Module:1

Dr. N. K. Patel
Lecture:2 Material of construction

Module: 1
Lecture: 2
MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Steels and cast irons are basic materials of construction for the
chemical industries. Carbonyl iron and electrolytic iron which contain
relatively pure low carbon iron are not suitable for structural materials.

Steels

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, along with small amounts of other
alloying elements or residual elements as well. The plain iron carbon alloys
contain 0.002 - 2.1% by weight carbon. The carbon presence and its effect
on heat treatment changed iron from a laboratory curiosity to an
engineering material. Steel is manufactured from iron ore. In the blast
furnace, pig iron is produce by reducing iron ore. Due to impurities present in
pig iron, it becomes hard and brittle. Alloy content are controlled in order to
obtained suitable properties of alloy material. In the newer method of
producing steel pure oxygen is blown through the molten metal. Steel may
be killed (i.e., made to diequietly in the mold by the addition of deoxidants
such as silicon or aluminium), to prevent the reaction of residual oxygen with
dissolved carbon during solidification. Killed steels are used down to -28.90C
at least in thinner sections, because of their improved Nil-Ductility Transition
Temperature (NDTT) as compared with ordinary steels. Permissible
temperatures will vary with thickness and limits of-60C are sometimes invoked
for vessels in cold temperature service.

Carbon Steels

Iron and carbon is the two prime constituents of carbon steels. Carbon
steels also contains small amounts of manganese. Structural membranes,
sheet, pipe, plate and tubing are generally made from carbon steel. Steels
that have been worked or wrought while hot will be covered with a black
mill-scale (i.e. magnetite, Fe3O4) on the surfaces, and are sometimes called
black iron. Cold-rolled steels have a bright surface, accurate cross-section,

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Dr. N. K. Patel
Lecture:2 Material of construction

increased yield and tensile strength. The latter are preferred for bar-stock to
be used for rods, shafts, etc.

Alloy Steels

Alloy steels contain 0.1 - 1.0% carbon. Alloying materials like chromium,
nickel, molybdenum, copper, aluminium, sulfur etc. are added to improve
the properties of steel. The cooling is required to harden the steel.

Carbon

Carbon is the principal hardening element.

Manganese

Manganese is used to improve hardness and strength of material. It

also acts as desulfurizing agent. A major purpose of desulfurizing the steel is to
improve the hot-workability, as iron sulfides cause cracking during hot-
working.

Silicon

Silicon is used as principal deoxidizer. A "killed" steel may contain as

much as 0.6%, while structural steels usually have a range of 0.15 to 0.30%
silicon.

Aluminium

Aluminium is added to complete the deoxidation process. Aluminium

finished steels are used at moderately low temperatures.

Phosphorus

Phosphorus content should be less than 0.04%. More than 0.04% should
decrease the ductility and toughness of the material.

Copper

A small concentration of copper is used to improve resistance against

atmospheric corrosion. Concentration should be kept below 0.3%.

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Dr. N. K. Patel
Lecture:2 Material of construction

Chromium

Chromium is one of the important metal which is used to improve the

following characteristics of material.

 To increase the abrasion resistance

 To provide the better hardness
 To improve the corrosion and the oxidation resistance
 To improve the temperature resistance

Molybdenum

Molybdenum is generally used to prevent the graphitization in the

material. It is also used to improve the creep strength and tensile strength.

Nickel

Nickel is used to improve the toughness of the material.

Vanadium

Vanadium is used to improve the mechanical properties of the

materials such as hardness and toughness.

Cast Irons

Cast iron is an alloy of iron, silicon, and carbon. Various types of cast
irons are widely used for pipes, valves, pumps and certain mechanical parts.
The carbon content varies from approximately in the range of 1.7 to 4.5%.

Nickel Alloys

Nickel is used generally as the material of construction in caustic soda

plan where high level of corrosive materials is produced. Also Nickel is used in
the different acid plant as it is good resistance to acids except under
oxidizing condition. Because oxidizing cation and anion may rapid attack on
the material.

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Dr. N. K. Patel
Lecture:2 Material of construction

Monel

Monel is alloy which contain approximately 30% copper and up to 2.5%

iron. It has same machinability as steel. Corrosion resistance of monel is good
against natural waters, including sea water. It is used as standard material of
construction for water meter parts, pumps, valves, strainers, etc.

Copper and Its Alloys

Copper and its alloys have been utilized for more than 6,000 years. The
majority of copper alloys cannot be hardened by heat treatment. They are
hardened by cold-work, such as hammering. Copper will resist most natural
waters within certain velocity limitations (except soft, aggressive waters), as
well as both acids and alkalis.

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The mechanical and lubricant

properties of brass are increased by addition of small amounts of lead.

Bronze

Bronzes have been widely used for navy, military, architectural and
machinery applications. Beryllium bronze is used to improve the hardness and
wear resistance of the material.

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. There are four general categories
of bronzes which are important from the corrosion engineering standpoint,
although there are a great number of variants used in materials engineering
of metal products.

1. Phosphor bronze
2. Silicon bronze
3. Aluminium bronze
4. Cupronickels

1. Phosphor bronze

In bronze, phosphor is used to improve the deoxidizing property.

Approximately 10% of the tin is added in phosphor bronze which increased

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Lecture:2 Material of construction

the corrosion resistance. Fluidity in casting, galling resistance, corrosion

resistance and machinability in the casting made phosphor bronze complex.

2. Silicon bronze

Silicon bronze contains silicon along with copper. 1 - 3% of silicon is

added to improve the cryogenic suitability and strength.

3. Aluminium bronze

Aluminium bronze contain 5 -10% alumina which improves the corrosion

resistance with remarkable strength.

4. Cupronickels

Generally cupronickel is not commonly referred as bronzes.

Cupronickel is the combination of copper and nickel which are ranges as
follows:

 90 - 10, Cu - Ni (C70600)
 80 - 20, Cu - Ni (C71000)
 70 - 30, Cu - Ni (C71500)

Cupronickel have good resistance to seawater. Further, resistance can

be improved by addition or use of 1 - 1.8% iron along with cupronickel.

For better corrosion resistance, heat transfer and bio fouling, iron and
chromium modified cupronickel (i.e. 85% Cu, 15% Ni) is used. The cupronickel
has better temperature and erosion resistance.

Aluminium and its alloys

Aluminium and its alloys are light in weight, strong and quite resistant to
natural environments. This material is easy to fabricate and easily joined by
most common method viz. welding and brazing. Commercially pure
aluminium and its alloys have UNS numbers, with identifications derived from
the older Aluminium Association (AA) designations. The general format is
A9xxxx for wrought materials and A0xxxx for castings, the second digit
(A9xxxx) indicates the major alloying element. The third digit (A9xxxx)
indicates whether there are controls on impurities, while the last two digits

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Lecture:2 Material of construction

(A9xxxx) are arbitrary holdovers from the older AA system. Alloys commonly
used in the process industries include A93003, A95083, A95086, A95154, and
A96061.

Table 2 UNS Numbers for aluminium alloys

Alloy No. Example Major alloying element

A9lxxx A91100 None, 99.00% aluminium minimum
A92xxx A92020 Copper
A93xxx A93003 Manganese
A94xxx A94002 Silicon
A95xxx A95154 Magnesium
A96xxx A96063 Magnesium and silicon
A97xxx A97001 Zinc

The A92000 series of alloys cannot resist contaminated industrial or

marine atmospheres. Aluminium is fully compatible with many organic
chemicals viz. aldehydes, ketones, esters, amines, and organic acids and
anhydrides. Some organic chlorides such as chloroform or ethylene dichloride
and alcohols can react catastrophically with aluminium. Concentrated nitric
acid (greater than 90%) and hydrogen peroxide are commercially handled in
aluminium. The non-oxidizing acids, and alkalis or aqueous ammonia
derivatives, are corrosive.

Magnesium and its alloys

The two outstanding characteristics of magnesium are its very light

weight and its highly anodic position in the galvanic series in water.

Magnesium alloys contain small amounts of aluminium, zinc or tin.

Magnesium alloys are used primarily for aircraft (e.g. engine parts, landing
wheels, parts of the fuselage oil and gas tanks), for moving parts in machinery
(e.g. blowers) and in light-weight portable structures (e.g., ladders). It has
good resistance to hydrofluoric acid, because of the insoluble corrosion
product film. Magnesium is widely used as sacrificial anodes in the CP of steel
piping or structures underground.

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Lecture:2 Material of construction

Lead and its alloys

Lead is a weak, heavy metal. It has good resistance to sulfuric acid. In

nature, it is usually associated with copper and silver. Applications of lead
have been greatly diminished in modern practice, because of toxicity
problems associated with its joining.

1. Chemical lead

Chemical lead is lead with traces of copper and silver left in it. It is
costly to recover the silver and copper content from it to improve the
corrosion resistance.

2. Antimonial lead

It is an alloy of lead and antimony. 2 - 6% Antimony is used to improve

the mechanical properties. This is effective up to approximately 930C, above
which both strength and corrosion resistance of the antimonial lead rapidly
decreases.

3. Tellurium lead

It is an alloy of lead and tellurium. Tellurium is used to improve its

strength. It has better resistance to fatigue failure induced by vibration.

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