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In a recent warehouse fire, a shipment of aircraft rivets was subjected to heat which
was intense enough to overage the rivets but not intense enough to affect their size,
shape or appearance. The quality control engineer of the aircraft manufacturer
rejected the rivets for use. If you were their metallurgical engineer and the president
of the firm asked you to comment, would you consider the rivets scrapped? Is there
an alternative? (20 points)
Answer: No. There is another alternative since the size, shape and appearance is not
affected. The overaged rivets can again undergo precipitation hardening. In so speaking, it
can undergo again solution treatment in which the rivets will be heated above its solvus
temperature until it is homogenized. It will be then quenched to retain its homogeneous
structure but now it is supersaturated with its unprecipitated component. It will be heated
again in temperature below its solvus curve for the precipitate to form. So as not to be
overaged again, the temperature should be moderate to facilitate faster diffusion and
nucleation, achieving maximum strength just needed to its purpose. In summary, it will
undergo three process, solution treatment, quenching and aging process to produce the
desired property of rivets needed.
Consider a steel part intended for machinery fabrication in which the maximum
amount of martensite is desired after quenching and being the metallurgical engineer
of the company, recommend how it may be processed.
Answer: To acquire the maximum amount of martensite, the metal is austenitized. The
metal is held there for a long time to ensure coarser austenite grains. Carbon content should
also be increased and also alloying elements, mainly: Mg, Ni, Si, Cr and Mb should be added
to increase the critical diameter and to lower Ms and Mf. After doing so, the metal should
now be quenched to below Mf. Although, rapid quenching is the best way to produced
martensite, it also increases the stress in the metal and can lead to quench cracks. So, it is
necessary to quench the metal using oil or air to lower the cost.
With the aid of appropriate diagram(s), explain that for solid state reactions the
elastic strain energy makes nucleation more difficult.
Answer: