Unprepared Surface

Atoms
Grains
Grain Boundary
Piece of metal
Polished Surface
Crystal Structure
All Metals and their alloys have
crystalline structure. Within a
grain the atoms are arranged in
a regular pattern which repeats
in all three directions

At the Grain boundary the
atoms do not follow the above
pattern
Crystal Structure
* The atoms in every grain of iron form a
regular network, having a cubic
structure.

* According to temperature, pure iron
exist in three crystalline forms:
* (alpha) iron - which has a body centered
cubic structure.
* (gamma) iron - which has a face
centered cubic structure.
* (delta) iron - which has a body centered
cubic structure.
Body Centered Cubic Structure

* When the temperature of
pure iron is below 910C ,
the structure of iron takes
the shape of a cube having
one atom at every corner
and one more at the center.
* Hence this is called Body
Centered Cubic - BCC
structure.
9 atoms (Fe)
* One of the charecteristic of iron is its
Magnetism.

* But when it is heated between 723 and
910 C, the iron retains its alpha
structure but looses its magnetism
gradually.
Face Centered Cubic Structure
* When the temperature of iron
is between 910 and 1390 C ,
its structure transforms to
another form of cube having
one atom at every corner (8)
plus one more atom at the
center of each face (6).

* This structure is called Face
Centered Cubic FCC
structure.
14 atoms (Fe)
Body Centered Cubic Structure

* Finally, between 1390 C
and the melting point,
1535 C , the iron takes
another form called delta
(), which is also having a
Body Centered Cubic
structure.
9 atoms (Fe)
Allotropy of Iron
It must be noted that the iron is present
in three crystalline forms: , and .



It is not necessary that a metal is in one
single crystalline structure system.
Depending on the temperature,
pressure, composition, etc, it can adopt
different crystalline structures.
Allotropy.
Allotropy of Iron
The allotropy of iron is of
great importance to
industry:

The transformation of
is the one that
allows refinement of the
grain and tempering of
steels.



Liquid
S
p
e
c
i
f
i
c

V
o
l
u
m
e

Temperature C. 910 1401 1537
11
Structure of iron as a function of
temperature
Iron alpha Iron gamma Iron delta
Ferrite Austnite
BCC FCC BCC
C
% C mass
0
0
Line A1
Line Acm
Line A3
723
910
Line eutectoid 0.8% carbon
IRON-C Diagram
Identification of different lines
C
% C by mass
0
0
721
906
0
0
721
906
Ferrite ( < 0.026% C)
Austenite (0 - 2,05% C)
Ferrite delta (0 - 1% C)
Hypo-eutectoid Steel ( 0.026 - 0.79% C)
(Ferrite + pearlite)
Eutectoid Steel (0.8% C (pearlite only)
Hyper eutectoid
Steel
0.81-1.7% C
( pearlite +cementite )
Zone of
transformation
+ cementite
+
+ Liquid
+ Liquid
Liquid
Hypo-eutectoid steel
only
Austenite


Zone of
transformation
Simultaneous
presence of
alpha iron and
gamma iron
The end product is a
steel formed by
pearlite ( + Fe
3
C)
only and it is
charactereised by a
banded structure
surrounded by
ferritic () phase.
( + Fe
3
C)
()
Eutectoid steel
only
Austnite
The end product is
steel formed by
pearlite ( + Fe
3
C)
only, and it is
charecterised by a
banded structure.
( + Fe
3
C)
Hyper-eutectoid steel
only
Austenite

Fe
3
C
Zone of
transformation.
Simultaneous
presence of
gamma iron and
cementite.
The end product is
steel formed by
pearlite ( + Fe
3
C)
and cementite (Fe
3
C),
and it is characterised
by a structure in small
bands surrounded by
cementite
( + Fe
3
C)
only only
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
F)
G)
+ Fe
3
C
( + Fe
3
C)
(pearlite)
Fe
3
C +
+
+ Fe
3
C
(pearlite)
+
+ Fe
3
C
(pearlite) only
Eutectoid
composition
0.8% carbon