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(pearlite)
(bainite)
Hardness Changes During Tempering
Rod-like structures of
cementite after 1 hr at 250 oC
Spheroidized cementite
formed after 1 hr at 500 oC
- carbon
(Ti, V, Mo, W, Cr, Mn)*
- Fe
We will be
discussing the
properties of many
of these steels.
American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM)
Specifications
Steels for defined structural purposes (buildings, bridges, etc.) are
usually made to ASTM specifications, which use a system of
numbering that is unrelated to chemical composition,
mechanical properties, or applications.
Ferrite
Fe-0.1%C-2%Mn-0.03%Nb + …
Microalloyed Non-Heat Treatable Low Carbon Steels
Thus the alloying additions that are carbide formers can be used as
another tool by engineers to control the strength and ductility of
the steel.
In many instances, the steels are already strong enough for the
application. Ductility or fabricability is desired.
Thin Steel Sheets for Automobile Bodies
Automobile body stock is produced either from “rimmed steel” (not deoxidized) or
from “killed steel” (deoxidized with Al) – expressions used by industry.
The killing action also provides a method to control and reduce the grain size. It
gives lower strength but with increased elongation or ductility.
These general steels contain 0.05 – 0.15 %C and 0.2 – 0.6 %Mn with impurities
level of:
0.001 % (max) Si, 0.05 %(max) S and 0.02 %(max) P.
Thin Steel Sheets for Automobile Bodies
These steels have to be cold-formed into the desired shape and yet
retain a good surface finish, which requires a combination of low
yield and high tensile strength with a high degree of uniform
elongation.
The grain size is also critical (< ASTM 9 impairs cold forming and
> ASTM 7 gives an orange peel surface).
A sharp yield point means non-uniform elongation, which causes
surface roughness. So the sheet is tempered rolled to about 1%
reduction by “roller flexing”, which stretches each surface beyond
the yield point, before cold forming.
Tin Plate
The American automotive industry now extensively uses Sn-
plated plain C sheet steel for autobodies to reduce corrosion.
Steel for tin plate contains 0.12 %(max) C, 0.2 – 0.6 %Mn, .01
%(max) Si, 0.05%(max)S, 0.02 %(max) P and 0.2 %(max) Cu
– essentially “The Tin Can” material.
The steel is first hot rolled and then cold rolled to the finished
gauge. After rolling it is process-annealed in coils and then
tempered-rolled and then electrolytically plated with tin.
Tin Plate
When a tin-can competition occurred with Al and plastic containers,
the cost of tin plate was reduced by annealing after rolling such
that a further 35% cold roll gave the final gauge, which enabled
thicknesses of 0.125 mm to be obtained, enabling it to have better
mechanical properties than Al and plastics.
Although this treatment increases the yield point to within 7 MPa of
the UTS and the final measured tensile elongation is less than 1%,
the sheet is still sufficiently ductile to flange the ends of can bodies
without fracture.
The reason for this apparent contradiction is that the tensile
elongation is measured over a gauge length of 2 inches (50 mm),
but the stretching just before fracture is localized to a much
smaller length of material, which makes it possible.
If a gauge length of 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) was used, the measured
elongation would be 40 %.
(see next page)
Tin Plate
Hence, for improved low temperature toughness, steels such as A516 contains
more Mn than A515 and is specified to be in the normalized condition with a
grain size < ASTM 5 (i.e., 16 grains per inch2 at 100x magnification).
Steel A662 contains more Mn and less carbon and retains its toughness down to
-60 oC.
“70” refers to the strength of the steel in kips per square inch (ksp), an old
strength designation still used in the USA.
Heavy Steel Plates for Buildings and Bridges
The low carbon and alloy content of this steel also restricts the
microstructure to ferrite and pearlite in quenched sections that
are > 5 cm thick.
The End