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Abstract:
Login It is a long-standing tradition to discuss the various alloying elements in terms Subscribe to Key to
of the properties they confer on steel. For example, the rule was that Chromium Steel Now
Download CRT (Cr) makes steel hard whereas Nickel (Ni) and Manganese (Mn) make it tough. The Worlds Most
In saying this, one had certain types of steel in mind and transferred the Comprehensive Ste
properties of particular steel to the alloying element that was thought to have Database
the greatest influence on the steel under consideration. This method of
You want to master Find out why the
reasoning can give false impressions and the following examples will illustrate
the world of nonferrous worldwide leaders like
this point.
metals? Alcatel, Alstom, Apple
Click here to discover Benteler, Black&Deck
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It is a long-standing tradition to discuss the various alloying ConocoPhillips, Dana,
elements in terms of the properties they confer on steel. For Delphi, Eaton, Ford,
example, the rule was that Chromium (Cr) makes steel hard General Electric, Gene
whereas Nickel (Ni) and Manganese (Mn) make it tough. In Dynamics, Halliburton
Hitachi Metals, Honda
saying this, one had certain types of steel in mind and transferred Hyundai, Livermore
the properties of particular steel to the alloying element that was National Laboratory,
thought to have the greatest influence on the steel under Lloyds, Maxtor, Pirelli
consideration. This method of reasoning can give false Sandvik, Shell, Sieme
SMS-Demag, SSAB,
impressions and the following examples will illustrate this point. Stanford University,
Sulzer, Thyssen
When we say that Cr makes steel hard and wear-resisting we Total, Toyota and ma
others joined the
probably associate this with the 2% C, 12% Cr tool steel grade,
Database in the last 1
which on hardening does in fact become very hard and hard- months only.
wearing. But if, on the other hand, we choose a steel containing And check out why ar
0,10% C and 12% Cr, the hardness obtained on hardening is the high quality of
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It is quite true that Mn increases steel toughness if we have in 9001:2000 standards
mind the 13% manganese steel, so-called Hadfield steel. In the first in this indust
concentrations between l% and 5%, however, Mn can produce a Just click
variable effect on the properties of the steel it is alloyed with. The steel.com
toughness may either increase or decrease. Key to Steel
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A property of great importance is the ability of alloying elements
to promote the formation of a certain phase or to stabilize it.
These elements are grouped as austenite-forming, ferrite- Key to Steel: Focus
quality
forming, carbide-forming and nitride-forming elements.
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Austenite-forming elements saving value.
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The elements C, Ni and Mn are the most important ones in this Database includes:
group. Sufficiently large amounts of Ni or Mn render a steel • chemical composi

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Influence of Alloying Elements on Steel Microstructure Page 2 of 6

austenitic even at room temperature. An example of this is the

• standard referenc
so-called Hadfield steel which contains 13% Mn, 1,2% Cr and l% • application guidel
C. In this steel both the Mn and C take part in stabilizing the • mechanical prope
austenite. Another example is austenitic stainless steel containing • heat treatment
18% Cr and 8% Ni. details
• properties on
elevated
The equilibrium diagram for iron-nickel, Figure 1, shows how the temperatures
range of stability of austenite increases with increasing Ni- • fatigue properties
• tables of equivale
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Figure 1. Fe-Ni equilibrium diagram

An alloy containing 10% Ni becomes wholly austenitic if heated

to 700°C. On cooling, transformation from g to a takes place in
the temperature range 700-300°C. High quality
Metals Task Force
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Ferrite-forming elements German certification b
TÜV CERT ...
The most important elements in this group are Cr, Si, Mo, W and
Al. The range of stability of ferrite in iron-chromium alloys is
shown in Figure 2. Fe-Cr alloys in the solid state containing more
than 13% Cr are ferritic at all temperatures up to incipient
melting. Another instance of ferritic steel is one that is used as
transformer sheet material. This is a low-carbon steel containing
about 3% Si.

... and now also by

leading UK quality
association UKAS.

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Influence of Alloying Elements on Steel Microstructure Page 3 of 6

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The great majority of steels contain at least three components. are implemented (for
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The constitution of such steels can be deduced from ternary 4) Three (3) FREE
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equilibrium conditions only. Furthermore, since most alloys e-mail consulting serv
contain more than three components it is necessary to look for for additional informa
other ways of assessing the effect produced by the alloying about steel materials.
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One approach that is quite good is the use of Schaeffler diagrams
Countries
(see Figure 3). Here the austenite formers are set out along the
ordinate and the ferrite formers along the abscissa. The original
diagram contained only Ni and Cr but the modified diagram Discover NEW Key
Steel Corporate
includes other elements and gives them coefficients that reduce
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them to the equivalents of Ni or Cr respectively. The diagram
With the new Corpora
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Influence of Alloying Elements on Steel Microstructure Page 4 of 6

Figure 3. Modified Schaeffler diagram

A 12% Cr steel containing 0,3% C is martensitic, the 0,3% C

gives the steel a nickel equivalent of 9. An 18/8 steel (18% Cr,
8% Ni) is austenitic if it contains 0-0,5% C and 2% Mn. The Ni
content of such steels is usually kept between 9% and 10%.

Hadfield steel with 13% Mn (mentioned above) is austenitic due

to its high carbon content. Should this be reduced to about
0,20% the steel becomes martensitic.

Carbide-forming elements

Several ferrite formers also function as carbide formers. The

majority of carbide formers are also ferrite formers with respect
to Fe. The affinity of the elements in the line below for carbon
increases from left to right.

Cr, W, Mo, V, Ti, Nb, Ta, Zr.

Some carbides may be referred to as special carbides, i.e. non-

iron-containing carbides, such as Cr7C3 W2C, VC, Mo2C. Double
or complex carbides contain both Fe and a carbide-forming
element, for example Fe4W2C.

High-speed and hot-work tool steels normally contain three types

of carbides, which are usually designated M6C, M23C6 and MC.
The letter M represents collectively all the metal atoms. Thus
M6C represents Fe4W2C or Fe4Mo2C; M23C6 represents Cr23C6
and MC represents VC or V4C3.

Carbide stabilizers

The stability of the carbides is dependent on the presence of

other elements in the steel. How stable the carbides are depends
on how the element is partitioned between the cementite and the

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Influence of Alloying Elements on Steel Microstructure Page 5 of 6

matrix. The ratio of the percentage, by weight, of the element

contained in each of the two phases is called the partition
coefficient K. The following values are given for K:

Al Cu P Si Co Ni W Mo Mn Cr Ti Nb Ta
0 0 0 0 0,2 0,3 2 8 11,4 28 Increasing

Note that Mn, which by itself is a very weak carbide former, is a

relatively potent carbide stabilizer. In practice, Cr is the alloying
element most commonly used as a carbide stabilizer.

Malleable cast iron (i.e. white cast iron that is rendered soft by a
graphitizing heat treatment called malleablizing) must not contain
any Cr. Steel containing only Si or Ni is susceptible to
graphitization, but this is most simply prevented by alloying with
Cr.

Nitride-forming elements

All carbide formers are also nitride formers. Nitrogen may be

introduced into the surface of the steel by nitriding.

By measuring the hardness of various nitrided alloy steels it is

possible to investigate the tendency of the different alloying
elements to form hard nitrides or to increase the hardness of the
steel by a mechanism known as precipitation hardening.

The results obtained by such investigations are shown in Figure

4, from which it can be seen that very high hardnesses result
from alloying a steel with Al or Ti in amounts of about 1,5%.

Figure 4. Effect of alloying element

additions

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Influence of Alloying Elements on Steel Microstructure Page 6 of 6

on hardness after nitriding

Base composition:
0,25% C, 0,30% Si, 0,70% Mn

On nitriding the base material in Figure 4, hardness of about 400

HV is obtained and according to the diagram the hardness is
unchanged if the steel is alloyed with Ni since this element is not
a nitride former and hence does not contribute to any hardness
increase.

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