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Steel properties at low and high

temperatures
Abstract:

Aircraft and chemical processing equipment are now required to work at subzero
temperatures and the behavior of metals at temperatures down to -150C needs
consideration, especially from the point of view of welded design where changes in
section and undercutting at welds may occur.

Steel Properties at Low Temperatures


Aircraft and chemical processing equipment are now required to work at subzero temperatures
and the behavior of metals at temperatures down to -150C needs consideration, especially from
the point of view of welded design where changes in section and undercutting at welds may
occur.
An increase in tensile and yield strength at low temperature is characteristic of metals and alloys
in general. Copper, nickel, aluminium and austenitic alloys retain much or all of their tensile
ductility and resistance to shock at low temperatures in spite of the increase in strength.
In the case of unnotched mild steel, the elongation and reduction of area is satisfactory down to
-130C and then falls off seriously. It is found almost exclusively in ferritic steels, however, that a
sharp drop in Izo-d value occurs at temperatures around 0C (see Figs. 1 and 2).
The transition temperature at which brittle fracture occurs is lowered by:

a decrease in carbon content, less than 0,15% is desirable


a decrease in velocity of deformation
a decrease in depth of `notch`
an increase in radius of `notch`, e.g. 6 mm minimum
an increase in nickel content, e.g. 9%
a decrease in grain size; it is desirable, therefore, to use steel deoxidized with aluminium
normalized to give fine pearlitic structure and to avoid the presence of bainite even if
tempered subsequently
an increase in manganese content; Mn/C ratio should be greater than 21, preferably 8.

Figure 1.(a) Yield and cohesive stress curves


(b) Slow notch bend test
(c) Effect of temperature on the Izod value of mild
steel

Figure 2. Effect of low temperatures on the mechanical


properties of steel in plain and notched conditions
Surface grinding with grit coarser than 180 and shot-blasting causes embrittlement at -100C due
to surface work-hardening, which, however, is corrected by annealing at 650-700C for 1 h. This
heat-treatment also provides a safeguard against the initiation of brittle fracture of welded
structures by removing residual stresses.
Where temperatures lower than -100C or where notch-impact stresses are involved in
equipment operating below zero, it is preferable to use an 18/8 austenitic or a non-ferrous metal.
The 9% Ni steel provides an attractive combination of properties at a moderate price. Its
excellent toughness is due to a fine-grained structure of tough nickel-ferrite devoid of embrittling
carbide networks, which are taken into solution during tempering at 570C to form stable
austenite islands. This tempering is particularly important because of the low ferrite-austenite
transformation temperatures.

A 4% Mn Ni (rest iron) is suitable for castings for use down to -196C. Care should be taken to
select plates without surface defects and to ensure freedom from notches in design and
fabrication. Fig. 3 shows tensile and impact strengths for various alloys.

Figure 3. Tensile and impact strengths of various alloys at subzero temperatures

Steel Properties at High Temperatures


Creep is the slow plastic deformation of metals under a constant stress, which becomes
important in:
1.
The soft metals used at about room temperature, such as lead pipes and white metal
bearings.
2.
Steam and chemical plant operating at 450-550C.
3.
Gas turbines working at high temperatures.
Creep can take place and lead to fracture at static stresses much smaller than those which will
break the specimen when loaded quickly in the temperature range 0,5-0,7 of the melting point T m.
The Variation with time of the extension of a metal under different stresses is shown in Fig. 4a.
Three conditions can be recognized:

The primary stage, when relatively rapid extension takes place but at a decreasing rate.
This is of interest to a designer since it forms part of the total extension reached in a given
time, and may affect clearances.
The secondary period during which creep occurs at a more or less constant rate,
sometimes referred to as the minimum creep rate. This is the important part of the curve for
most applications.
The tertiary creep stage when the rate of extension accelerates and finally leads to
rupture. The use of alloys in this stage should be avoided; but the change from the

secondary to the tertiary stage is not always easy to determine from creep curves for some
materials.

Figure 4.a) Family of creep curves at stresses increasing from


A to C
b) Stress-time curves at different creep strain and
repture
The limited nature of the information available from the creep curve is clearer when a family of
curves is considered covering a range of operating stresses.
As the applied stress decreases the primary stage decreases and the secondary stage is
extended and the extension during the tertiary stage tends to decrease. Modifying the
temperature of the test has a somewhat similar effect on the shape of the curves.
Design data are usually given as series of curves for constant creep strain (0,01-0,03%, etc.),
relating stress and time for a given temperature. It is important to know whether the data used
are for the secondary stage only or whether it also includes the primary stage (Fig. 4b).
In designing plants that work at temperatures well above atmospheric temperatures, the designer
must consider carefully what possible maximum strains he can allow and what the final life of the

plant is likely to be. The permissible amounts of creep depend largely on the article and service
conditions. Examples for steel are:

Rate of Creep mm/min


Turbine rotor wheels, shrunk on
shafts
Steam piping, welded joints, boiler
tubes
Superheated tubes

10

Time, h

Maximum
Permissible
Strain, mm

100000

0,0025

10

100000

0,075

10

20000

0,5

-11

-9

-8

In designing missiles data are needed at higher temperatures and stresses and shorter time (560 min) than are determined for creep tests. This data is often plotted as isochronous stressstrain curves.

Creep tests
For long-time applications it is necessary to carry out lengthy tests to get the design data. It is
dangerous to extrapolate from short time tests, which may not produce all the structural changes,
e.g. spheroidation of carbide. For alloy development and production control short time tests are
used.

Long time creep tests


A uniaxial tensile stress is applied by the means of a lever system to a specimen (similar to that
used in tensile testing) situated in a tubular furnace and the temperature is very accurately
controlled. A very sensitive mirror extensometer (of Martens type) is used to measure creep rate
of 110-8strain/h. From a series of tests at a single temperature, a limiting creep stress is
estimated for a certain arbitrary small rate of creep, and a factor of safety is used in design.

Short time tests


The rupture test is used to determine time-to-rupture under specified conditions of temperature
and stress with only approximate measurement of strain by dial gauge during the course of the
experiments because total strain may be around 50%. It is a useful test for sorting out new alloys
and has direct application to design where creep deformation can be tolerated but fracture must
be prevented.

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