Cătălin CROITORU

E-mail: c.croitoru@unitbv.ro
Office: Colina UnitBv, room GI23
• Steel = iron-carbon alloy containing from 0.02% to 2% carbon (in practice not
more than 1.3%)
• Cast iron = an iron-carbon alloy containing from 2% to about 6.67% carbon
(in practice not more than 4.5%)
• Steels and cast irons can also contain other alloying elements besides carbon
Together, they constitute approximately 80% of the metal tonnage produced
worldwide
At room temperature under equilibrium conditions (slow cooling from the melt),
iron-carbon alloys form a two-phase system at carbon levels even slightly above
zero. The first phase is the interstitial solid solution of C in Fe. The second
phase is Fe3C, also known as cementite. The two constituents can form a
mechanical mixture which is called pearlite (responsible for the mechanical
strength of steel).
Solid solutions in the Fe-C system:
The phase at room temperature is alpha (), called ferrite (BCC)
• At 912C, ferrite transforms to gamma (), called austenite (FCC)
• This transforms at 1394C to delta ferrite () (BCC)
 Inuit tribes in the artic regions made metal-bio composites by
cold cladding meteoritic Fe-Ni alloys (basically stainless steel)
to whale tooth long before the iron age.
Pharaoh Tutankhamun's iron dagger blade is made from
meteoric iron. Originally discovered in 1925 in Tutankhamun's
tomb (14th C. BCE) by Howard Carter, an archaeologist, the
iron dagger was believed to be of meteorite origin. However,
until 2016 this material had remained untested.

Steel production uses about 7% of the global energy and causes

about 33% of all industrial green house gas emissions, due to
the use of C-carriers as reductants. Huge areas were deforested
in the middle ages to provide the wood used for steel production

Steel is the main material used in delivering renewable energy –

solar, tidal and wind. It contains also the highest fraction of
recycled material of all structural materials.
 Pure iron Smelted iron Smelted iron

(ore + charcoal) (ore + charcoal)

In air In reduced oxygen conditions

Meteoric iron

Cast iron objects Ancient steel objects “wrought steel” (i.e., hand-forged),
Iron-age objects th
(China, cca. 6 century BC) couldn’t be casted, m.p. ~1450C
Could be casted, m.p. 1100C Middle East and Europe, cca. 6th century BC till cca. 1300)
 Burning C out of cast iron Beginning of ”modern” steel
Smelted iron
Increasing C in pure iron production
(ore + charcoal)
Bar iron steel
In reduced oxygen conditions
Small batch production

Bessemer converter
Heating iron in molten cast iron, solidifying the
melt followed by hand forging = Wootz steel UK, from 1850
or crucible steel (oțel de creuzet), India, cca. 1st The Bessemer process
century BC, later rebranded as Damascus Steel Europe, from cca. (in 20 mins, 3-4t of iron ore were
1300- cca. 1800 converted to steel)
Steel: composition, structure and properties
Alloy of iron containing from 0.02% and 2% carbon by weight (for practical applications
most steels range between 0.05% and 1.3% C). It often includes other alloying ingredients,
such as manganese, chromium, nickel, and/or molybdenum; but it is the carbon content that
turns iron into steel. Hundreds of compositions of steel are available commercially.
Steel alloys can be grouped into five categories:
• Plain carbon steels (contain no alloying elements beside C) (ro: oțeluri carbon)
• Low alloy steels (ro: oțeluri slab aliate): contain <5% by weight as sum of alloying
elements (without C)
• High alloy steels (ro: oțeluri înalt aliate): stainless steels (ro: oțeluri inoxidabile sau
inoxuri) and tool steels (ro: oțeluri de scule): contain >10% by weight as sum of alloying
elements (without C)
• Specialty steels (ro: oțeluri speciale sau oțeluri cu destinație specială): might be alloy
element-free but obtained in a special fashion; might contain P instead of C!!
(A lot of ancient steel contained phosphorous (P) and not carbon (C) as the major alloying
element)
Plain Carbon Steels These steels contain carbon as the
principal alloying element, with only small amounts of
other elements (about 0.4% manganese plus lesser
amounts of silicon, phosphorus, and sulfur).
The strength of plain carbon steels increases with carbon
content. A typical plot of the relationship is illustrated in
the figure on this slide.
As a function of their carbon content, plain steels can be
classified in:
1. Low carbon steels - less than 0.20% C
• Applications: automobile sheet-metal parts, plate steel
for fabrication, railroad rails. These are by far the
most widely used steels. These steels are relatively
easy to form and weld, which accounts for their
popularity where high strength is not required. Steel
castings usually fall into this carbon range, also.
2. Medium carbon steels - between 0.20% and 0.50% C
• Applications: machinery components and engine parts
such as crankshafts and connecting rods
3. High carbon steels - greater than 0.50% C Tensile strength and hardness as a function
• Applications: springs, cutting tools and blades, wear- of carbon content in plain carbon steel
resistant parts, steel cables.
Phases present in steels at equilibrium (slow cooling)
Solid solutions:
Ferrite () is an interstitial solid solution of carbon in BCC iron (Fe). It is stable until 912°C. The solubility of C in ferrite is
extremely limited. The maximum solubility is 0.02% wt. at 727°C and 0.008% at room temperature. Pure ferrite has a
mechanical strength of 275 MPa and BHN = 80-100. It is MAGNETIC.
Austenite () is an interstitial solid solution of carbon in FCC iron. It is stable from 912 to 1394°C. The solubility of C is larger
here as compared to ferrite. The maximum C solubility is at 1146°C and is 2.1% wt. It is NON MAGNETIC.
-ferrite (BCC) is stable from 1394 to 1539°C, the melting point of iron. The maximum solubility of carbon here is 0.09% wt.
The difference in solubility of C between alpha and gamma provides opportunities for strengthening by heat treatment.
Chemical compounds:
Cementite is an intermetallic compound with the formula Fe3C. The weight percent of carbon in cementite is 6.67%. Cementite
has a complex crystal structure and possesses the highest hardness among all iron compounds. Pure cementite has a
mechanical strength of 35 MPa and BHN= 800 (it is very hard brittle).
Mechanical mixtures:
When the steel reaches 727C (called the eutectoid temperature), austenite decomposes into a lamellar mechanical mixture
(sometimes called eutectoid mixture) of ferrite and cementite crystals, called pearlite. Pearlite has a mechanical strength of
830 MPa and BHN= 180-200. It contains 0.8% of C
If a steel has more pearlite, then it will have a very high mechanical resistance!! But pearlite is bad for welding and
shaping by plastic deformation!
 Microstructure of slowly cooled carbon steels
As we cool a molten steel composition, austenite forms at higher temperatures. Austenite transforms under the eutectoid
temperature into various constituents, depending on the carbon content of the steel.
As a function of their equilibrium structure (formed when slowly cooled), plain carbon steels can be classified into:
• Eutectoid steels: these steels have 0.8% wt. C and present a
microstructure composed entirely (100%) of pearlite.
Pearlite is a lamellar arrangement of alternate, parallel plates of
ferrite and cementite. As weight percent of phases it contains 88%
ferrite and 12% cementite. This constituent confers plain carbon
steels their remarkable mechanical resistance. Pearlite has the
most successful combination of mechanical properties
from all equilibrium structures existing in the iron–carbon alloys.
Structurally pearlite is composed of soft, tough lamellae of ferrite
alternating with strong, hard and rigid lamellae of cementite.
Such a structure well resists to the various mechanical loadings,
possesses high strength and sufficient toughness. When viewed
with a microscope, the strip-shaped embedded cementite lamellae
(white stripes) in the ferrite grains (dark areas in between) can be
seen.
 Cementite
Ferrite

Structure of human bone

The name pearlite comes as an
analogy with the structure of nacre
(mother of pearl) (ro: sidef), from Fine structure of pearlite
which pearls are made of by the
oysters…
 • Hypoeutectoid steels: The composition of hypoeutectoid steels is
less than 0.8 % C (gr. hypo: less). In addition to pearlite, ferrite () is
present.
As the carbon content increases, the amount of pearlite increases, and so
do the mechanical strength and hardness of these steels.
Pear-
lite

Hypoeutectoid steel with 0.4% C Hypoeutectoid steel with 0.6% C

• Hypereutectoid steels: The composition of hypereutectoid steels is more
than 0.8 % C (gr. hyper: higher). In addition to pearlite, cementite is present
as a network at the pearlite grain boundaries.
Consequently, these steels have the highest hardness among the carbon steels
due to the presence of cementite, but too much cementite can make the steel
brittle (that’s why steels with higher carbon content than 1.3% are rarely used
in practice). These steels are commonly used as tool steels.
Pearlite
grains
Damascus steel
Cementite
network
(white)
Carbon is not a random impurity, but the major component of the carbon
steels determining their properties. Machine-building factories receive
steel from the metallurgical enterprises either in annealed or hot-rolled Brinell Tensile Impact Elongation at
states. Therefore, the as-received structure of constructional steels consists hardness strength energy break
of ferrite and pearlite, and the structure of tool steels composes pearlite
and cementite.
The amount of cementite in steel structure increases with the increase in
carbon concentration. Cementite is a very hard and brittle phase. The
hardness of cementite exceeds the hardness of ferrite by a factor of 10.
Therefore, both strength and hardness of steel increase with the increase
of the carbon content; whereas both plasticity and toughness, on the
contrary, decrease.
At an increase of the carbon content up to 0.8 % wt. C, the share of
pearlite in structure increases (from 0 to 100 %); hence, both hardness and
strength increase. But at the further growth of carbon above 0.8%,
cementite appears on the pearlite grains boundaries. Hardness does not
dramatically increase, and strength begins to decrease because of the
increased brittleness of the cementite network.
The increase in the carbon content leads to a rise in temperature of
ductile-to-brittle transition: every 0.1% C raises the ductile to brittle
transition temperature approximately 5°C. It means that steel with 0.4 %
wt. C transfers to a brittle condition about at 0 °С, i.e., it becomes less
reliable.
The carbon content influences all technological (manufacturing)
properties of steel: the more carbon concentration in steel, the more
difficult it is processed by cutting, welding and plastic deformation.
 Influence of inevitable impurities on steel’s
properties
Useful impurities, manganese and silicon, transfer to steel from pig-iron,
and also due to deoxidizing.
Manganese is contained in carbon steel in 0.3-0.8 % wt., and raises
strength and slightly reduces toughness. It combines sulphur in sulphide
MnS, which is very useful.
Silicon content in carbon steel should not exceed 0.4 % wt. It is dissolved
in ferrite and considerably raises the yield strength. Thus worsens steel
ability to cold plastic deformation: the sheet steel can crack upon deep
drawing (ro: ambutisare adâncă).
Sulphur is a harmful impurity. It causes hot brittleness of steel: cracking
upon hot working. It gets into steel from coke. Sulphur forms iron sulphide FeS
with melting point at 988 С. Steel ingots are heated up to 1200 С for rolling
and forging. FeS concentrates during rolling and forging on the grain
boundaries and can be melted off, and ingots may be fractured.
Manganese is more active than iron when reacting with sulphur and combines it
in sulphide MnS. But sulphides as any non-metallic inclusions, are
concentrators of stress, reduce plasticity and toughness. Therefore the sulphur
content in steel should be limited.
Phosphorus is another harmful impurity which causes cold brittleness of
steel, shifting the onset temperature of the ductile-to-brittle transition to higher
temperatures. Each 0.01% increase in P content raises Tt with 10C. It means
that phosphorus is even more dangerous than sulphur and its content should be
strictly limited. For decreasing the phosphorus concentration in steel it is
necessary to apply several fluxes (CaO, CaCO3) to remove phosphorus from the
molten steel as slag, which flows on top of the molten metal.
Low carbon steels
Of all the different steels, those produced in the most significant quantities fall
within the low-carbon classification. Plain low-carbon steels generally contain less
than about 0.25 % wt. C and are usually unresponsive to hardening heat treatments;
strengthening is accomplished by cold working.
The microstructure of this steels consists of ferrite and pearlite constituents.
Consequently, these alloys are relatively soft and weak but have outstanding
ductility and fracture toughness; they are also machinable, weldable, and, of all
steels, the least expensive to produce.
Typical applications include automobile body components, structural shapes (I-
beams), and sheets used in pipelines, buildings, bridges, nails, screws and nuts, and
tin cans. They typically have a yield strength of 275 MPa, tensile strengths between
415 and 550 MPa, and a ductility of 25% (expressed as elongation at break).
Medium carbon steels
The medium-carbon steels have carbon concentrations in the range 0.25
to 0.60 % wt. These alloys may be heat treated. The plain medium-
carbon steels have low hardenability (ability to be quenched) and can be
successfully heat treated only in very thin sections and with very rapid
quenching rates.
These alloys are stronger than the low-carbon steels, but at a sacrifice of
ductility and toughness.
Applications include railway wheels and tracks, gears, crankshafts, bolts
and other machine parts and high-strength structural components calling
for a combination of high strength, wear resistance, and toughness.
High carbon steels
The high-carbon steels, typically having carbon content 0.60 to 1.4 %
wt., are the hardest, strongest, and yet least ductile of carbon steels.
They are almost always used in a heat-treated condition and, as such,
are mostly wear-resistant, and cutting tools are capable of holding a
sharp cutting edge of the cutting blade.
These steels are utilized as cutting tools for forming and shaping
materials and knives, razors, hacksaw blades, springs, and high-strength
wires and cables.
Carbon steels, by the content in accompanying elements (in particular P and
S):
• General purpose steels (S, P < 0.055%)
• Quality steels (S, P < 0.035%)

According to their structure (the constituents that are present in the material’s
structure as a function of the carbon content) plain carbon steels can be divided in:

• Hypoeutectoid steels (<0.8% C): structure is formed of ferrite and pearlite

• Eutectoid steels (0.8% C): structure composed entirely of pearlite
• Hypereutectoid steels (> 0.8% C): structure formed of pearlite and cementite