Lec 25

Alloy Steel
Lecture 25
Humayun Kabir, Lecturer, Dept. of MME

Classification of steel
 Two main groups :
1. Plain carbon Steel
2. Alloy steel
❑ Plain carbon Steel :
 1 .Low (C<= 0.25%)
 2 .Medium (0.25%<C<=0.60%) &
 3. High carbon steel (0.60%<C<= 2%)
2 Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

Plain Carbon Steel
 If the primary alloying constituent is just carbon then that steel is called plain-
carbon steel
 low carbon, medium carbon and high carbon steel
 Plain carbon steels are among the cheapest metallic materials, but still show
considerable versatility which make them the most used alloys by humankind
 Lower carbon steels show very good ductility and toughness
 Higher carbon steels can be heat treated to obtain greater strength and hardness
 Use of plain carbon steels:

 Strength and other requirements are not too severe
 Used at ordinary temperature and not at highly corrosive atmosphere
Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

Need for Alloy Steels
 Alloy steels are steels where the property of the steel is predominantly
determined by elements other than carbon
 However in many applications plain-carbon steels are simply not adequate. Its
primary drawbacks are –
 Very high strength/hardness/toughness cannot be achieved (Low hardenability)
 Unacceptable corrosion even in atmospheric conditions (poor corrosion resistance)
 Property degradation at high temperatures (low strength at elevated temperature)
 Most limitations of P. C steels can be overcome by alloying.

Characteristics of alloying elements on steel
Manganese (Mn) – improves hardenability, ductility and wear resistance. Mn eliminates formation of
harmful iron sulfides, increasing strength at high temperatures.
Nickel (Ni) – increases strength, impact strength and toughness, impart corrosion resistance in
combination with other elements.
Chromium (Cr) – improves hardenability, strength and wear resistance, sharply increases corrosion
resistance at high concentrations (> 12%).
Tungsten (W) – increases hardness particularly at elevated temperatures due to stable carbides,
refines grain size.
Vanadium (V) – increases strength, hardness, creep resistance and impact resistance due to formation
of hard vanadium carbides, limits grain size.
Characteristics of alloying elements on steel
Molybdenum (Mo) – increases hardenability and strength particularly at high temperatures and under
dynamic conditions.
Silicon (Si) – improves strength, elasticity, acid resistance and promotes large grain sizes, which cause
increasing magnetic permeability.
Titanium (Ti) – improves strength and corrosion resistance, limits austenite grain size.
Cobalt (Co) – improves strength at high temperatures and magnetic permeability.
Zirconium (Zr) – increases strength and limits grain sizes.
Boron (B) – highly effective hardenability agent, improves deformability and machinability.
Copper (Cu) – improves corrosion resistance.
Aluminum (Al) – deoxidizer, limits austenite grains growth.
Influence of Alloying Elements on Fe-Fe3C diagram:
❑ Alloy steel:
Ni, Si, Al, V ,W etc. dissolve in ferrite and Cr, Mo,Ti etc dissolves in carbides
 Ni, Mn tend to lower the critical temperature on heating while others alloying
elements tend to raise it.
 Hence, Ni, Mn are austenite stabilizing elements.
 Certain alloying elements, notably Mo,Ti, Cr, Si in increasing amounts tend to

contract the pure austenitic region and enlarge the α (alpha) iron (ferrite)
phase field.
Shift of Eutectoid Temperature
Nickel steels
Chromium steels

Nickel-chromium steels
Manganese steels

Stainless Steels
 Iron/Steel does not have good oxidation resistance
 So need for corrosion and oxidation resistant steel is understandable
 Why does iron corrode?
• It easily reacts with oxygen (even more so in presence of moisture) to form

various oxides or hydroxides
• These form as films on the surface of the metal, but they are not adherent films -
they tend to fall off, which means fresh metal is exposed to the environment
again.

Stainless Steels
 Stainless steel is the most important commercial high-alloy steel
 The Stainless steels are highly resistant to corrosion (rusting) in a

variety of environments, especially the ambient atmosphere
 Their predominant alloying element is chromium; a concentration of at

least 11 wt% Cr is required
 Corrosion resistance may also be enhanced by nickel and molybdenum

additions.

How can we make steel “stainless”?
 So if we can produce a stable oxide film on steel’s
surface we can make it corrosion resistant!
 For this we need such alloying element that

 Will preferentially react with environment in place of
Fe
 Will form stable, adherent, self-healing film
 Dissolves in Fe sufficiently Reason for oxide films not being
adherent : mismatch of volume
 Cr is the most widely used element that fulfills all

the requirements

Stainless Steel
steels containing at least 11-12% Cr are SS
Resistance to corrosion, under oxidizing conditions
Corrosion resisting property is imparted by:
 Insoluble adhesive film of chromium oxide (Cr2O3)
 The film is too thin to be visible but impervious to water and air
 Quickly reforms (self-healing) when scratched or otherwise damaged

Classifications of Stainless Steel
 Stainless steels are divided into three classes on the basis of the predominant
phase constituent of the microstructure—
 Austenitic stainless steels: Austenite is retained in the room temperature by Ni;

best corrosion resistance.
 Ferritic stainless steel: Contains less Ni than austenitic SS; medium corrosion
resistance; less expensive
 Martensitic stainless steels: least corrosion resistance;

Adding Cr
 At least 11-13% Cr is required for satisfactory

corrosion resistance
 If carbon content is low then this type of steel
shows ferrite in the entire T range upto melting
– Called Ferritic Stainless Steel
 It has good corrosion resistance, formability,
toughness but moderate strength
 Ferritic SS is non-heat treatable because there is
no austenite-ferrite transformation!

Ferritic stainless steels (400 Series)

Increasing strength(Martensitic Stainless steel)
 To make SS heat-treatable carbon content

is raised which increases the austenite
region
 Even at high %Cr (which gives corrosion
resistance) austenite can be formed
 Thus it can be quenched and tempered to
obtain martensite thereby obtaining high
strength and hardness
 This is called Martensitic Stainless
Steel

 Hence, martensitic stainless steels contain
 11.5 to 18 % Cr
 0.1 to 1.0 % C (both low and high carbon)
 They attain the best corrosion resistance when hardened from the
recommended temperature but are not as good as the austenetic or ferritic
stainless steel.
 Used in high quality knives, blades, surgical instruments etc.

Now put in some Nickel
 Nickel stabilizes austenite
 Sufficiently added Ni can make austenite be retained at room
temperature!
 Can’t transform to ferrite because of low diffusion
 Can’t transform to martensite because too much alloying elements prevent it
 This is Austenitic Stainless Steel

 Most common composition – 0.1% C, 1% Mn, 18% Cr, 8% Ni. Called
18/8 SS

Now put in some Nickel
 Advantage over ferritic SS
 Best corrosion resistance
 Tougher and more ductile
 More formable (used in deep drawn parts)
 Nonferromagnetic (use in stents, electron microscopy)
 Disadvantage – less machinable than ferritic SS and more expensive

Austenitic stainless steels (200 and 300 Series)
Most common stainless steel (roughly 70% of total SS production);
For austenitic stainless steels, the austenite (or ) phase field is extended to
room temperature.
Hence, the structure is austenitic at room temperature ; nickel is a strong

austenite stabilizer
Contains 0.15% C (max), 16% Cr (min) and Ni or Mn.

Must have at least 23% (Cr + Ni)

Addition of 2-3% Mo enhances corrosion protection in neutral salt solutions
Addition of Ti or Nb for welded products by forming TiC or NbC instead of (FeCr)4
C
Not heat treatable, hardenable by solid solution strengthening and cold working
Non-magnetic (although cold-worked steels show some degrees of magnetism)
Most expensive due to high Cr and Ni content
Used for flatware, cookware, architecture, automotive, etc.

Be wary of sensitization!
 Sometimes when stainless steel experiences heating
to a certain T,
 the grain boundaries of the alloy can corrode
preferentially.
 This state of susceptibility to “intergranular corrosion” is
called sensitization.
 Frequent problem in welding of SS (austenitic

stainless steel most susceptible); in that context it is
called “weld decay”

Be wary of sensitization!
Mechanism
•The optimum temperature for precipitation of carbide is ~ 650
C
•The precipitation of (FeCr)4C at grain boundaries causes the
concentration of Cr in the adjacent austenite to fall below that
required for corrosion resistance
It can be eliminated by:
a) lowering carbon to 0.03%,

b) use Ti or Nb to remove the carbon as TiC or NbC,
without lowering the Cr content of the austenite

Unsensitized vs Sensitized SS

Properties of Stainless Steel
Strong reducing conditions cause a susceptibility to attack
Cl ion is destructive to Cr stainless steels
Other properties of stainless steels:
strong, tough, high operating temperatures
low thermal conductivity (1/3 that of carbon steels),
difficult to machine, more expensive than carbon steel

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Alloy Steel

Humayun Kabir, Lecturer, Dept. of MME

❑ Plain carbon Steel :

 1 .Low (C<= 0.25%)

 2 .Medium (0.25%<C<=0.60%) &

 3. High carbon steel (0.60%<C<= 2%)

2 Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 Use of plain carbon steels:

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 Most limitations of P. C steels can be overcome by alloying.

4 Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 Certain alloying elements, notably Mo,Ti, Cr, Si in increasing amounts tend to

13 Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

15 Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 Why does iron corrode?

• It easily reacts with oxygen (even more so in presence of moisture) to form

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 The Stainless steels are highly resistant to corrosion (rusting) in a

 Their predominant alloying element is chromium; a concentration of at

 Corrosion resistance may also be enhanced by nickel and molybdenum

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 For this we need such alloying element that

 Cr is the most widely used element that fulfills all

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

steels containing at least 11-12% Cr are SS

Resistance to corrosion, under oxidizing conditions

Corrosion resisting property is imparted by:

 Insoluble adhesive film of chromium oxide (Cr2O3)

 Quickly reforms (self-healing) when scratched or otherwise damaged

19 Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 Austenitic stainless steels: Austenite is retained in the room temperature by Ni;

 Martensitic stainless steels: least corrosion resistance;

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 At least 11-13% Cr is required for satisfactory

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 To make SS heat-treatable carbon content

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

24 Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 This is Austenitic Stainless Steel

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

 Disadvantage – less machinable than ferritic SS and more expensive

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

Hence, the structure is austenitic at room temperature ; nickel is a strong

Contains 0.15% C (max), 16% Cr (min) and Ni or Mn.

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

Non-magnetic (although cold-worked steels show some degrees of magnetism)

Most expensive due to high Cr and Ni content

Used for flatware, cookware, architecture, automotive, etc.

 Frequent problem in welding of SS (austenitic

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

It can be eliminated by:

a) lowering carbon to 0.03%,

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

Humayun Kabir, Dept of MME, BUET

Strong reducing conditions cause a susceptibility to attack

Cl ion is destructive to Cr stainless steels

Other properties of stainless steels:

strong, tough, high operating temperatures

low thermal conductivity (1/3 that of carbon steels),