Ferrous Metals and Alloys:

Production, General
Properties and Application
Introduction
Ferrous metals and alloys are the most widely
used structural materials, generally because of
their performance, wide availability, ease of
manufacturing, and low cost.
ferrous metals and alloys are among the most
useful of all metals. They contain iron as their base
metal and are generally classified as carbon and
alloy steels, stainless steels, tool and die steels,
cast irons, and cast steels. Steel refers to a ferrous
alloy, as simple as a mixture of iron and carbon,
but also containing a number of alloying elements
to impart various properties.
Ferrous alloys are produced as:
Sheet steel for automobiles,
appliances, and containers
Plates for boilers, ships, and bridges
Structural members such as I-beams,
bar products, axles, crankshafts, and
railroad rails
Tools, dies, and molds
Rods and wire for fasteners such as
bolts, rivets, nuts, and staples.
Carbon steels are the least expensive
of all structural metals. As an example
of their Widespread use, ferrous
metals make up 70 to 85% by Weight
of structural members and mechanical
components.
True ironworking began in Asia Minor
in about 1100 B.C. and signaled the
advent of the Iron Age.
Production of
iron and steel
Raw Materials
Iron Ore
The principal iron ores are taconite (a
black flintlike rock), /vematite (an
iron-oxide mineral), and limonite (an
iron oxide containing water). After it is
mined, the ore is crushed into fine
particles, the impurities are removed
by various means (such as magnetic
separation), and the ore is formed
into pellets, balls, or briquettes using
water and various binders.
Coke
Coke is obtained from special grades of bituminous
coal (a soft coal rich in volatile hydrocarbons and
tars) that are heated in vertical ovens to
temperatures of up to 1150C and then cooled
with Water in quenching towers. Coke has several
functions in steelmaking, including (a) generating
the high level of heat required for the chemical
reactions in ironmaking to take place and (b)
producing carbon monoxide (a reducing gas,
meaning that it removes oxygen), which is then
used to reduce iron oxide to iron.
Limestone
limestone (calcium carbonate) is to remove
impurities from the molten iron. The limestone
reacts chemically with impurities, acting like a flux
(meaning to flow as a fluid) that causes the
impurities to melt at a low temperature. The
limestone combines with the impurities and forms
a slag (Which is light), floats over the molten metal,
and, subsequently, is removed. Dolomite (an ore of
calcium magnesium carbonate) also is used as a
flux. The slag is used later in making cement,
fertilizers, glass, building materials, rock-Wool
insulation, and road ballast.
Iron Making
 A blast furnace is basically a large
steel cylinder lined with refractory
(heat-resistant) brick; it has the height
of about a 10-storey building. The
charge mixture is melted in a reaction
at 1650C, with the air preheated to
about 1100C and blasted into the
furnace (hence the term blast
furnace) through nozzles (called
tuyeres).
Steel Making
Steel was first produced in China and Japan about
600 to 800 A.D. The steelmaking process is
essentially one of refining the pig iron by reducing
the percentages of manganese, silicon, carbon, and
other elements and by controlling the composition
of the output through the addition of various
elements.
Electric Furnace. The source of heat in this furnace
is a continuous electric arc that is formed between
the electrodes and the charged metal
Temperatures as high as 1925C are generated in
this type of furnace.
Basic-oxygen Furnace. The basic-oxygen furnace
(BOF) is the fastest and by far the most common
steelmaking furnace.
Vacuum Furnace. Steel also may be melted in
induction furnaces from which the air has been
removed, Because the process removes gaseous
impurities from the molten metal and prevents
oxidation, vacuum furnaces produce high-quality
steels.
Casting of Ingots
shaping of the molten steel into a solid form
(ingot) for such further processing as rolling it into
shapes, casting it into semifinished forms, or
forging it. The molten metal is poured (teemed)
from the ladle into ingot molds, in which the metal
solidifies.
three types of steel ingots can be produced:
Killed Steel-Killed steel is a fully deoxidized steel; that
is, oxygen is removed and the associated porosity is thus
eliminated.
Semi-killed Steel- Semi-killed steel is a partially
deoxiclized steel. It contains some porosity (generally in
the upper central section of the ingot), but it has little
or no pipe. As a result, scrap is reduced.
Rimmed Steel-In a rimmed steel, which generally has a
low carbon content (less than 0.15%), the evolved gases
are only partially killed (or controlled) by the addition of
other elements, such as aluminum. The gases produce
blowholes along the outer rim of the ingot--hence the
term rimmed.
Refining-The properties and manufacturing
characteristics of ferrous alloys are affected
adversely by the amount of impurities, inclusions,
and other elements present.
Continuous Casting
The inefficiencies and the problems involved in
making steels in the traditional form of ingots are
alleviated by the continuous-casting process, which
produces higher quality steels at reduced costs

In strip casting, thin slabs, or strips, are produced

from molten metal.
The inefficiencies and the problems involved in
making steels in the traditional form of ingots are
alleviated by the continuous-casting process, which
produces higher quality steels at reduced costs

In strip casting, thin slabs, or strips, are produced

from molten metal.
Carbon and Alloy Steels
Effects of Various Elements in Steels
Boron improves hardenability without the loss of (or
even with some improvement in) machinability and
formability.
Calcium deoxidizes steels, improves toughness, and may
improve formability and machinability.
Carbon improves hardenability, strength, hardness, and
wear resistance; it reduces ductility, vveldability, and
toughness.
Cerium controls the shape of inclusions and improves
toughness in highstrength, low-alloy steels; it deoxidizes
steels.
Chromium improves toughness, hardenability, wear and
corrosion resistance, and high-temperature strength; it
increases the depth of hardness penetration resulting
from heat treatment by promoting carburization.
.
Cobalt improves strength and hardness at elevated
temperatures.
Copper improves resistance to atmospheric corrosion
and, to a lesser extent, increases strength with little loss
in ductility; it adversely affects hot-working characteristics
and surface quality. Lead improves machinability, it causes
liquid-metal embrittlement.
Magnesium has the same effects as cerium.
Manganese improves hardenability, strength, abrasion
resistance, and machinability; it deoxidizes the molten
steel, reduces hot shortness, and decreases weldability.
Molybdenum improves hardenability, wear resistance,
toughness, elevatedtemperature strength, creep
resistance, and hardness; it minimizes temper
embrittlement
Nickel improves strength, toughness, corrosion resistance, and
hardenability. Niobium (columbium) imparts fineness of grain size
and improves strength and impact toughness; it lowers transition
temperature and may decrease hardenability.
Phosphorus improves strength, hardenability, corrosion resistance,
and machinability; it severely reduces ductility and toughness.
Selenium improves machinability,
Silicon improves strength, hardness, corrosion resistance, and
electrical conductivity; it decreases magnetic-hysteresis loss,
machinability, and cold formability.
Sulfur improves machinability when combined with manganese; it
lowers impact strength and ductility and impairs surface quality
and weldability.
Tantalum has effects similar to those of niobium.
Tellurium improves machinability, formability, and toughness.
Titanium improves hardenability; it deoxidizes steels. Tungsten
has the same effects as cobalt.
Vanadium improves strength, toughness, abrasion resistance,
and hardness at elevated temperatures; it inhibits grain growth
during heat treatment.
Zirconium has the same effects as cerium.
Residual Elements in Steels

Antimony and arsenic cause temper embrittlement. Hydrogen severely

embrittles steels; however, heating during processing drives out most of
the hydrogen.

Nitrogen improves strength, hardness, and machinability; in

aluminumdeoxidized steels, it controls the size of inclusions. Nitrogen
can increase or decrease strength, ductility, and toughness, depending
on the presence of other elements.

Oxygen slightly increases the strength of rimmed steels; it severely

reduces toughness.

Tin causes hot shortness and temper embrittlement.

 Designations for Steels
the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE) have designated carbon and alloy steels by
using four digits. The first two digits indicate the alloying elements and
their percentages, and the last two digits indicate the carbon content by
weight.
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has another
designation system, which incorporates the AISI and SAE designations
and includes standard specifications for steel products. For ferrous
metals, the designation consists of the letter A followed by a few
numbers (generally three). The present numbering system is known as
the Unified Numbering System (UNS) and has been adopted widely by
ferrous and nonferrous industries.
 It consists of a letter indicating the general class of the alloy, followed
by five digits designating its chemical composition. Typical letter
designations are as follows:
G-AISI and SAE carbon and alloy steels
J-cast steels K-miscellaneous steels and ferrous alloys
S-stainless steels and superalloys
T-tool steels
Carbon steels
-generally are classified by their proportion (by weight) of carbon
content.
 Alloy Steels
Steels containing significant amounts of alloying elements are called
alloy steels; they usually are made with more care than are carbon
steels. Structural-grade alloy steels are used mainly in the construction
and transportation industries because of their high strength.

High-strength Low-alloy Steels

In order to improve the strength-to-weight ratio of steels, a number of
high-strength, low-alloy steels (I-ISLA) have been developed.
The types of steel are:
BH-Bake-hardenable
HSLA-High-strength low-alloy
DP-Dual-phase
TRIP-Transformation-induced plasticity
TWIP-Twinning-induced plasticity
MART-Martensitic
CP-Complex phase.
Micro alloyed Steels.
These recently developed HSLA steels
provide superior properties and can
eliminate the need for heat treatment.

Nanoalloyed Steels.
Now under development, these steels have
extremely small grain sizes (10-100 nm) and
are produced using metallic glasses as a
precursor.
Ultra-high-strength steels
are defined by AISI as those with an
ultimate tensile strength higher than 700
MPa.
 There are five important types of ultra-high-strength steel:
Dual-phase steels are processed specially to have a mixed ferrite and martensite structure.
Developed in the late 1960s, these steels have a high work-hardening exponent, which improves
their ductility and formability.
TRIP steels consist of a ferrite-bainite matrix and 5-20% retained austenite. During forming, the
austenite progressively transforms into martensite. Thus, TRIP steels have both excellent
ductility because of the austenite and high strength after forming. As a result, these steels can
be used to produce more complicated parts than other high-strength steels. TWIP steels (from
TV(/inning-Induced Plasticity) are austenitic and have high manganese content (17-20%). These
steels derive their properties from the generation of twins during deformation (see Section 1.4)
without a phase change, resulting in very high strain hardening and avoiding necking during
processing.,
TWIP steels combine high strength with high formability.
Complex-phase grades (CP grades) are very fine grained microstructures of ferrite and a high
volume fraction of hard phases (martensite and bainite). These steels can provide ultimate
tensile strengths as high as 800 MPa and are therefore of interest for automotive crash
applications such as bumpers and roof supports. Martensitic grades are also available, consisting
of high fractions of martensite to attain tensile strengths as high as 1500 MPa.
 Stainless Steels
are characterized primarily by their corrosion resistance, high strength and ductility, and high
chromium content. They are called stainless because, in the presence of oxygen (air), they
develop a thin, hard, adherent film of chromium oxide that protects the metal from corrosion .
Stainless steels generally are divided into five types
Austenitic (200 and 300 series). These steels generally are composed of chromium, nickel, and
manganese in iron. They are nonmagnetic and have excellent corrosion resistance, but they are
susceptible to stress-corrosion cracking.
Ferritic (400 series). These steels have a high chromium content-up to 27%. They are magnetic
and have good corrosion resistance, but they have lower ductility than austenitic stainless
steels.
Martensitic (400 and 500 series). Most martensitic stainless steels do not contain nickel and are
hardenable by heat treatment. Their chromium content may be as much as 18%.
Precipitation-hardening (PH). These steels contain chromium and nickel, along with copper,
aluminum, titanium, or molybdenum. They have good corrosionresistance and ductility, and
they have high strength at elevated temperatures.
Tool and Die Steels
High-speed Steels
High-speed steels (HSS) are the most highly alloyed tool and die steels. First developed in the
early 19005, they maintain their hardness and strength at elevated operating temperatures.

There are two basic types of high-speed steels:

1. The M-series steels contain up to about 10% molybdenum with chromium, vanadium,
tungsten, and cobalt as other alloying elements
2. T-series steels contain 12 to 18% tungsten with chromium, vanadium, and cobalt as other
alloying elements.
Die Steels

Hot-work steels (H-series) are designed for use at elevated temperatures. They have high
toughness, as well as high resistance to wear and cracking.
Cold Work steels (A-, D-, and O-series) are used for cold-working operations. They generally
have high resistance to Wear and cracking.
Shock-resisting steels (S-series) are designed for impact toughness and are used in
applications such as header dies, punches, and chisels.