UNIT-2

Introduction.
Types and applications of materials- Ferrous alloys,
Non-ferrous alloys, Glasses, Ceramics, Plastics, Fibres.

Mechanical properties of metals: Yield strength,

tensile strength and ductility of materials, tensile stress-
strain curve. Plastic deformation- Plastic deformation by
slip, Deformation by twinning, types of twins, Necking.
 
Creep- Mechanism of Creep and Creep resistant
materials. Fatigue- Stress cycle, Fatigue failure,
mechanism of fatigue failure
Introduction:
Metallic materials are broadly of two kinds – ferrous
and non-ferrous materials. This classification is primarily
based on tonnage of materials used all around the world.

Ferrous materials are those in which iron (Fe) is the

principle constituent. All other materials are categorized
as non-ferrous materials.

Another classification is made based on their

formability. If materials are hard to form, components
with these materials are fabricated by casting, thus they
are called cast alloys.
If material can be deformed, they are known as wrought
alloys.

Materials are usually strengthened by two methods –

cold work and heat treatment. Strengthening by heat
treatment involves either precipitation hardening both of
which constitute specific heat treating procedure.

When a material cannot be strengthened by heat

treatment, it is referred as non-heat-treatable alloys.
Ferrous metals may be defined as those metals whose
main constituent is iron such as pig iron, wrought iron,
cast iron, steel and their alloys.

Ferrous means iron. Most common engineering

materials are ferrous materials which are alloys of iron.
The principal raw materials for ferrous metals are pig iron.

Ferrous materials are usually stronger and harder and

are used in daily life products. Ferrous material possesses a
special property that their characteristics can be altered by
heat treatment processes.
Ferrous metals possess different physical properties
according to their carbon content.

Iron is the name given to pure ferrite Fe, as well as to

fused mixtures of this ferrite with large amount of carbon
(may be 1.8%), these mixtures are known as pig iron and
cast iron.

Primarily pig iron is produced from the iron ore in the

blast furnace from which cast iron, wrought iron and steel
can be produced.
FERROUS METAL & ALLOYS:

Ferrous materials are produced in larger quantities than

any other metallic material.

One main drawback of ferrous alloys is their

environmental degradation i.e. poor corrosion resistance.

Other disadvantages include: relatively high density and

comparatively low electrical and thermal conductivities.
In ferrous materials the main alloying element is carbon
(C). Depending on the amount of carbon present, these
alloys will have different properties, especially when the
carbon content is either less/higher than 2.14%.

This amount of carbon is specific as below this amount

of carbon, material undergoes eutectoid transformation,
while above that limit ferrous materials undergo eutectic
transformation.

Thus the ferrous alloys with less than 2.14% C are termed
as steels and the ferrous alloys with higher than 2.14% C
are termed as cast irons.
CARBON STEELS:
Plain carbon steel is that steel in which alloying element
is carbon. It has a higher carbon content, which gives
the steel a lower melting point, more malleability and
durability, and better heat distribution.

Also called mild steel, it's commonly used structurally

in buildings and bridges, axles, gears, shafts, rails,
pipelines and couplings, cars, fridges and washing
machines.

High carbon steel has a much better tensile

strength, used to make cutting tools, blades, punches,
dies, springs and high-strength wire.
As the percentage of carbon further increases, it can be
used for production of milling cutters, anvils, taps, drills,
files, razors, metal cutting tools for lathes, shapers,
planner and drawing dies.

STEELS:

Steels are alloys of iron and carbon plus other alloying

elements. In steels, carbon present in atomic form, and
occupies interstitial sites of Fe microstructure.
Alloying additions are necessary for many reasons
including: improving properties, improving corrosion
resistance, etc. Mechanical properties of steels are very
sensitive to carbon content.

Hence, it is practical to classify steels based on their

carbon content. Thus steels are basically three kinds: low-
carbon steels (% wt of C < 0.3), medium carbon steels (0.3
<% wt of C < 0.6) and high-carbon steels (% wt of C > 0.6).
Low carbon steels: (0.15 to 0.25% of carbon)
These are produced in the greatest quantities than other
alloys. Carbon present in these alloys is limited, and is not
enough to strengthen these materials by heat treatment;
hence these alloys are strengthened by cold work.

Their microstructure consists of ferrite and pearlite, and

these alloys are thus relatively soft, ductile combined with
high toughness.

Hence these materials are easily machinable and

weldable. Typical applications of these alloys include:
structural shapes, tin cans, automobile body components,
buildings, etc.
 The production cost of these material is low. A special
group of ferrous alloys with noticeable amount of alloying
additions are known as HSLA (high-strength low-alloy)
steels. Common alloying elements are: Cu, V, Ni, W, Cr,
Mo, etc.

These alloys can be strengthened by heat treatment, and

yet the same time they are ductile, formable. Typical
applications of these HSLA steels include: support
columns, bridges, pressure vessels.
Medium carbon steels: (0.3 to 0.6% of carbon)

These are stronger than low carbon steels. However

these are of less ductile than low carbon steels. These
alloys can be heat treated to improve their strength.

They are often used in tempered condition. The strength

of these materials is high but their weldability is
comparatively less and hardenability of these alloys is low.
Ni, Cr and Mo alloying additions improve their
hardenability. Mainly used in railway tracks & wheels,
gears, other machine parts which may require good
combination of strength and toughness.

High carbon steels: (0.65 t0 1.5% of carbon)

These are strongest and hardest of carbon steels, and of
course their ductility is very limited. These are heat
treatable, and mostly used in hardened and tempered
conditions.

They possess very high wear resistance, and capable of

holding sharp edges. Thus these are used for tool
application such as knives, razors, hacksaw blades, etc.
These materials get hard and tough by heat treatment
and their weldability is poor.

The steel formed in which carbon content is up to 1.5%,

silica up to 0.5%, and manganese up to 1.5% along with
other elements is called plain carbon steel.
CAST IRONS:
It is primarily an alloy of iron and carbon. The carbon
content in cast iron varies from 1.5 to 4 per cent. Small
amounts of silicon, manganese, sulphur and phosphorus
are also present in it.

One characteristic (except white cast iron) is that much

of carbon content is present in free form as graphite. Cast
iron contains so much carbon.

The cost of production of these substances is quite low

and these are used as ferrous casting alloys.
Melting point of cast iron is much lower than that of
steel. Most of the castings produced in a cast iron foundry
are of grey cast iron. These are cheap and widely used.
The characteristics of cast iron which make it a valuable
material for engineering applications are:

(1) Very good casting characteristics.

(2) Low cost.
(3) High compressive strength.
(4) Good wear resistance.
(5) Excellent machinability.

The main limitation of this metal is brittleness and low

tensile strength.
Based on the form of carbon present, cast irons are
categorized as gray, white, nodular and malleable cast
irons.

The varieties of cast iron in common uses are:

(1) Grey cast iron
(2) White cast iron
(3) Malleable cast iron
(4) Nodular cast iron
(5) Chilled cast iron
(6) Alloy cast iron
1. Grey Cast Iron:
It is the iron which is most commonly used in foundry
work. If this iron is machined or broken, its fractured
section shows the grayish color, hence the name “grey” cast
iron.

The grey color is due to the fact that carbon is present in

the form of free graphite.
This is suitable for those components where sliding
action is desired. The other properties are good
machinability, high compressive strength, low tensile
strength and no ductility.

In view of its low cost, it is preferred in all fields where

ductility and high strength are not required.

The grey cast iron castings are widely utilized in

machine tool bodies, automobile cylinder blocks and
flywheels, etc.
2. White Cast Iron:

It is so called due to the whitish color shown by its

fracture. White cast iron contains carbon exclusively in the
form of iron carbide Fe3C (cementite).

From engineering point of view, white cast iron has

limited applications. This is because of poor machinability,
in general relatively poor mechanical properties.
It is used for inferior castings and where hard coating is
required as in outer surface of car wheels. Crushing rolls
such as rollers in rolling mills are made of white cast iron.

But it is used as raw material for production of malleable

cast iron. It is very brittle, hard and extremely difficult to
machine.

Usually white cast iron is heat treated to produce

malleable iron.
3. Malleable Cast Iron:
The malleable cast iron is produced from white cast iron
by suitable heat treatment, i.e., annealing.

It is unsuitable for articles which are thin, light and

small castings, used in various machine components.

Heat treatments involve heating the material up to 800-

900 C
ْ , and keep it for long hours, before cooling it to room
temperature.
The malleable cast iron is ductile and may be bent
without rupture or breaking the section. Its tensile
strength is usually higher than that of grey cast iron and
has excellent machining qualities.

Typical applications include: railroad, connecting rods,

marine, pipe fittings and other heavy-duty services.
4. Nodular (or ductile) Cast Iron:
It is also known as “spheroidal graphite iron” or ductile
iron or High strength “Cast iron”. This nodular cast iron is
obtained by adding magnesium to the molten cast iron.

The magnesium converts the graphite of cast iron from

flake to spheroidal or nodular form. In this manner, the
mechanical properties are considerably improved.

The strength increases, yield point improves and

brittleness is reduced.
This cast iron is widely used in castings where density as
well as pressure tightness is a highly desirable quality.

The applications include hydraulic cylinders, valves,

pipes and pipe fittings, cylinder head for compressors,
diesel engines, etc.
5. Chilled Cast Iron:
Quick cooling is generally known as chilling and the iron
so produced is “chilled iron”.

The outer surface of all castings always gets chilled to a

limited depth about (1 to 2 mm) during pouring and
solidification of molten metal after coming in contact with
cool sand of mould.

Chills are employed on any faces of castings which are

required to be hard to withstand wear and friction.
Chilled castings are used in producing stamping dies
and crushing rolls railway, wheels cam followers, and so
on.
6. Alloy Cast Iron:

Alloying elements are added to cast iron to overcome

inherent deficiencies in ordinary cast iron to provide
requisite characteristics for special purposes.

The alloy cast iron is extremely tough, wear resistant and

non-magnetic steel about 12 to 14 per cent manganese
should be added.
Nickel:
It may be termed as one of the most important alloying
elements. It improves tensile strength, ductility, toughness
and corrosion resistance.

Chromium:
Its addition to steel improves toughness, hardness and
corrosion resistance.

Boron: It increases hardenability.

Cobalt:
It is added to high speed steels to improve hardness,
toughness, tensile strength, thermal resistance and
magnetic properties. It acts as a grain purifier.

Tungsten:
Tungsten improves hardness, toughness, wear
resistance, shock resistance and ability to retain hardness
at elevated temperatures. It provides hardness and
abrasion resistance properties to steel.
Molybdenum: It improves wear resistance, hardness,
thermal resistance.

Vanadium: It increases tensile strength, elastic limit,

ductility, shock resistance and also provides improvement
to hardenability of steel. It is the strongest carbide former.

Titanium is used to fix carbon in stainless steel and thus

prevents the precipitation of chromium-carbide.

Niobium: It improves ductility, decreases hardenability

and substantially improves the impact strength. It also
promotes fine grain growth.
STAINLESS STEELS:

The only material known to engineers which possesses a

combination of various properties such as:

wide range of strength and hardness, high ductility and

formability, high corrosion resistance, good creep
resistance, good thermal conductivity, good machinability,
high hot & cold workability and excellent surface finish is
stainless steel.

They are known as stainless since they do not corrode or

rust easily in most of environment and media.
Stainless steels can be further divided into the following
three categories:

(1) Ferritic stainless steel:

It is the steel when properly heat treated and finished,
resists oxidation and corrosive attacks from corrosive
media.

Ferritic stainless steels contain 12–18% chromium, 0.15 to

0.2% carbon besides iron and usual amounts of
manganese and silicon.
These steels are actually iron-chromium alloys and
cannot be hardened by heat treatment.

Such type of steel is utilized in manufacture of dairy

equipment food processing plants, etc.
(2) Martensitic stainless steel:

These steels contain 12–18% chromium and 0.1 to 1.8%

carbon. These steels can be hardened by heat treatment
but their corrosion resistance is decreased.

Steels with 12 to 14% chromium and 0.3% carbon are

widely used for table cutlery, tools and equipment.

Steel with little less carbon percentage and higher

percentage of chromium are used as springs, ball bearings
and instruments under high temperature.
(3) Austentic stainless steels:
These are the most costliest among all stainless steels. In
these steels besides chromium, nickel is also added.

These steels contain 12 to 21% chromium and 8 to 15%

nickel and carbon less than 0.2%.

The most familiar alloy of this group is known as 18:8

stainless steel i.e. 18% chromium and 8% nickel plus other.
Other elements like carbon, manganese and silicon in very
small quantities.
TOOL STEELS:
Tool steels are specially alloyed steels designed for high
strength, impact toughness and wear resistance at room
and elevated temperatures.

They are normally used in forming and machining of

metals. It is very hard and further that it should be able to
retain its hardness at high temperatures.

This property is known as “red hardness”. Further, tool

steel should not be brittle for smooth working.
1. High Speed Steel (H.S.S.):
It is the name given to the most common tool steel. As
the name implies, it can cut steel at high cutting speeds.

These steels are high in alloy content, have excellent

hardenability, maintain their hardness at elevated
temperatures around 650°C, and contain relatively large
amounts of tungsten or molybdenum, together with
chromium, cobalt or vanadium.

They are used to produce cutting tools to be operated for

various machining operations such as turning, drilling,
milling, etc.
A typical composition of H.S.S. is tungsten 18%,
chromium 4% and vanadium 1%, carbon 0.75 to 0.9% and
rest iron.
2. Molybdenum High Speed Steel:
This steel contains 6% tungsten, 6% molybdenum, 4%
chromium and 2% vanadium and has excellent toughness
and cutting ability.

The molybdenum high speed steel is better and cheaper

than other types of steel.

It is particularly utilized in drilling and tapping

operations.
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