Exam #3 Fall 2010

Page 1 of 7

MatS 2001 - Exam #3 Solution
December 3, 2010

1. (20 pts) An FCC iron-carbon alloy initially containing 0.20 wt% C is carburized at
an elevated temperature in an atmosphere that maintains the surface carbon
concentration at 1.0 wt%. After 54.5 hr. the carbon concentration is 0.45 wt% at a
position 4.0 mm below the surface.

a) (10) What is the value of the diffusion coefficient?


x o
s o
C C 0.45 0.20
C C 1.0 0.20

=

= 0.3125 = 1 - erf
\
|
.
|
x
2 Dt
, or erf

\
|
.
|
x
2 Dt
= 0.6875
For ( ) 0.6875, 0.7142, found by interpolation between
z=0.70 erf(z)=0.6778
z=0.75 erf(z)=0.7112
erf z z = =

Thus,
x
2 Dt

D =
= 0.7142 For t= 54.5 h and x = 4.0 mm,
2
2
x
(4t)(0.7142)
=
3 2 2
2
(4.0x10 ) m
(1.4284) (196, 200s)

= 4.0 x 10
-11
m
2
/s.

b) (10) Determine the temperature at which the treatment was carried out.

Solve for the temperature at which D = 4.0 x 10
-11
m
2
/s, using;

0 0
0
1 1
exp , ln ln ,
ln ln
d d d
Q Q Q
D D D D T
RT R T R D D
| | | | | |
= = =
| | |

\ . \ .
\ .

T =
Q
d
R(ln D
o
- ln D)

2.3 x 10
-5
m
2
/s and 148,000 J/mol, respectively.
From the table of information, D
o
and Q
d
for diffusion of C in -Fe are

Therefore T =
5 11
148, 000 J / mol
(8.314J / mol K) ln(2.3x10 ) ln(4.0x10 )

(

= 1342K, or 1069 C
2. (15 pts) A 10 hr. carburizing heat treatment of a certain steel raised the carbon
concentration to 0.35 wt% at a point 2.0 mm from the surface.

a) (4) Estimate the time necessary to achieve the same concentration at a 5.0
mm position for an identical steel and the same carburizing temperature.

x
2
Dt
= constant. But since temperature is constant, D is also constant, and
x
2
t
=
constant,
Exam #3 Fall 2010
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so
x
1
2
t
1
=
x
2
2
t
2

2 2
2
(2.0mm) (5.0mm)
10h t
= . Thus, , from which t
2
= 62.5 h

b) (4) At what depth would the carbon concentration be 0.35 wt% in 10 hrs?

Merry Christmas, gift of 4 points for mistake in posing question. Answer is
2mm as given in problem statement.

c) (7) At what temperature would the process have to be run to get 0.35 wt%
carbon at 5.0 mm in 10 hrs? (Q/R = 17,850 K)

Not enough info to solve no initial temperature, everyone gets 7 points.

3. (15 pts) The walls of a 2 gallon high density polyethylene (HDPE) gasoline
container are 2 mm thick and for simplicity the container is a cube and totally full.
Assume gasoline has a density of 0.7 g/cm
3
. The diffusion coefficient for gasoline
is approximately 1x10
-8
cm
2
/s at ambient temperature. When a 1 gram piece of
the HDPE (density = 1 g/cm
3
) is immersed in gasoline for a long time it increases
its weight to 1.001 grams. This provides an estimate of the equilibrium
concentration of gasoline in contact with the plastic.

a) (3) What is the surface concentration of gasoline in HDPE?

0.001 g of gasoline dissolved in1cc of HDPE, so the concentration at the
surface is

3
3 3
0.001 g gasoline 0.001 g gasoline gasoline
1 10
1 g HDPE 1 cm HPE cm HDPE
g

= =


b) (8) What is the flux through the HDPE wall?

Concentration outside of the container is 0, thickness is 2 mm (0.2 cm),
Exam #3 Fall 2010
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( )( )
8
2 2
3
8 8 3
4
11
2
11
2
0 1x10
cm cm
cm
1x10 1x10 5x10
0.2 0 cm
5x10 ; TOTAL FLUX through the wall =
cm
24 hr 3600 s
5x10 365 days x
cm
g
c g
J D
x s cm s
g
J J Area time
s
g
Flux x
s day hr

| |

|
| | | | | |
= = =
| | | |

\ .
\ . \ .
|
\ .
=
| |
| |
=
|
\ .
\
( )
( )
( )
1/3
3
1/3
3
2
2
11
2
6 x area of one face
3.75 liter 1000 cm
of side = 2 gal x 7500 cm 19.6 cm
Area of side = 19.6 cm 384.2 cm
24 hr 3600 s
5x10 365 days x
cm
Length
gal l
g
Flux x
s day hr

|
.
( | | | |
= =
( | |
\ .\ .
=
| |
| |
=
| |
\ .
\ .
( )
2
6 x 384.2 cm 3.62
g
yr
=


c) (4) What percent of the gasoline in the full 2 gallon container is lost in a year?

3
3
3.62 g
x 100 0.69%
7500 cm x 0.7
g
cm
=

4. (20 pts) Use this Sn Pb diagram to answer the following questions.

a) Label all of the phases on the diagram.

Exam #3 Fall 2010
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A mixture of Sn Pb (20 at% Sn) is cooled from 330C to room temperature:

b) At what temperature will the first solid form? 293 C
c) What is the composition of this solid? 7.5 wt% - 12.3 at% Sn
d) At what temperature will all of the material be solid? 260 C
e) What is the composition of the last material to solidify? 27 wt% - 39 at% Sn
f) At what temperature do two solid phases form? 160 C
g) What are the compositions of the two phases?
12.3 wt% - 20 at% Sn; 98 wt% - 99 at% Sn
If you cooled a mixture containing 60 at% Sn from 330C to room temperature:
h) At what temperature does the first solid form? 220 C (I on phase diagram)
i) What is the composition of the first solid? 16 wt% - 25 at% (j on phase diagram)
j) What is the composition of the last solid formed? 61.9 wt% - 73.9 at% (k on
diagram)
L
+
+ L
+L


Exam #3 Fall 2010
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k) At 184C, what is the fraction of liquid?
46.4 18.3
100 64.4% liquid, therefore 35.6% solid
61.9 18.3
x

l) At 182C, what are the amounts and compositions of the phases formed?
Comp. of =18.3 wt% - 28.1 at% Sn Comp. of = 98 wt% - 99 at% Sn
46.4 18.3
100 35.3% ; therefore 64.7%
97.8 18.3
x

5. (10 pts) What overall Pb-Sn alloy compositions(s) will have 50-50 solid - liquid
phase fractions at 184C.

There are two answers to this question. One at 80 wt% Sn, the other at 40 wt%
Sn. In each case, the lever rule is applied to determine Sn content that will give
50-50 liquid, solid mixture.
Case 1:
97.8
0.5 , 79.85 %
97.8 61.9
x
so x wt Sn

= =

Case 2:
61.9
0.5 , 40.1 %
61.9 18.3
x
so x wt Sn

= =

6. (20 pts) Consider 1.5 kg of austenite containing 1.15 wt% C, cooled to below
727C.

(a) (2) What material is the proeutectoid phase?

The proeutectoid phase will be Fe
3
C since 1.15 wt% C is greater than the
eutectoid (0.76 wt% C).

Exam #3 Fall 2010
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(b) (2) How many kilograms each of total ferrite and cementite form?

Application of the lever rule yields

W

=
C
Fe
3
C
- C
o
C
Fe
3
C
- C
a
=
which, when multiplied by the total mass of the alloy (1.5 kg), gives 1.245 kg
of total ferrite.
6.70 - 1.15
6.70 - 0.022
= 0.83
Similarly, for total cementite,
W
Fe
3
C
=
C
o
- C
a
C
Fe
3
C
- C
a
=
And the mass of total cementite that forms is (0.17)(1.5 kg) = 0.255 kg.

1.15 - 0.022
6.70 - 0.022
= 0.17

(c) (3) How many kilograms each of pearlite and the proeutectoid phase form?

W
p
= =
6.70 - 1.15
6.70 - 0.76


= 0.93 which corresponds to a mass of 1.395 kg.
Similarly,
W
Fe
3
C'
= =
1.15 - 0.76
5.94

(d) (4) How many kilograms of each constituent are in the pearlite?
= 0.07 which corresponds to 0.105 kg of the total 1.5
kg mass.


3
6.7 0.76
0.889 weight fraction ferrite in pearlite
6.7 0.022
0.889 wt of peralite (1.395 kg) = 1.24 kg
The remainder, 0.15 kg, is cementite or Fe C
W

= =

(e) (5) Schematically sketch and label the resulting microstructure.

Exam #3 Fall 2010
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(f) (4) What other Fe-C composition would give the same wt.% of pearlite?

From above, the wt fraction of pearlite is 0.93, so
0.022
0.93 or 0.708 wt% C to give the same
0.76 0.022
wt fraction pearlite.
x
x

= =

Diffusing
Species
Host
Metal
D
0
(m
2
/s)
Activation Energy Q
d

kJ/mol
Fe -Fe 2.8 x 10
-4
251
Fe -Fe 5.0 x 10
-5
284
C -Fe 6.2 x 10
-7
80
C -Fe 2.3 x 10
-5
148
Cu Cu 7.8 x 10
-5
211
Zn Cu 2.4 x 10
-5
189
Al Al 2.3 x 10
-4
144
Cu Al 6.5 x 10
-5
136
Mg Al 1.2 x 10
-4
131
Cu Ni 2.7 x 10
-5
256