Section 3.

3
Ferrous and Nonferrous
Metals
Rev. 4
8/20/01

Overview
Ferrous Metals
Nonferrous Metals
Nonmetals

Part 1- Ferrous Metals

Ore Reduction
Iron and steel have their start in the
blast furnace.
Molten iron and slag are tapped off
separately.

Pig Iron
Pig refers to a crude casting for storage,
transportation and remelting of any
metal.
Pig Iron refers to the composition of the
metal tapped from the blast furnace always contains 3%- 4% of carbon, and
smaller amounts of silicon, sulfur,
phosphorus, manganese, and other
elements.

Cast Iron
Cast iron is essentially pig iron with minor
modifications of composition 3% to 4%
carbon and from 1% to 3% silicon.
Wide variations in properties can be
achieved by varying the balance between
carbon and silicon.
The four basic types of cast iron are white
iron, gray iron, ductile iron, and malleable
iron.

Wrought Iron
Manufactured by pouring molten refined
iron into separately manufactured slag
with subsequent rolling.
Tensile strength of 50,000 psi (350
Mpa), good ductility, and anisotropic
(properties vary with orientation).

Steel Making

Early Steel
Reheating wrought iron and powdered
charcoal together in the cementation
process
Carbon in not uniformly dispersed
throughout the material and multiple cutting
and re-rolling procedures are needed

Steel Making Processes

Crucible Steel
Open Hearth Steel
Bessemer Steel
Electric Furnace Steel

Steel Making

Basic Oxygen Steel

Molten pig iron is charged on top of the scrap.
High velocity jet oxygen is blown into top of the
molten mixture for about 20 minutes.
Lime and various fluxes are added to control
composition.
The metal is sampled and if acceptable, is
poured through the vessel tap hole into the
ladle.
Vessel is tipped to empty the slag from the top
of the vessel.

Classification of Steels

4 Defined classes of steel (AISI):

Carbon Steel
Alloy Steel
Stainless Steel
Tool Steel

Types of Carbon Steel

Euctoid carbon steel: 0.75-0.85%
carbon.
Hypoeutectoid carbon steel: <0.77%
carbon.
Hypereutecoid carbon steel: 0.77-2.0%
carbon.

Alloy Steels
Various chemical elements are added to
improve hardenability, weldability, grain
size, toughness, and corrosion
resistance.
Elements include:

Si,
Ni,
Cr, and
Mo.

Stainless Steels

Classifications of Stainless Steels:

Martensitic
Ferritic
Austenitic

Stainless Steels

Martensitic
Chromium content usually 4 6%.
Silicon or aluminum added to some
chromium steels.

Ferritic
Chromium content 30% or more.
Austenite is suppressed.
Normal steel heat-treating processing does
not harden.

Stainless Steels

Austenitic
High chromium and the addition of 8% or
more of nickel (or combinations of nickel
and mangenese) suppress ferrite
Most typical austenitic steel contains 18%
chromium and 8% nickel

Tool and Die Steels

Majority are made from plain carbon or
low alloy steels.
Manganese tool and die steels contain
carbon, 1.5% to 1.75% of manganese,
and small amounts of chromium,
vanadium, and molybdenum.
Chromium tool and die steels have high
chromium and may also include
tungsten, vanadium, and cobalt.

Part 2 - Nonferrous Metals

Light Metals and Alloys

Materials whose density is less than

steel:
Aluminum
Magnesium,
Titanium, and
Beryllium.

Aluminum Alloys
Aluminum is the most important
structural nonferrous metal.
Tensile strengths range from 12,000 to
80,000 psi (83 to 550 Mpa).
Excellent ductility, corrosion resistance,
and conductivity.

Aluminum Alloys
Endurance limit - even for hardened
alloys is in the low range of 5,000 to
20,000 psi.
Lower Strength at higher temperature.
Typicall alloying elements include
magnesium, copper, silicon,
manganese, zinc, nickel, and
chromium.

Magnesium Alloys
Tensile Strengths up to 50,000 psi for
wrought alloys, up to 40,000 psi for cast
alloys.
Good corrosion resistance for ordinary
atmosphere, although surface
protection in severe applications is
required.

Magnesium Alloys

Limitations
High cost of recovery from sea water.
Notch sensitivity - low impact strength.
High rate of strain hardening requires that
most forming operations must be done hot.

Titanium
Low-density element (approx. 60% of
the density of steel).
High strengths can be achieved by
alloying and deformation processing.
Excellent for use in corrosion-resistant
service and strength-efficient structures.

Beryllium
High strength, lightweight, often used in
aerospace applications.
Maintains some strength up to 593
degrees C (1100 deg. F).

Copper & Copper Alloys

Commonly divided into six categories:

Coppers,
Dilute Copper Alloys,
Brasses,
Bronzes,
Copper nickels, and
Nickel silvers.

Coppers
Essentially pure copper.
Soft and ductile.
Contains less than 0.7% impurities.

Dilute Copper Alloys

Contains small amounts of various

alloying elements that modify one or
more of the basic properties of copper.

Brasses and Bronzes

Brass: zinc is the principle alloying
element
Bronze: tin is the principle alloying
element

Copper Alloys

Copper Nickels/Nickel Silvers

Nickel is the primary alloying element.

Zinc Alloys
Low cost, but low strength.
Good corrosion resistance when used
as a coating on ferrous materials
(galvanizing)
High formability - excellent roofing
material, dry cell battery cases

Part 3 - Nonmetals

Polymers
Polymers are built from chemical units
called monomers.
Always composed of atoms of carbon in
combination with other elements such as:

Hydrogen
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Silicon
Chlorine

Plastics
Chemically, all plastics are polymers
whose exact properties depend on the
degree of polymerization.
May be classified as either:

Thermosetting, or
Thermoplastic.

Thermosets
Heat-set.
Polymer chains undergo three
dimensional chain combination by
cross-linking.
These chains are joined irreversibly
during molding into an interconnected,
molecular network.
Cannot be remolded.

Thermoplastics
Heat-Flowable.
Polymer chains remain linear and
separate after molding.
Can be remolded again and again.

Characteristics of Plastics

Thermoplastics
Lower in strength and hardness but higher
in toughness than thermosets.

Thermosets
Better moisture and chemical resistance
than thermoplastics.

Ceramics
Applies to wide range of materials,
although those used as structural
engineering materials include a only a
handful of types.
Characterized as:

Brittle,
Having a high melting temperature,
Being a poor conductor of electricity, and
Nonmagnetic.

Composites

A resin-matrix reinforced with highstrength, high modulus fibers such as:

Glass,
Carbon,
Aramid, or
Boron.

Usually laid up in a multilayer fashion,

to form extremely rugged, strong
structures.