Structure and Properties of Metals

Lecture 2

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METALS
•Metals are… Solid at room temperature, except
mercury, which is liquid !

•Metals have… very high melting point.

•Metals are… shiny when they cut.

•Metals are… good conductors of heat and electricity.

•Metals are… usually strong & malleable so they can be

hammered into shape.

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METALS in Periodic Table

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METALS

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MATERIALS

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 METALS
Ferrous Non-Ferrous Alloys
Containing iron & Do not contain iron. A mixture of
almost all are e.g. aluminium, metals, or a
magnetic. copper, silver, gold, metal & small
e.g. mild-steel, lid, tin etc. amount of
cast-iron, tool- other substance
Steel etc.

Ferrous Alloys Non-Ferrous Alloys

e.g. e.g. brass (copper + zinc)
stainless steel bronze (copper + tin )
steel + chromium
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 METALS
METALS & ALLOYS
Metals are available in pure or alloy form.

Pure Metals such as pure aluminium or pure copper, contain

only one type of metal. They are not mixed with any other
metal.

Alloys are mixture of two or more pure metals.

Alloys tend to have better strength properties than pure

metals.

Alloys and pure metals often have special physical

properties. 7
 FERROUS-METALS
1. Mild Steel
Composition: Iron alloy with 0.3% carbon
Properties: Malleable and ductile, and therefore bends fairly easily
Uses: nuts, bolts, screws, tubes etc.

Methods of Identification

Appearance: Bright drawn mild steel has a smooth, bright surface;

black mild steel is covered with a blue-grey oxide
Dropping: Gives out a ringing note
Grinding: Gives off a shower of long white sparks
Effect of Heating: Slightly tougher but little change
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 FERROUS-METALS
2. Tool Steel / cast steel / carbon steel
Composition: Iron alloy with 0.5%-1.5% carbon
Properties: Tough rather than hard, and fairly ductile
Uses: Springs and most tools such as hammer heads, drills, chisels,
shears etc

Methods of Identification

Appearance: Has a smooth skin of black oxide

Dropping: Gives out a high ringing note
Grinding: Moderate number of red sparks
Effect of Heating: Becomes hard and brittle

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 FERROUS-METALS
3. cast iron

Composition: Iron alloy with 2%-4% carbon

Properties: Brittle, snaps before it will bend. Strong in compression
Uses: Vices, cylinder blocks for car engines, frames for most
machines

Methods of Identification

Appearance: Grey with a granular surface

Dropping: gives out a dull note
Grinding: Gives off a few dull sparks
Effect of Heating: No change
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 ADVANTAGES OF FERROUS METALS
1. High strength to weight ratio
it minimise the substructures cost, which beneficial in poor ground
condition. E.g. The Newark Dyke Rail Bridge – comprises 77 meter
long, 11.25 meter wide bowstring with 820 tonnes of S355 steel.
This bridge use IMD (Interactive Model Technique) – reduced the
time required to assess the dynamic response of the structure.
This bridge was the first UK steel bridge to be designed for the next
generation of 225 km/hr trains.

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 ADVANTAGES OF FERROUS METALS
2. High quality material
readily available worldwide in various certificate grades.
3. Speed of construction

4. Versatility
steel suits range of construction methods & sequences.
5. Modification & repair
6. Recycling
7. Durability
8. Aesthetics
steel has a broad architectural possibilities.
DISADVANTAGES OF FERROUS METALS
1. Costly waste
2. High cost of final finishing & polishing
3. Environmental issue
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Metals – Basic Structure (Review)
Property
High stiffness, better toughness, good electrical
conductivity, good thermal conductivity
Why metals have these nice properties

- structures at atomic level

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Ways to change the structure
temperature, alloying, chemistry, mechanical

Pure metals and their Alloys

- Gold,silver, and copper may exist in
applications as their pure form, but most of
metals are alloyed.
- An alloy is a metal comprised of two or more
elements, at least one of which is metallic.
Two main categories of alloys are: (1) solid
solutions and (2) intermediate phase.
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Solid solutions: one element dissolved in another
to form single-phase solution
Phase-Any homogeneous mass, metal with grains
having same lattice structure

Types: Substitutional and Interstitial

- Solid
solution alloy structure stronger and
harder 15
Conditions for substitutional solid solutions
possible:
(1)The atomic radii of the two elements similar
(2)Their lattice types must be the same
(3)The lower valency metal becomes the solvent
(4)Their chemical affinity (similarity) is small

Example: BRASS (ZINC in COPPER)

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Interstitial solid solution:
Atoms of dissolving element fit into vacant
spaces between base metal atoms in lattice
structure
- Solute atoms small compared to Solvent atoms

Example:
Carbon dissolved in Iron to form STEEL

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Intermediate phases:
• Every element has a limit for its
solubility of another element
• When element A completely dissolved
into another element B, the whole
system is one phase of that solid
solution.

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Intermediate phases:
• When the amount of the dissolving element in the
alloy exceeds the solid solubility limit of the base
metal, a second phase forms in the alloy.

Intermediate phase

Its properties are between two

pure elements

Here, the system has two elements (A,B) and two phases:
intermediate phase and solid solution (A,B)

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Phase diagram

A means to represent the phase or status of a

metal alloy system with respect to (1)
composition and (2) temperature

P = f (T, C)

(a) Amount of dissolving element A and amount of

solvent element B ?
(b) Amount of phase 1 and amount of phase 2 ?

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Need to study Materials for manufacturing?

Fracture Surface of
Plastic

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To know about impurities and inclusions for
Manufacturing Processes
Fracture Surface of
Ductile Aluminum
Alloy

impurity

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 Need to study defects?

Cracked Si
Particles in
Aluminum Alloy

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 Need to study defects?

Aluminum Alloy

Crack at grain
boundary

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 We need to study defects and
impurities?
We need to study defects and impurities in
crystal structure to understand why a certain
part failed.

Once we understand the defect leading to

failure we can correct it so that the part does
not fail again.

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 TYPES OF IMPERFECTIONS

• Vacancy atoms
• Interstitial atoms Point defects
• Substitutional atoms

• Dislocations Line defects

• Grain Boundaries Area defects

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1. POINT DEFECTS (impurity)

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1. POINT DEFECTS (impurity)

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 POINT DEFECTS
• Vacancies:
-vacant atomic sites in a structure.

Vacancy
distortion
of planes

• Self-Interstitials:
-"extra" atoms positioned between atomic sites.

self-
distortion interstitial
of planes

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 LINE DEFECTS
Dislocations:
• are line defects,
• cause slip between crystal plane when they move,
• produce permanent (plastic) deformation.

Schematic of a Zinc (HCP):

• before deformation • after tensile elongation

slip steps

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 AREA DEFECTS: GRAIN BOUNDARIES
Grain boundaries:
• are boundaries between crystals.
• are produced by the solidification process, for example.
• have a change in crystal orientation across them.
• impede dislocation motion. Metal Ingot
Schematic ~ 8cm

grain
boundaries

heat
flow

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3. Area Defects: Grains Boundaries
Intergranular Fracture : Grain
Boundary cracking

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3. Area Defects: Grains Boundaries
Intragranular Fracture : breaking of a
grain into two or more grains (Brittle)

Chevron lines pointing

towards crack initiation

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 PROPERTIES OF METALS
1. Strength - The ability of a material to stand up to forces
being applied without it bending, breaking, shattering
or deforming in any way.

2. Elasticity - The ability of a material to absorb force and

flex in different directions, returning to its original
position.

3. Plasticity - The ability of a material to be change in

shape permanently.

4. Ductility - The ability of a material to change shape

(deform) usually by stretching along its length.

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 PROPERTIES OF METALS
5. Tensile Strength – The ability of a material to stretch
without breaking or snapping.

6. Malleability - The ability of a material to be reshaped in

all directions without cracking.

7. Toughness - A characteristic of a material that does

not break or shatter when receiving a blow or under a
sudden shock.
8. Conductivity - The ability of a material to conduct
electricity.
9. Hardness – The ability of a material to resist scratching,
wear and tear & indentation

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 Steel
• Steel is an alloy of iron that contains carbon
ranging by weight between 0.02% and 2.11%
• Vast majority of Commercially important
steels can be grouped into the following
categories:
(1) plain carbon steels
(2) low alloy steels
(3) stainless steels
(4) tool steels

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 Plain Carbon Steels
• These steels contain carbon as the principal
alloying element, with only small amounts of
other elements

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• Plain carbon steels are specified by a four-
digit number system: 10XX, in which 10
indicates that the steel is plain carbon, and XX
indicates the percent of carbon in hundredths
of percentage points

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 Plain Carbon Steels forms
• Low carbon steels contain less than 0.20% C
and are by far the most widely used steels.
Typical applications are automobile sheet-metal
parts, plate steel for fabrication
• Medium carbon steels range in carbon between
0.20%and 0.50%and are specified for
applications requiring higher strength than the
low-C steels.
• High carbon steels contain carbon in amounts
greater than 0.50%, Springs, cutting tools and
blades, and wear-resistant parts 39
 Low Alloy Steels
• Low alloy steels are iron–carbon alloys that
contain additional alloying elements in
amounts totaling less than about 5% by
weight
• Heat treatment is often required to achieve
these improved properties
• Chromium (Cr) improves strength, hardness,
wear resistance, and hot hardness. Cr
improves corrosion resistance
• Manganese (Mn) improves the strength and
hardness of steel
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• When the steel is heat treated, hardenability
is improved with increased manganese
• Molybdenum (Mo) increases toughness and
hot hardness. It also improves hardenability
and forms carbides for wear resistance
• Nickel (Ni) improves strength and toughness.
It increases hardenability but not as much as
some of the other alloying elements in steel
• Vanadium (V) inhibits grain growth during
elevated temperature processing and heat
treatment, which enhances strength and
toughness of steel 41
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• Low alloy steels are not easily welded,
especially at medium and high carbon levels
• Research has been directed at developing low
carbon, low alloy steels that have better
strength-to-weight ratios than plain carbon
steels but are more weldable than low alloy
steels high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels

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 Stainless Steels
• Stainless steels are a group of highly alloyed
steels designed to provide high corrosion
resistance. The principal alloying element in
stainless steel is chromium, usually above 15%
• Nickel is another alloying ingredient used in
certain stainless steels to increase corrosion
protection. Carbon is used to strengthen and
harden the metal
• Stainless steels are traditionally divided into
three groups

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• Austenitic stainless have a typical composition
of around 18%Cr and 8%Ni and are the most
corrosion resistant of the three groups
• The nickel has the effect of enlarging the
austenite region in the iron–carbon phase
diagram, making it stable at room temperature
• They are sometimes identified as18-8stainless
• They are nonmagnetic and very ductile ; but
they show significant work hardening

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• Ferritic stainless have around 15% to 20%
chromium, low carbon, and no nickel
• Ferritic stainless steels are magnetic and are less
ductile and corrosion resistant than the
austenitic. Kitchen utensils to jet engine
components are made from ferritic steel.
• Martensitic stainless have a higher carbon
content than ferritic stainlesses, thus permitting
them to be strengthened by heat treatment, They
have as much as 18% Cr but no Ni
• Typical products include cutlery and surgical
instruments 46
Three-digit AISI

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 Tool Steels
• Tool steels are a class of (usually) highly alloyed steels
designed for use as industrial cutting tools, dies, and
molds
• To perform in these applications, they must possess high
strength, hardness, hot hardness, wear resistance, and
toughness under impact
• To obtain these properties, tool steels are heat treated
• Principal reasons for the high levels of alloying elements
are (1) improved hardenability, (2) reduced distortion
during heat treatment, (3) hot hardness, (4) formation
of hard metallic carbides for abrasion resistance, and (5)
enhanced toughness.
• 48
49
 Forms of Tool steel
• High-speed tool steels, are used as cutting
tools in machining processes. The two AISI
designations indicate the principal alloying
element: T for tungsten and M for
molybdenum
• Hot-working tool steels are intended for hot-
working dies in forging, extrusion, and die-
casting
• Cold-work tool steels are die steels used for
cold working operations such as sheetmetal
press working 50
 Cast Iron
• Cast iron is an iron alloy containing from 2.1% to
about 4% carbon and from 1% to 3% silicon
• Its composition makes it highly suitable as a
casting metal
• Typical chemical compositions of gray and white
cast irons are shown in Figure

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 Gray Cast Iron
• This chemistry results in the formation of graphite
(carbon) flakes distributed throughout the cast
product upon solidification.
• The structure causes the surface of the metal to
have a gray color when fractured; hence the
name gray cast iron
• Ductility of gray cast iron is very low; it is a
relatively brittle material. Products made from
gray cast iron include automotive engine blocks
and heads, motor housings, and machine tool
bases 53
54
 White Cast Iron
• This cast iron has less carbon and silicon than gray cast
iron. It is formed by more rapid cooling of the molten
metal after pouring, thus causing the carbon to remain
chemically combined with iron in the form of
cementite (Fe3C), rather than precipitating out of
solution in the form of flakes
• When fractured, the surface has a white crystalline
appearance that gives the iron its name.
• White cast iron is hard and brittle, and its wear
resistance is excellent, Railway brake shoes are an
example
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 Malleable Iron
• When castings of white cast iron are heat
treated to separate the carbon out of solution
and form graphite aggregates, the resulting
metal is called malleable iron
• The new microstructure can possess
substantial ductility (up to 20% elongation)
• Typical products made of malleable cast iron
include pipe fittings and flanges, certain
machine components, and railroad equipment
parts
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 Tasks

• Read the slides and Basics

• Make a report of (code, composition tables):
- ALUMINUM AND ITS ALLOYS
- MAGNESIUM AND ITS ALLOYS
- COPPER AND ITS ALLOYS
- NICKEL AND ITS ALLOYS
- TITANIUM AND ITS ALLOYS
- ZINC AND ITS ALLOYS
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