Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
9.I
INTRODUCTION :
This group of ferrous Dlater.ials is ost inportart to ttre sociery because ol thir lvide
rarge ofproperties and varietv ofapplications. Theoreticallv steels are the allovs ofiron and
in {'hich the carbor content is between 0.008 and 2.0 per cent. Commercial steels
always contaiD sonre amounts of other elenlents. If these el.mcrts ire trccidentalty present
\1.ithout anv inteDtion, tLev are called inipurities. I{owever, ltthet, ar.e adde<i pur.posely, they
ale called alloying elenents. Sulphur and phosphorus.rre the corrrrrron nnpurities which
come frolr the coke and ore used in the manufacture of steel. To overcome the undsirable
eflects af s[\trur, manganese is always added in so re arnount to the stee]. Many other
elerDents are also present in certain amounts ajrd hence commrcial steels are rather
carbon
complex alioys. Presence ol these elements in small anounts do not appreciably chanee the
heat treatnent behaviour aDd microstructures of steels. Stels with other elements in small
rmounts are called plain carbon steels and thtu structures ard properties can be discussed
C (or Fe Fe3C) equilibrium diasram.
Id cer.tailt cases, sone olthe elenents are intentionally added to steels to increase sonle
ofthe required properties. These steels are called alloy steels_ The plopertis ofalloy steels
car alsobe discussed witir the help ofFe C (or Fe Fe,C) equilibriun diagrarn bykeeprng in
rlnd the itlnuence ofthese elements on the above diagram or bv using a mocliliecl .liagraD.
Therefole, it is highly essential to study rtre fe-C (or Fe-FerC) equilibriuu or.phase
diagram nr detail.
9.2
(308)
309
L+6
1539
0.18
M
6
1400
910
Liquid (L)
768(}.,)
9
2g
E
2lo
3
Peicent carbon by
;ig. 9.1
4 4.3 5
weighi-"'
fe,C
di.sEm.
' lroFlrcn.otld..quillbrlm
(i)
6.67
called Cutie tenlpetature. The parsmagnetic d which exists between 768oC and 9100 was
denoted as p in the old days.
310
(ii)
y (Austenite)
Austenite is ar interstitial solid solution o{ carbon in F.C.C. 1called Austedite in honour of Sir Austin, who was one of the fiIst
metallographer to 6tudy its properties. It can dissolve upto 2.070 carbon at 1147oC. The
phase is stable only above ?2?"C. lt is a soft, ductile, malleable. ard non-magnetic
(paramagnetic) phase. It can be extensively worked at the temperatures ofits xistence.
(iii) d (6 - ferrite) : It is an inteNtitial solid solution ol carbon in high temperature
B.C.C. 5 iron. It is similar to o. - lerrite except its occuEence at high temperature.
(iv) Fe3C (Cementite) : lt is a]r intermetallic compound of iron and carbon with a fired
ca$or coltent of6.677, by weight. Cementite has a complex o*horhombic crystal structure
with 12 iron atoms and 4 carbon atoms in a unit cell. It is xhemely hard alrd bdttle pha6e
(hardness -900 VPN). It is Ierromagnetic upto 210oC and paramagnetic above this
temperature. It is also called lron C&rbide ot sin,ply Ca.fttd.e in the discussion of FFC
system.
Ihe
(i)
above diagram contains thrce differcnt transformatrons which are described below
Peritectic transforBation
S,+L+
!"b[*ml:lF
Constet
S,r
'
{heie
o'
E
Fig.9.2
(ofo.l%c)
! P.;t
L
+ (of0.55%c)+
dtqgrem.
t19xc
{of0.i8%c)
"(9'1)
6 o10.17, C combines with liquid of 0.55% C at 1492oC and foims y of 0.182oC. The
amounts of 6 and L can be found out by applyhg lever rule :
0.55 - 0-18
q.
Amount of ti =
ffi
xloo =
42.2
Amoun-ofriquid
31',I
- 018-01
;.;;_ ;i''nn
=
17
.8%
For hypopeFitctic steels (i.e. steels ol carbon content less than 0 187,), the
transformation can be written as
$2)
and for hlTerperitectic steels (i.e. steels of carbon content more than 0-187r, the
transformation can be written as :
...(9.3)
y+L
6+ LEquations 9.2 and 9.3 are similar to peritectic translormation as shown by equation
9.1. Equation 9-2 indicates that for hypoperitectic steels, there is an excess of 6 and
equation 9.3 indicats t}Iat t}lerc is an excess of liquid for hyperperitectic steels befor the
start of translormation and hence some amount ofthese phases remain after the completion
of trans{ormation. This indicates that the peritectic hansformation range is from 0.1% C to
0.55% C. All the steels containing carbon between 0 1 and 0 55% exhibit peritectic
transformation when cooled from the liquid state. Other steels (i.e. steels containing carbon
from 0-008 to 0-1% and 0.55 to 2.0%) do not undergo pedtectic hansformationThe above translormation occurs at a very high temperature where the steels, ifheated,
show buming and hence is of no use for the modification olpmpedies ofsteels.
(ii) Dutectoid transfor"mation : In general e tectoid transformation is denoted as :
to""*t
s,r
s2
* sl
tDprahr
where Sr, 52 and 53 are diffeftnt solid phases.
121
9
i
z
e
E
0.008
Weight % Cdbon
-----r
ol;+< ph.i.
dlcgrom.
312
the eutectoid region in the lower left hand side of Fig. 9 1 is showrr on an enlarged
in ! rs. 9.3.
liutectoid transformation in Fig. 9.3 occuN at point E and is
127'C
YJO
lolr).8% C)
t.c.(i.
as below
scale
...(9.4)
Fe,C
(0f0025tc)
8.0.c.
This clearly Ieveals that the fenite iamella is 7.4 tiDes (i e. about 7 times) thicker than
.ementite lamella. (Please renenber that tlrcse calculations haoe been. done assumirE tlre
densi.ties of fen ite a d ccnrcntite to be equaL, and also the sutfa.e at eas of fert ite and cenrcntite
LameLLae i.n peat lite ate equtLl). T]Ire propedies of pearlite depend upon its i terlarrellar
spacing. Slraller the spaci g, higher are the nrechanical properties The interlane]lar
spaci g depends on the cooljng rate and within liDit, the spacirg becomes less And less with
increasing cooliDg rates. The hardDess ofpearlite with the usual cooling rates is between
230 and 270 BHN. Ilo!1'el,er, lor a1l practical purposes, lhe value of bardness ay be taken
as 250 BHN.
The intellaDrellar spacing ofa parlite is defiDed as tire distance fro the centre ofa
ferriLe (or ce enlite) lalnella to the centre olthe next adjacert ferrit (or cenentite) lamela.
(iii)
Eutectic tunsfornratior
C,,""!"'.!,
1.mt)drture
S *S.,
L
(,,14.:.,7
Cl
ll
F..,(.
{ul2.on.C)
(,,i{i.6?% C)
...(9.5)
an
eutectic mixture of austenite (of 2.07. C) and cemeAtite. This eutectic mixture of austenite
and cenentite is called ledeburite. AusteAite from the ledeburite is not stable at low
313
temperatlrrl's and gets transformed to pearlite with slow lates of cooling at 727oC; and
hence at loom tempcraturc. structurc consists of pearlite aDd cementite. This mixture is
called trarslormcd icdeburitc. Thc amounts of pcarlitc aDd ccmcntite in transformed
ledeburitc :rt roon tcmperaturc according to levcr rule are as foilows :
667
43
Arnlont ut crnrcnhtL-
40.4%
,.
59 6'/'
:1
08
,.-_
Cemcntitc is hard and pcarlitc is also fairly hard and therefore, transfomred ledebudte
is also hard rnd subsequently britUe.
9.3
CRITICAITEMPERATURES
The tenperatures at which the phase changes occur dudng heating and cooling arc
called criticftl tcmperaturcs. Thcsc tcmpcraturcs and tcmpcratures at which magnetic
changes occur are denoted by symbols. These symbols with thei meaning dudns heating
under equilibrjum conditions are siven biow :
Tlris denotes the temperature at which cementite changes ftom ferromagnetic to
Iranmagnetic character. This is indicated by a dotted line AB at 210oC in
Fig.9.1.
'l'his denotes the temperaturc at which pcarlite transforms to austenite. This
transformation occurs at a constant temperature of ?27oC called eutectoid
tonperalure and does not depend on the carbon content in the alloy. lt is
dcroted by the line DEF nr Fig. 9.1. This temperaturc is known as lowcr critical
It is the temperaturc at which the last trace of frce turito gets dissolved to fron
100.1 austcnite It reprcscnts the tcmperature al \cr +.t)/.t phasa boundary
rn{l is a lunction ofcarbon cortent. It decrcascs fron 9100(: at 0.1 Cto727oC
^t
0.8', C, \\'hich is shorvn by a line CIIE in Fie. 9.1. Ihis tenrperatur is kiown as
uppcr
-itical ienrpcratnre
for ferrite.
314
Critical phase transformation temperahlres Al, A3 and Atn are influenced by he'ting or
cooling lates. Dudng rapid heating, these tempelatures are raised and during rapid cr ')irg,
they are lowered. For extremly slow cooling or heating rates i.e unde" equilibrium
conditions, the critical temperatures are the same as shown by the equilibrium dt'r3;am'
Under non- equilibrium conditions, the departule ir critical temperatures fl"m their
equilibrium values will be more arrd more with increasing rates ofheating or cooli: g This
change in temperature is due to thermal hysteresis and during heating, it is den' ted by a
suffix letter'c' (c flom the French word chaufag, means heating) and during cooling, by a
letter'r' (r from the French word, refoidissmerrr, means cooling). Thus, lor exarple, At
observed duing heating becomes A.1 and during cooling becor'.res Arr' For eqrilibrium
cooling, letter 'e' is used. This method of notation is commonly used to explain the
Az
depariures from equilibrium condition. However, such a change is not observed in A.
'nd
temperatures because of no h,'steEsis in nagntic transition. Various criticai terrrperatures
ofiron carbon alloys aie summaised in Table 9.1
Cune
(?68"C)
el0t :r400'c
<-r"^.ae'*i"'-".-rf --r",-"e*t
<--
BCC
"
t519"c
6BCC ----------r
315
Tedperature
210
No.
t.
Cementite becomes
paramagnetic
768
727
Completion
-910
olferit
to austenite
transformation
.\-
5.
721-1141
Completion ol cementite to
austenite
A,
6.
(ii)
1400-1492
ifon:
Completion olaustenite to
ferrite hansformation.
Liquid
t
I
lnon,
face
cerred cubic
e
8.
E
910
76a
316
(iii)
s.5
1
E
910
TemPerarure. C
ib.
9.5 !
-"""')
1400
1539 {Meltsl
Due to the sharp volume change at Aa, iron (or stel) may crack during fast cooling or
heating.
Usually the FFC equilibrium diagram is terminated at about 57. carbon or drawn
dotted beyond 57o carbon because of the following limitatioN :
(i)
diftcult
a-Dd
representative
to prepare and
(ii)
part of Fe-C phase diagram (i.e. above 57. carbon) is not useful. A1l the
commercial alloys contain carbon well blow the composition of Fe3C (i.e. 6.6?'/o C) and at
T'his particular
this composition the diagram is usually terminated. I'he Fe-C diagram which is teminated
at 6.67qo C b called as Fe-Fe3C equilibrium diagram because for 6.677. C, the amount of
FesC
is 1007,.