the two pieces of the broken specimen are placed as if fixed
together and the distance (Lf) between two gauge marks and the diameter at the
place of fracture are measured.

Properties to be calculated:
1. yield strength = load at yield point/A0
2. ultimate tensile strength (UTS) = ultimate load, Pmax/A0
L f  L0
3. % Elongation =  100
L0

A0  A f
4. % Reduction in the area =  100
A0
5. Modulus of elasticity, E = Stress at any point within the elastic limit/strain at that
point
D02
6. A0 =
4
Where A0 is the original area of cross-section, D0 is the original diameter before
deformation, L0 is the gauge length before deformation, Lf is the fracture length, Df is the
fracture diameter (refer below fig).

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 (a)

Results:
 Tabulate the observed reading such as load applied and elongation in length and
calculate the stress and strain, termed as engineering stress and engineering strain
 Plot the graph for stress vs strain and note the point such as yield, ultimate and
breaking and calculate the corresponding strength
 Also calculate the other parameters like % elongation, % area reduction and
modulus of elasticity
 Based on the graph above and calculated parameter, comment your
understandings.
 Write the theory of tensile testing
 Safety precautions to be taken during this exercise

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 Fatigue Test
Procedure:
 Fatigue tester unit shown below is used for the experiment.

 The motor is connected on one side to a counter mechanism, which can record up
to 7 digits. Attached to the shaft at the other end is a fixture.

 Measure the dimensions of the given specimen although it is given as per ASTM
standard also inspect the surface roughness.

 Attach one end of the specimen to the chuck at the load bearing end and slide the
other end into the chuck at the main shaft.

 Measure the distance from the neck to the specimen’s contact surface with the
bearing.

 Apply the given load

 The revolution counter was reset to zero, and the motor was switched on

 Motor was then switched off as soon as fracture occurred

 The broken specimen was removed, and the results were recorded

 The above steps were then repeated for different loads to plot S-N curve

The specimen loading arrangement results in a constant bending moment PL/2

over the test length of the specimen.

Where: P - Load applied over the specimen kg.

L – Distance from neck to specimen’s contact point with bearing

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 Now,
Bending moment (𝑀𝑏 ) = 𝑃𝐿/2

L * P * 32 N
The bending stress for a load P (N) is:  [ ]
 * d 3 mm 2

Where,
d – Diameter of the neck

Results:
 Determine the bending stress
 Tabulate the observed reading and find what are the necessary data required to
plot the S-N curve.
 From your understanding of this test, could fatigue performance largely can
improve by design means or by metallurgical means – justify?
 If a same material subjected to tensile and fatigue test, would this information be
sufficient to find fatigue ratio? Explain.
 Write a theory of fatigue testing.
 Safety precautions to be taken during this exercise.

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 IMPACT TEST
Procedure:

1. Measure the length (l), breadth (b), & depth (d) of the given specimen.
2. Measure the position of the notch (i.e. groove) from one end (lg), depth of the
groove (dg) and top width of the groove (wg) in the given specimen.
3. Lift the pendulum and keep it in the position meant for Charpy/Izod test.
4. Adjust the pointer to coincide with initial position (i.e. maximum value) in the
scale.
5. Release the pendulum using the lever and note down the initial reading in the
scale.
6. Repeat the step 3 and 4.
7. Place the specimen vertically upwards such that the shorter distance between one
end of the specimen and groove will be protruding length and also the groove in
the specimen should face the striking end of the hammer. (For Charpy: Place the
specimen centrally over the supports such that the groove in opposite to the
striking face.)
8. Release the pendulum again using the lever and note down the final reading in the
scale.
9. Find the impact strength of the given specimen by: Impact strength = (Final scale
reading – Initial scale reading)

Observation:
1. Material of the given specimen =
2. Type of notch (i.e. groove) =
3. Length of the specimen, l = mm
4. Breadth of the specimen, b = mm
5. Depth of the specimen, d = mm
6. Position of groove from one end, (lg) = mm
7. Depth of groove (dg) = mm
8. Width of groove (wg) = mm
9. Initial scale reading = kg.m
10. Final scale reading = kg.m

Result:
 The impact strength of the given specimen is --------- Kg.m
 From the tensile and impact test, you would understand that both the test can
determine toughness. Which test value would you be giving importance for
practical design purpose and why?
 Safety precautions to be taken during this exercise

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 Project

Objective: Materials selection process – that is choosing the right material for the right
application.

Process Structure Properties Performance Application

The above figure represents how the material is chosen for a particular application. By
doing this project, you will learn how to select or identify the right material for right
application in a systematic manner. The details of it will be discussed comprehensively
in the selection of materials chapter, however following are the steps minimum expected
to complete the project.

Following are the core activities to be done to complete the project:

1. Identify the equipment/machine tool/machine elements etc
2. Identify the important parts of the chosen equipment
3. Now for the identified parts, you can derive its functions and its working
conditions and so on.
4. From the functions, you can identify the required properties for that part
5. From the properties, you can study and suggest the best possible material and its
processing steps to attain those properties.

Note 1: Submit your project poster in laminated A3 format before the end of the 12th
week of this semester. Please do originally and ask for any clarifications to any of the
MM212 teaching staff at any time.
Note 2: Please do not operate any lab equipment or machines without the
supervision of any authorized person.

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