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> INTRODUCTION TO
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1 INTRODUCTION TO
METALLURGY

ENGINEERING MATERIALS

METALS NON METALS

FERROUS NON FERROUS NATURAL SYNTHETIC

Contains iron e.g. Does not contain iron e.g. Wood, Rubber Plastics etc...
Grey or Spheroidal cast iron Copper alloys etc...
Carbon and low alloy steels Nickel alloys
Alloy steels Aluminum alloys
Stainless steels Titanium alloys
etc... Zirconium alloys
etc...

Metals, both ferrous and non-ferrous, are widely used for the building of ships (hull structure,
piping systems, machinery components…) and for offshore constructions

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MATERIALS
Carbon and carbon-manganese steels, low alloy steels, high alloy steels, stainless steels,
copper alloys, aluminum alloys, nickel alloys, titanium alloys...

ROLLED PRODUCTS
Plates, sheets, strips, wide-flats, bulb-flats, angles, bars…

PIPES AND TUBES (Steels, Al-alloys, Cu-alloys, Ni-alloys, Ti-alloys…)

FORGINGS (Steels, Al-alloys, Ni-alloys…)

Shafts, crankshafts, connecting rods...

CASTINGS (Steels, Al-alloys, Cu-alloys, Ni-alloys, Ti-alloys…)

Propellers, stern frames, casings, anchors...

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By using an optical microscope, metal microstructure can be seen from polished and
suitably etched samples.

The microstructure is granular and made of grains of different nature, size, shape,
orientation.

Polishing equipment Polished samples Suitable etching agent

Metallurgical microscope

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TYPICAL MICROSTRUCTURE OF SOME METALLIC MATERIALS

Copper Phosphorous bronze (Cu, 10% Sn, 1.0% P) Brass (Cu, 30% Zn )

Carbon steel (0.4% C)) Stainless steel type 316 Duplex steel (22% Cr, 5% Ni)

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A GRAIN is a crystal with a regular pattern of atoms extending across it.

ATOMIC ARRANGEMENT of most metals is one of the three basic types, body-centred cubic,
face-centred cubic or hexagonal compact.

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PURE IRON can exist in two forms depending on the temperature (allotropic change).

STEEL is an IRON BASED ALLOY which contains Carbon and other elements (Cr, Ni, Mo…)

Temperature

Phase Liquid

1534°C

Phase Body Centered Cubic (BCC) structure

1390°C

Phase Face Centered Cubic (FCC) structure

910°C

Phase Body Centered Cubic (BCC) structure

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CARBON has a considerable influence on IRON structure.

FCC

Austenite (FCC gamma)

910°C 910°C

Mixed
723°C
BCC

Ferrite (BCC alpha) + Fe3C

Pure Iron % Carbon 0.8%

BCC structure of iron dissolves very little carbon and forms a phase called FERRITE, symbol Alpha.

Carbon will be present in the form of carbide Fe3C called CEMENTITE (small particles, plates or layers).

The two phases FERRITE + CEMENTITE will typically form layers and are called PEARLITE.

FCC structure of iron can dissolve up to 1.7% C and forms a phase called AUSTENITE, symbol Gamma.

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EQUILIBRIUM PHASE DIAGRAM shows phases in presence when element is added in a matrix.

IRON - CARBON DIAGRAM

Point Ar3; Temperature at which ferrite starts to form when cooling;

Point Ac3; Temperature at which ferrite is no more present when heating;
Point Ar1; Temperature at which austenite is no more present when cooling;
Point Ac1; Temperature at wich austenite starts to form when heating;

OTHER DIAGRAMS exist for iron/nickel, iron/chromium...

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INFLUENCE OF SOME STEEL ALLOYING ELEMENTS OTHER THAN CARBON

Manganese
Slightly increases the strength of ferrite and decreases the critical cooling speed to form martensite
Called critical quenching speed and so increases hardness penetration.

Silicon
Used as deoxidizer. Slightly increases the strength of ferrite.

Chromium
As manganese, decreases critical quenching speed. Can make the steel air hardening (martensite can
Form at air cooling speed when 5%Cr and Mn are present). Above 13% Cr steel is referred to as
stainless steel;

Nickel
Increases strength and toughness.

Molybdenum
Decreases critical quenching speed. Increases high temperature tensile strength.

Vanadium
Helps control grain growth during heat treatment, increases strength and toughness.

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TIME plays a major role. COOLING RATE modify the ideal equilibrium shown before and has
a great influence on steel structure.
Diagrams established for various steels and known as Time Temperature Transformation (TTT) and
Continuous Cooling Transformation (TRC) give the microstructure (type and rate of phase) formed
by varying temperature and cooling rate.

Under very slow cooling conditions for most engineering carbon steels (0.25% C to 0.60%C)
a coarse, layered perlitic structure will form. Such steel will be easy to machine but with poor toughness.

Under faster cooling conditions, the perlitic structure will be finer with better toughness.

Under very fast cooling rate, there is no time to form carbides and the carbon gets trapped in the ferrite.
As ferrite dissolves very few carbon, carbon atoms distort the BCC structure of ferrite and will form a very
hard needle-like structure called MARTENSITE.

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HARDENABILITY / QUENCHING
The ability of steel to form martensite at a given cooling rate is called hardenability. Some alloying
elements and their respective content greatly influence hardenability (C, Mn, Cr, Mo…).
Quenching is the heat treatment which aims to produce the structure of maximum hardness by heating
to a temperature which removes any ferrite present and then cooling in a suitable medium (air, oil, water)
to form hard structure.

TEMPERING
Hard structures such martensite have very low ductility. Heating below transformation points
(about 700°C) keeps a high strength level and enhances ductility and toughness. Tempering temperature is
adapted to the desired level of strength.
A quenched and tempered steel shall never be heated during fabrication to a temperature higher than its
tempering temperature.

ANNEALING
Steel is heated to form stable austenite and then cooled very slowly (e.g. in a furnace) to form coarse
perlite. Low strength and low hardness is obtained together with low toughness.

NORMALIZING
Steel is heated until it just starts to form austenite and then cooled in air. Fine grains and uniform pearlite
are formed with good toughness.

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MANUFACTURING
CONDITIONS

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
FOR ENGINEERING USE

DIMENSIONS

HEAT TREATMENT
(T°C, cooling conditions)

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ROLLING MILL

Ingots or slabs are rolled to final

STEEL MILL shape, e.g. plates, sections...

FORGE
Two major processes;
- Blast furnace and basic oxygen converter;
- Electric arc furnace; Ingots are shaped, heat treated
and machined to final dimensions
Casting methods;
- Continuous casting (slabs)
- Ingot casting (ingots)
- Casting in molds (castings) FOUNDRY

Products are cast into sand or

resin molds , heat treated and
machined to final dimensions

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STEELMAKING PROCESS – BLAST FURNACE 1/2

Typical chemical composition of naval steel grade A ;

Iron (Fe) 99% / Carbon (C) 0,12% / Manganese (Mn) 0,5%

/ Silicon (Si) 0.25% / Sulphur (S) 0.015% / Phosphorus (P)
0.020% / Balance residual elements

Materials loaded in the top of the blast furnace are Iron ore
+ Limestone + Coke.
Natural form of metals is mostly an ore (except few metals
such as gold) which is a combination of metal with oxygen or
sulphur usually. Main types of iron ores are hematite Fe2O3
and magnetite Fe3O4 with iron content range from 50% to
70%.
Limestone CaCO3 is a fluxing agent that removes sulphur
and other impurities to form a slag. It can be pure high
calcium limestone , dolomitic limestone containing magnesia
or a blend.
Coke is made from coal in a special coking oven and
contains 90% to 93% carbon. It forms carbon monoxyde
CO which is the reducing agent needed to combine with the
oxygen and to separate the metal;

e.g. typical reaction Iron oxyde FeO + Carbon monoxyde

CO  Iron Fe + Carbon dioxyde CO2

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STEELMAKING PROCESS – BLAST FURNACE 2/2

e.g. typical reaction Iron oxyde FeO + Carbon monoxyde

CO  Iron Fe + Carbon dioxyde CO2

Raw materials descend from the top ( 150°C) to the bottom

of the furnace ( 2000°C) during 6 to 8 hours while hot air
that was blown into the bottom ascends to the top in 6 to 8
seconds through numerous chemical reactions.
At the bottom of the furnace, slag is removed and molten
metal is run out into a hot metal laddle.

Typical hot metal chemistry is Iron (Fe) 93,5 - 95% / Carbon

(C) 4,1% - 4,4% / Manganese (Mn) 0,55% - 0,75% / Silicon
(Si) 0.30% - 0,90% / Sulphur (S) 0.025% - 0,050% /
Phosphorus (P) 0.030% - 0,090% / Balance residual
elements;

Once started, blast furnace runs for four to ten years with
only short stops. Giant furnaces can produce 13,000 tons of
molten iron per day.

Further processing is necessary to obtain the final chemistry

of the desired steel grade.

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STEELMAKING PROCESS – BASIC OXYGEN CONVERTER

Hot metal coming from the blast furnace needs to be oxidized

to remove excess of carbon and impurities.

Raw materials for the Basic Oxygen Furnace are 70-80%

liquid hot metaland the balance is steel scrap and fluxes (lime
> 95% CaO, dolomite 58% CaO - 39% MgO).

Oxygen (>99,5% pure) is blown into the furnace at supersonic

velocities (Linz-Donawitz process). It oxidizes the carbon and
silicon in the hot metal liberating great quantities of heat
which melts the scrap. Iron, manganese and phosphorus
oxidize as well. The basic slags which form remove
phosphorus and sulphur from the molten charge.

The term Basic refers to the magnesia (MgO) refractory lining

which wear through contact with the hot basic slags.

Once the heat is ready, it is tapped into the laddle and

conveyed to the continuous casting machine or a secondary
refining process depending on the type of steel grade.

Typical Basic Oxygen Furnaces size are around 250 tons and
tap-to-tap times are about 40 minutes.

Steel made using Basic Oxygen Process represents today

around 60% of production in the world.

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STEELMAKING PROCESS – ELECTRIC ARC FURNACE

Carefully selected scrap is used to form the charge. Lime is added

as well.
The furnace is heated by an electric arc between carbon electrodes
and the metal.

Melting period involves electrical and chemical energy from

exothermic reactions. Once the final scrap charge is melted, flat
bath conditions are reached.

Refining period involves the removal of phosphorus, sulfur,

aluminum, silicon, manganese and carbon from the steel using
reactions with oxygen added at an appropriate stage. Metal oxides
formed will end up in the slag.

De-slagging period is the removal of slag which contains impurities

from the furnace.

Tapping period; When desired steel composition and temperature

is achieved, steel is poured into a laddle where alloy additions are
made to adjust the chemistry and ferrosilicon or siliconmanganese
are added for de-oxidizing purpose (commonly referred to as
« killing the steel »).

Typical Electric Arc Furnaces size range is 5 tons to 250 tons per
heat and tap-to-tap time range is one hour to ten hours.

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STEELMAKING PROCESS – REFINING (Secondary Metallurgy)

This is post steel making processes performed at a

separate station. The purposes can be temperature
homogenization, chemical adjustments for carbon,
sulfur, phosphorus, oxygen and precise alloying,
inclusion control, degassing and others.

• Rotary Degassers
• Vacuum Degassers
• Argon Oxygen Decarburization for stainless steels
• Vacuum Oxygen Decarburization for stainless steels
• Laddle Furnace
…

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ROLLING PROCESSES FOR STEEL

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ROLLING PROCESSES FOR STEEL

AS ROLLED (AR); This procedure involves the rolling of steel at high temperature followed by air cooling. The rolling
and finishing temperatures are typically in the austenite recrystallization region and above the normalising temperature.
The strength and toughness properties of steel products made by this process are generally less than products heat
treated after rolling or than products made by advanced processes.

CONTROLLED ROLLING (CR), NORMALIZING ROLLING (NR); A rolling procedure in which the final
deformation is carried out in the normalizing temperature range, resulting in a material condition generally equivalent
to that obtained by normalising.

THERMO-MECHANICAL ROLLING (TM), THERMO-MECHANICAL CONTROLLED PROCESSING (TMCP);

This is a procedure which involves the strict control of both the steel temperature and the rolling reduction. Generally a
high proportion of the rolling reduction is carried out close to the Ar3 temperature and may involve the rolling in the
dual phase temperature region. Unlike controlled rolled the properties conferred by TM (TMCP) cannot be reproduced
by subsequent normalizing or other heat treatment.

THERMO-MECHANICAL ROLLING WITH ACCELERATED COOLING (TM+AcC); Accelerated cooling is a

process which aims to improve mechanical properties by controlled cooling with rates higher than air cooling
immediately after the final TM-rolling operation.

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HEAT TREATMENT FOR STEEL

QUENCHING AND TEMPERING (QT); Quenching involves a heat treatment process in which product is
heated to an appropriate temperature above the Ac3 and then cooled with an appropriate coolant for the
purpose of hardening the microstructure. Tempering subsequent to quenching is a process in which the
product is reheated to an appropriate temperature not higher than the Ac1 to restore toughness properties
by improving the microstructure.

ANNEALING
Steel is heated to form stable austenite and then cooled very slowly (e.g. in a furnace) to form coarse
perlite. Low strength and low hardness is obtained together with low toughness.

NORMALIZING
Normalising involves heating rolled steel above the critical temperature, Ac3, and in the lower end of the
austenite recrystallization region followed by air cooling. The process improves the mechanical properties
of as rolled steel by refining the grain size.

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STAINLESS STEEL

• Originally developed for cutlery applications (without stain). Stainless steel is a generic
name for a family of steel types and grades for corrosion or oxydation resistant
applications;

• Stainless steels are iron based alloys with a minimum of 10.5% chromium. Other
alloying elements are added to obtain properties necessary for a given application such as
resistance to specific environment or cryogenic toughness;

• The corrosion resistance of stainless steel arises from a « passive » chromium rich oxyde
film that forms naturally on the surface. Although thin (1 to 5 nanometers thick), this
protective film is strongly adherent and chemically stable under normal conditions for the
type of stainless steel.

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STAINLESS STEEL

Depending on the type of microstructure, stainless steels are classed in four families

• FERRITIC stainless steels

Contain typically between 13% and 17% chromium

• MARTENSITIC stainless steels

Contain typically 12% chromium

• AUSTENITIC stainless steels

Typically contain about 18% chromium in addition to nickel; Non magnetic;
Super austenitic grades have enhanced resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion

• AUSTENITIC-FERRITIC stainless steels also known as DUPLEX

Typical grade is « 22-05 » which contains about 22% chromium and 5% nickel;
Microstructure is a mixture of austenite and ferrite;
Super duplex grades have enhanced resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion
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ALUMINIUM ALLOYS MAKING

Forging processes can be used for a large variety of materials like carbon-manganese steels, low alloy
and alloy steels, stainless steels, nickel based alloys, aluminium alloys, titanium alloys…

• Bauxite is processed to form alumina (Bayer process)

• Alumina is processed by electrochemical means to obtain

molten aluminium; Typically an average of 15.7 kW·h is needed
to produce one kilo of aluminium from alumina while recycling
requires only 5% of this energy to form equal quality ingots.

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ALUMINIUM ALLOYS PRODUCTS

• Aluminium alloys products are made from semi-finished products using rolling or extrusion facilities
or directly cast into molds.

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FORGING PROCESSES

Forging processes can be used for a large variety of materials like carbon-manganese steels, low alloy
and alloy steels, stainless steels, nickel based alloys, aluminium alloys, titanium alloys…

OPEN DIE FORGING

The material is shaped at high temperature between flat dies and not confined laterally by impression
dies. Forgings up to more than 150 tons can be produced. Typically used for large shafts, rudder stocks
or rings.

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FORGING PROCESSES

OPEN DIE FORGING

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FORGING PROCESSES

IMPRESSION OR CLOSED DIE FORGING

The material is shaped at high temperature between two dies that contain the
desired shape. Typically, forgings up to 50 tons can be produced.

COLD FORGING
This process is a variation of closed die forging but at lower temperature (from
ambient temperature up to about 200°C). Used for very small forgings.

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CASTING PROCESS

A casting can be defined as a product obtained by allowing molten metal to solidify in a mold.
Foundries can produce cast components for a large variety of materials like cast iron, carbon-
manganese steels, low alloy and alloy steels, stainless steels, copper base alloys, nickel based alloys,
aluminium alloys, titanium alloys…

STEPS IN THE PROCESS

• PATTERN MAKING
The pattern is a physical model of the casting and is used to make the mold. The mold is made by packing aggregate
material, such as molding sand, around the pattern.

• CORE MAKING
If the casting is to be hollow, cores are used to form the cavities. Cores made of material such as molding sand are placed in
the mold.

• MOLDING
All operations necessary to prepare a mold.

• MELTING AND POORING

All operations necessary to prepare molten metal and to pour it in the mold.

• CLEANING
All operations necessary to the removal of sand, scale and excess metal from the casting

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