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γ, austenite
1% α, 99% γ
α+γ
γ+Fe3C
α, ferrite
99% α, 1% γ
α+Fe3C
100% α+Fe3C
1% martensite
α+Fe3C
alpha + cementite
100% martinsite @ about -30 C
~1.7 minutes
900
fine pearlite
austenite bainite
350
martensite
100
0
100% Iron, α-ferrite
LIQUID
1535˚C
FERRITE (delta)
1390˚C
AUSTENITE (gamma)
FERRITE (alpha)
α – ferrite (BCC)
Cementite Fe3C
Development of microstructures in iron-carbon alloys
Hyper-eutectoid composition, wt% C > 0.76
Hypo-reutectoid composition, wt% C < 0.76
Isothermal transormation (TTT) microstructural developement
Formation of martensite
Formation of pearlite
Hypo-eutectoid composition
Hyper-eutectoid composition
Course pearlite fine pearlite
martensite
Carbon in FCC iron
Carbon in BCC iron
δ-iron (delta-iron) exists between 2552 and 2802 oF. It may exist in combination
with the melt to about 0.50 % Carbon, in combination with austenite to about 0.18
% Carbon and in a single phase state out to about 0.10 % carbon. Delta iron has
the Body Centered Cubic (B.C.C) crystal structure and is magnetic.
Heat treatment of steel
Copper melts at 1084°C, and if copper ore is smelted together with tin the resulting bronze alloy flows easily at about 950°C. Pure
iron, however, melts only at 1537°C, which was beyond the means of the early metalworkers. At the temperatures that their furnaces
could reach, iron was reduced from the ore in the solid state, producing a solid spongy mass mixed with slag and unburnt charcoal,
called a 'bloom'. This became the raw material of the smith. By hammering on the bloom, which was kept soft by frequently re-heating
it, he could drive out the slag and other impurities, eventually producing a bar of almost pure iron - 'wrought iron'. Pure iron is,
however, inferior to bronze in many respects - it is softer, and does not hold an edge as well. Why, then, go to all that trouble? During
the hot-working process, while the bloom was being re-heated, small quantities of carbon from the charcoal in the forging furnace
would diffuse into the metal. Alloying with carbon increases the hardness and strength of iron dramatically. This improved alloy is, in
fact, a steel.
The hardness of steeled iron is increased still further if the red-hot metal is quenched - suddenly cooled by plunging it into water.
Although this technique hardens the steel, it also makes it brittle and likely to break with use. However, if the quenched steel is re-
heated for a short time, and then slowly cooled, it gives up some hardness but also becomes tough and springy. This process is known
as tempering.
These metalworking techniques make use of the fact that the atomic structure of the metal varies with temperature. These changes are
immensely important, for they enable metallurgists to vary the properties of steel according to the purpose for which it is intended. If
they did not take place, our metals technology might still be based on copper and bronze.