3.1 - Steel and Cast Iron

3DayPIPonMetallurgyforNonMetallurgist
from10th to12th April2017
SteelandCastIron
Mr.RahulGupta
Pune Chapter
Steels,CastIron Properties&Applications
WhatareSteels&CastIrons?
EffectsofCarbonContent.
i.Low,Medium,HighCarbonSteels.
ii.CastIrons.
iii.Microstructure.
iv.MechanicalProperties.
AlloyingElements&TheirEffectsonPropertiesofsteel.
PropertiesofSteel.
TypesofCastIron&theirProperties.
IntroductiontoHeatTreatment.
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Steels,CastIron Properties&Applications.
WhatareSteels&CastIrons?
Steels & Cast Irons are alloys of iron. Carbon is the principal
alloying element. A large variety of steel & cast iron parts are
used in our day to day life. Window grills, concrete reinforcement
bars, knifes, utensils, automobile bodies, auto components, dies,
cutting tools etc. are a few examples of uses of steel. The list is
endless, such is their versatility. Iron is the fifth most abundant
element in the Universe; hence, its abundance is assured. The
functional demands of components are so diverse that a single
grade of steel or iron cannot be used for all these applications.
This session covers the applications & properties of steels &
irons.
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EffectsofCarbonContent
Carbon is the principal alloying element for iron & steels. Steels
will have upto 2.2% carbon, whereas cast irons have 2.4 to 4.4 %
carbon. Elements other than carbon are also present either as
impurities from the steel making process or as alloy additions for
improved properties.
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IronCarbonEquilibriumDiagram Lowcarbonsteelshaveupto 0.25%

carbon
These are soft, ductile, tough,
machineable, weldable & will not
respond significantly to heat treatment.
They can be easily cold worked. They are
the material of choice when extensive
forming or welding are to be used in
manufacturing the final product. These
are called mild steels. Low carbon alloy
steels are different from mild steels.
Alloyed & unalloyed low carbon steel
are also used in the case hardened
conditions for conditions requiring high
wear & surface hardness, along with a
tough core. Gears, piston pins etc are
such components.
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IronCarbonEquilibriumDiagram Mediumcarbonsteelswith0.25t00.6
%carbon.
These steels can be strengthened by heat
treatment to superior mechanical properties as
compared to low carbon steels. They will exhibit
very good tensile, impact & fatigue properties in
the heat treated condition. These materials are
also fairly easy to machine in the soft condition,
however they are not very easy to cold work,
except for simple operations such as thread rolling
or cold heading. Components can be
manufactured from these steels by forging or
casting, followed by machining. Their properties
can be enhanced significantly by heat treatment.
Fasteners, shafts, gears, rocker shafts, valve
tappets, springs, mill house pins, gear mounting
pins are some of the parts made from these steels.
Some of the commonly used grades of these steels
are C 35, C45, C55, SAE 4140, 1541, 4340, 10B25
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IronCarbonEquilibriumDiagram Highcarbonsteelshave0.6t02.2%
carbon.
These steels have very good wear
resistance in the hardened
condition. Most tools & dies are
made from such grades of steel.
Tools that are subject to impact &
hot work type of applications are
made from the lower carbon grades
of these steels, such as S1, S2 etc.
Tools that are subject to cold
working & high wear applications
are made from steels with high
carbon such as SAE 52100, O1, D3,
D2 etc. Forging dies, cold work dies,
files, cutting tools, etc are all made
from high carbon steels.
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Cast Irons
Beyond around 2.4% carbon we have the cast irons. Cast irons are alloys of
iron, carbon & silicon. They are broadly classified as:
1. White Cast Irons which are very hard & brittle. They exhibit very high
quantities of iron carbide in their microstructure. They are formed by
extremely fast solidification of iron.
2. Grey Cast Iron which are soft as carbon exists as graphite flakes. Their
matrix may be ferritic or pearlitic depending on the chemistry &
processing.
3. Malleable Cast Irons are derived by subjecting white iron to a
malleabalising treatment. They are less brittle compared to both white &
grey irons.
4. Ductile / Nodular Cast Irons are made by treating liquid cast iron with
Magnesium. Graphite in these irons is in the form of spheroidal nodules.
These irons have good ductility.
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Microstructure
As the carbon content increases the microstructure shows
increasing amounts of pearlite. Pearlite is mixture of iron
carbide & ferrite.
0.1 % carbon steel will have almost 90% ferrite and around 10%
pearlite.
0.4 % carbon steel will have around 50 % ferrite & 50 % pearlite.
0.8 % carbon steel will have 100 % pearlite.
A steel with higher carbon will have pearlite with increasing

amounts of carbides.
Beyond 2.4% carbon we have cast irons.
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Microstructure
The proportions of micro constituents decide the final properties of the steel
such as tensile strength, hardness, elongation, impact strength, fatigue
strength etc.
Ferrite is soft & has a low tensile strength (28 Kg/mm2) & hardness (80 BHN).
Pearlite is less ductile but has a high tensile strength (80 Kg/mm2) &
hardness.
Iron Carbide is very brittle & hard (900 HV)
Other microscopic phases resulting from heat treatment, such as martensite,

bainite etc are not being considered, the following comparison is for annealed
steels.
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MechanicalProperties
Steels with around 0.2% carbon will have a hardness of around 130 BHN, a
tensile strength of around 40 Kg/mm2 and yield strength of around 25
Kg/mm2.It will have good impact strength ductility, weldability, machinability
& cold working properties.
Steels with around 0.4 % carbon will have a hardness of around 160 BHN, a
tensile strength of around 60 Kg/mm2 & yield strength of around 40 Kg/mm2.
It will show lower ductility, machinability, weldability & cold working
properties as compared to low carbon steels.
Steels with 1.00 % carbon will have a hardness of around 220 Bhn & a tensile
strength of around 70 Kg/mm2 & yield strength of around 50 Kg/mm2.It will
show lower ductility, machinability, weldability, & cold working properties than
medium carbon steels. They will have very good wear resistance in the heat
treated condition.
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Alloying Elements & Their Effect on the Properties of
Steel.
Elements other than carbon are also present in steel. These may occur as
impurities from the manufacturing process or may be deliberately added to
improve its functionality. We shall study the influence of these elements on
the properties of steel. Alloying elements may influence the properties of
steel/ iron by:
Solid solution strengthening: P, Si, Mn, Ni, Mo, V, W, Cr, harden the ferrite
matrix to varying degrees as illustrated in Figure 1.
Formation of carbides: Ti, V, Nb, W, Mo, Cr, Mn form carbides by combining
with carbon. These increase the wear resistance of steels. Hence most tool
steels are alloyed with one or more of these elements.
Formation of intermetallic compounds such as FeCr: Some elements form
intermetallic compounds such as FeCr. These may be beneficial as in the case
of precipitation hardening steel.
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Figure1.
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Formation of inclusions: Oxygen dissolves in liquid steel during the steel
making process. Elements with a strong affinity for oxygen react with oxygen
to form stable oxides such as MnS, SiO2, Al2O3. These oxides are present in
steel as inclusions.
Improving machinability: Sulphur, Lead & Selenium are added to some grades
for improved machinability.
Improving the response to Heat Treatment: Cr , Ni, B, Mn , Mo, W, Ti, V are
some of the elements that are added to steel for better response during heat
treatment.
Improving the corrosion resistance: Chromium is added to steels for
improved corrosion resistance.
Improving low temperature properties: Nickel is added to steels to improve
their low temperature properties as it reduces the ductile to brittle transition
temperature of steels.
Improving high temperature properties: Cr, Ni, Mo, Si, Co, Al are added to
steel to improve their high temperature properties.
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Propertiesofsteel
Elastic behaviour of steel is important for all load bearing structures, springs,
fasteners, shafts, etc. Steels with a high yield strength will withstand higher
loads without permanent deformation.
Plastic behaviour of steel is important for all forming operations. Steels with
higher values of elongation & reduction in area in the tensile test will undergo
higher plastic deformation. Similarly steels with lower tensile strength will
need lesser force to undergo deformation, but will also withstand lower loads.
Both the elastic behaviour & plastic behaviour of steel can be evaluated from
the tensile test data, However hardness of steel can be measured accurately,
quickly & without damaging the component. Harder the steel, higher will be
the yield & tensile strength & lower will be ductility & formability. A steel with
a hardness of 300 BHN will have a tensile strength of approximately 90
Kg/mm2, whereas a steel with a hardness of 145 BHN will have a tensile
strength of approximately 40 Kg/mm2. By using the empirical formulae below,
we can predict the elastic & plastic properties of steel fairly accurately.
Pune Chapter
1. Tensile strength in Kg/mm2 is approximately equal to BHN X 0.3.
2. Yield strength in the Hardened & tempered condition is approximately 0.8 X
Tensile strength.
3. Yield strength in the normalised / annealed condition is approximately 0.6 X
tensile strength.
Hardness testing is used as a standard process control method for all

structurally loaded components & tensile tests are used on sampling basis.
The harder a material, the greater will be its wear resistance. This is very
significant for cutting & forming tools, bearings etc.
The toughness of steel is evaluated by impact tests. Sudden overloading of a

component subjects it to impact loading. Only a tough material will survive
in these conditions. Generally lower hardness will result in higher toughness
but there is no direct correlation between hardness & toughness. A fine
grained material will exhibit high toughness as compared to a coarse
grained material of the same chemical composition & hardness.
Pune Chapter
Materials that have high elongation & reduction in area during tensile
testing will also have high toughness values. Microstructure has a very
strong influence on toughness. In Steels of equal hardness, those with a
martensitic structure will have the highest toughness values. The presence
of heavy inclusions, micro segregation, macro segregation, carbides,
intermetallic phases , grain coarsening severely reduces the toughness of
steel.
The toughness of steels drops suddenly at low temperatures. A steel that is
tough at room temperature, will fail in a brittle manner at low
temperatures. Hence for low temperature applications, the impact test
should be conducted at low temperatures. A series of impact tests at
different temperatures will establish the ductile to brittle transition
temperature for a particular material. In general lower carbon steels will
have lower impact transition temperatures & hence can be used at lower
temperatures. Microstructure also has a strong influence on toughness. A
fine tempered martensitic structure & a fine grain size will result in the
best toughness properties. Nickel improves the toughness of steel
significantly at low temperatures.
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FatigueProperties
Components subject to cyclic loading are known to fail at loads well below
their yield point. This is due to fatigue failure.
Generally for steels upto 400 BHN hardness, the high cycle fatigue limit will be
approximately 50 % of its tensile strength. Hence steels with higher tensile
strength will have higher fatigue strength. Steels with a fine tempered
martensitic micro structure & a fine grain size, free from defects will have
good fatigue properties. Defects in steel act as stress concentrators &
consequently reduce fatigue strength. Some of the common metallurgical
defects that must be controlled so as to prevent premature fatigue failure are,
Inclusions, decarburisation, surface discontinuities. Details of fatigue failure
have been explained in the lesson on failure analysis.
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Hightemperatureproperties
As the service temperature increases the strength of steel reduces & rate of
oxidation increases. Silicon, Aluminum & Chromium significantly increase
oxidation resistance of steel. Nickel & Cobalt improve the high temperature
strength of steel. Hence most heat resistant steels contain large amounts of
these elements.
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CastIrons
CastIronsareprimarilyoffourtypes:
1. WhiteCastIron,
2. GreyCastIron,
3. MalleableCastIron,
4. DuctileIron.
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Duc leIron
GreyCI
$
MalleableIron
WhiteCI
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Slide 21
A1 $VKXWRVK
1. White Irons are formed when molten iron solidifies very fast, thus
preventing the formation of graphite. Such a fast cooled iron is known as
white iron. It contains large quantities of iron carbide. These irons are very
hard & brittle. They have good compressive strength, wear resistance, &
retain their properties at high temperatures due to the presence of
carbides. These are used in high wear applications
2. Malleable Irons are formed by subjecting white irons to a
malleabelising heat treatment, where the iron carbides are decomposed to
form temper carbon & ferrite or pearlite. These irons show greater ductility
than both grey & white irons.
3. Grey Irons are formed when iron cools slow enough to permit the
formation of graphite during solidification. The microstructure of grey irons
consists of graphite flakes & a matrix containing ferrite, pearlite & some
amount of carbides. The forms & sizes of graphite are described in Figure. 2
&3
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Figure2
Figure3
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4. Ductile irons are formed by treating liquid grey iron with Magnesium before
casting it . Magnesium treatment results in the formation of graphite
nodules instead of flake graphite. These irons have higher ductility than all
the above irons. Their properties are comparable to steels in some cases &
are replacing steels in many cases. They have almost entirely replaced
malleable irons.
Pune Chapter
Cast iron chemistry & microstructure

The chemical composition & cooling rate during solidification determine
whether carbon will form graphite or carbide. High carbon & silicon favour the
formation of graphite. A slow cooling rate also favours the formation of
graphite. Elements such as Cr, Mn, Mo, W, V favour the formation of carbides.
Cast irons with low carbon equivalent [C +Si/3] will have a higher melting
point. Hence they will solidify fast. The resultant iron will be a white cast iron.
Cast iron solidifies completely at around 1150 o C. At this temperature it still
has around 2 % carbon dissolved in it.
Slow cooling from this temperature will permit further separation of carbon by
solid state diffusion processes, thus resulting in a ferritic matrix. Such irons will
be soft, have a low tensile & yield strength & will be easy to machine.
Fast cooling prevents/ restricts solid state diffusion, resulting in a pearlitic
matrix. They may also contain carbides in the matrix. These irons will have a
higher hardness, tensile strength & yield strength but will be more difficult to
machine.
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As described earlier, ductile irons will form if liquid cast iron is treated with
Magnesium. Their matrix formation will be similar to that of grey cast irons.
Additions of Cu, Sn are made at times to promote the formation of pearlite in
ductile irons.
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Mechanical Properties of Cast Irons

Cast irons will have very low elongation. Depending on the hardness & matrix
microstructure cast irons will have tensile strengths from 20 to 60 Kg/mm2.
Higher hardness will mean higher tensile & yield strength, higher wear
resistance, higher modulus of elasticity & a better machined finish. A higher
hardness will also cause reduced machinability, reduced resistance to thermal
shock, reduced damping capacity. The hardness of cast irons should be
measured using the Brinell scale. The tensile properties of cast irons are
measured on separately cast test bars, these may differ slightly from the
actual component.
The high cycle fatigue limit of cast irons is approximately 40% of the ultimate
tensile strength.
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The presence of graphite flakes results in a lower modulus of elasticity as

compared to steels. Both these factors result in superior damping capacity for
cast irons. Cast irons also have good resistance to cracking under thermal
cycling. Graphite flakes also provide dry lubrication & act as reservoirs for oil,
giving good topological properties to cast irons. This makes cast irons a
material of choice for machine beds, brake drums, machine bodies. The
relative ease of manufacture & low cost is a major consideration in the
selection of cast iron.
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Properties of ductile irons

Ductile irons have higher mechanical properties than cast irons of the same
composition. Tensile strength from 40 t0 120 Kg/mm2 are possible , yield
strength from 40 to 90 Kg/mm2 are possible. Unlike cast irons ductile irons
also exhibit significant elongation & toughness. Ductile irons have good
damping capacity & machinability. Typical grades of ductile iron indicate the
Tensile strengthYield strengthElongation such as 604018. The values
represent the minimum requirement of the grade. The tensile bars are
machined from Y blocks. The properties of the actual casting may differ
slightly. Austempered ductile irons are a specially heat treated grade of ductile
irons. They have superior mechanical properties than normalized or hardened
ductile irons of the same hardness & composition. ADI is even replacing steel
forgings in many cases. The properties of ADI are covered by he standard
ASTM A89790.
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The Properties of Ductile Iron are Strongly Influenced by the Chemical
Composition & Microstructure.
Nodularity of the graphite nodules should be greater than 85% & the
nodule count should be atleast 100 n/mm2 for good properties. The
phases in the matrix influence properties, just as they would in any steel.
1. A ferritic matrix will have a low tensile & yield strength. Higher pearlite
contents will lead to increase in strength.
2. A Martensitic matrix will have high tensile & yield strength. It will also have
better wear properties.
3. A Bainitic matrix will have intermediate properties to those of a pearlitic &
martensitic matrix.
4. An Ausferritic matrix will have superior properties compared to all the
above. Ausferrite is a mixture of acicular ferrite & high carbon [>2.00 %]
retained austenite. Correct austempering & chemistry are critical for
achieving an ausferritic structure.
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Malleable Irons have intermediate properties to those of cast irons &

ductile irons. However since the advent of ductile irons, the use of malleable
irons is on the decline.
White Cast Irons

The most important property of white irons is their wear resistance &
hardness due to the presence of massive carbides. White cast irons are used in
abrasion resistant applications. They are alloyed to ensure a hard matrix, with
a controlled distribution of carbides in iron. Carbon varies from 2.8 to 3.5% &
silicon is kept below 1.0 %. Cr upto 27 % , Ni upto 7 %, & Mo upto 3 % are
added in some grades.
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Heat Treatment of Steels & Cast Irons

Heat treatment of steels & cast irons alter their properties considerably.
These are dealt with in detail in the lessons on heat treatment. A brief
description of commonly used heat treatment processes & their effect on
the properties is given below.
1. Annealing involves heating of steel /iron in the austenitic region & furnace
cooling. The resultant material is soft & ductile.
2. Normalizing involves heating in the austenitic region & air cooling. The
resultant material has a refined structure, is ductile & has improved
mechanical properties.
3. Hardening involves heating in the austenitic region followed by fast cooling.
The resultant material is very hard & brittle.
4. Tempering of hardened material is necessary for increasing its toughness.
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5. Surface hardening processes such as case carburising, carbonitriding,

nitriding, induction hardening etc are used to selectively enhance the
surface hardness of steels & irons to improve their wear properties.
The response of various grades of steel & irons to various heat treatment
processes depends on the chemical composition
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ThankYou!
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3.1 - Steel and Cast Iron

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3DayPIPonMetallurgyforNonMetallurgist

from10th to12th April2017

IronCarbonEquilibriumDiagram Lowcarbonsteelshaveupto 0.25%

A steel with higher carbon will have pearlite with increasing

Beyond 2.4% carbon we have cast irons.

Iron Carbide is very brittle & hard (900 HV)

Other microscopic phases resulting from heat treatment, such as martensite,

Hardness testing is used as a standard process control method for all

The toughness of steel is evaluated by impact tests. Sudden overloading of a

Cast iron chemistry & microstructure

Mechanical Properties of Cast Irons

The presence of graphite flakes results in a lower modulus of elasticity as

Properties of ductile irons

Malleable Irons have intermediate properties to those of cast irons &

White Cast Irons

Heat Treatment of Steels & Cast Irons

5. Surface hardening processes such as case carburising, carbonitriding,

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