Last updated: 4/24/2019

MATERIAL OF CONSTRUCTION

(WEEK 6)

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CONTACT HOURS

Total Student
Lecture Tutorial Self – Study Library Search Assignment Exam Learning Time
(hours)

2 2 4 4 2 NIL 14

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Able to define basic rules for selection of
material of constructions
• Define and describe “Material Properties” and
“Mechanical Properties”
• Able to name and identify common material of
construction used in chemical plant

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INTRODUCTION

• Many factors have to be considered when selecting

engineering materials. The most important is the
ability to resist corrosion.

• The process engineer (chemical engineer) will be

responsible for recommending materials that will be
suitable for the process conditions.

• The material selected must have sufficient strength

and be easily worked

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INTRODUCTION

• The most economical material that satisfies

both process and mechanical requirements
should be selected.
• This will be the material that gives the lowest cost
over the working life of the plant, allowing for
maintenance and replacement
• Other factors to be considered are product
contamination and process safety

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MATERIAL PROPERTIES
Most important characteristics to be considered when
selecting a material of construction are:

 Mechanical Properties- strength, stiffness, toughness,

hardness, fatigue resistance, creep resistance
 Effect of low and high temperature on the mechanical
properties
 Corrosion resistance
 Any special properties required such as thermal
conductivity, electrical resistance, magnetic
properties
 Ease of fabrication - forming, welding, casting
 Availability in standard sizes
 Cost
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MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

 Tensile Strength- measure of basic strength of a material.

It is the maximum stress that the material can withstand,
measured by a standard tensile test.

 Stiffness- the ability to resist bending and buckling. It is

a function of the elastic modulus of the material and shape
of the cross-section of the member

 Toughness- associated with tensile strength and is a

measure of the material’s resistance to crack
propagation

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MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
 Hardness-an indication of a material’s ability to resist wear
and scratch especially important if a equipment is being
designed to handle abrasive solids or liquids containing
suspended solids which are likely to cause erosion

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http://slideplayer.com/slide/8669351/

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MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

 Fatigue- fatigue failure likely to occur in eqpt subject to cyclic

loading such as rotating equipment like pumps and
compressors

 Creep-gradual extension of a material under a steady tensile

stress, over a prolonged period of time. Important at high
temperatures for instance with steam and gas turbine blades.
Lead will creep under its own weight at room temperature
and hence lead linings have to be supported at frequent
intervals

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EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
• Strength and elastic modulus of metals decrease with
increasing T
• Therefore for materials operating at high T, materials that can
retain their strength has to be selected eg stainless steels are
superior to CS

500
Force, N/mm2

400
Tensile strength
300

200

100 Young Modulus (x103)

Temp°C
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Tensile strength of mild steel is 450N/mm2 at 25C and falls to 210 at 500C and the
value of the Young’s modulus is 200,000N/mm2 at 25C falling to 150,000 at 500C.
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EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
• Creep resistance is important if the material is subjected to
high stresses at elevated T. Special alloys such as Inconel
are used for high T eqpt such as furnace tubes

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EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
• At low T,<10°C , metals that are normally ductile can fail in
a brittle manner. Serious disasters have occurred thru
failure of welded CS vessels at low temp. For low temp
eqpt, such as in cryogenic plants, austenitic SS or
aluminium alloys have to be specified

•Brittle •Ductile

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EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

• Tests are available such as the Charpy test are used to test
the susceptibility of materials to brittle failure

• The brittle fracture of welded structures is dependent on

plate thickness and the residual stress present after
fabrication

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CORROSION RESISTANCE
Factors that affect corrosion rate
 Chemical
 Temperature
 pH
 Pressure
 Presence of impurities (even traces)
 Amount of aeration
 Stream velocity and agitation  erosion corrosion
 Heat transfer rates – differential temperature
 Condition during abnormal operation, ie: startup,
shutdown to be considered as well
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CORROSION RESISTANCE
•Types of Corrosion
 Uniform corrosion - general wastage of materials
 Galvanic corrosion – dissimilar material in contact
 Pitting-localized attack
 Intergranular corrosion
 Stress corrosion
 Erosion-corrosion
 Corrosion fatigue
 High T oxidation
 Hydrogen embrittlement

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UNIFORM CORROSION
• This is uniform wastage of material by corrosion, with no pitting or
other forms of local attack

• If the corrosion is uniform, then the life of the material in service

can be predicted from experimentally determined corrosion rates

• Corrosion rate is predicted as a penetration in inches/per year i.e

ipy
•
12𝑤
• ipy =
𝑡𝐴
• where
• w=mass loss in time, lb
• t= time in years
• A=surface area in ft²
• ρ=density of material in lb/ft³
• 1ipy = 25mm per year in SI Units

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UNIFORM CORROSION
• Also expressed in weight loss in mg per dm² per day (mdd)

• Corrosion rate will be dependent on the Temp and concentration of

the corrosive fluid

• Table 7.3 is commonly

used for inexpensive
materials, eg: carbon
and low alloy steel

• For expensive alloy, eg: high alloy steels, brasses and aluminium,
figures in Table 7.3 should be divided by 2

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GALVANIC CORROSION
• If dissimilar metals are placed in contact, the corrosion
rate of the anodic metal will be increased as the metal
lower in the electrochemical series will readily act as a
cathode
• For metals which are widely separated in the galvanic
series have to be used together, they should be
insulated from each other, breaking the conducting
circuit
• However, if the sacrificial loss of the anodic metal can be
accepted, the thickness of the material can be increased
to allow for the increase in corrosion
• Sacrificial anodes are used to protect underground steel
pipes

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GALVANIC CORROSION

http://www.water.ca.gov/groundwater/wells/california_well_standards/cpws/cpws_introduction.html

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PITTING
• Very localized corrosion that forms pits in the metal surface

• For a material that is liable to pitting penetration can occur

prematurely and corrosion rate data are not reliable guide to the
equipment life

• Pitting can be caused by any situation that causes a localized

increase in the corrosion rate may result in the formation of a pit

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PITTING
• In an aerated medium the O2 concentration will be lower at the
bottom of a pit and the bottom will be anodic to the surrounding
metal, causing increased corrosion and deepening the pit

• A good surface finish will reduce this type of corrosion

• Pitting can also occur if the composition of the metal is not uniform
e.g. the presence of slag inclusions in welds

• Impingement of bubbles can also cause pitting

• Effect of cavitation in pumps can also cause pitting

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EFFECT OF STRESS

• Corrosion rate and the form of attack can be changed if

the material is under stress
• Stress cracking – form of attack in which cracks are
produced that grow rapidly and cause premature, brittle
failure of the metal
• Conditions necessary for stress cracking are
simultaneous stress and corrosion and the presence of a
specific corrosive substance ie Cl, NO3, OH or NH4
• Stress cracking can be avoided by selecting materials
that are not susceptible in the specific corrosion
environment

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EFFECT OF STRESS

• Stress corrosion cracking of stainless steel with the

presence of chloride ions

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EROSION-CORROSION
• The term corrosion-erosion used to describe the
increased rate of attack caused by a combination of
erosion and corrosion

• If a fluid stream contains suspended particles, or where

there is a high velocity or turbulence, erosion will tend to
remove the products of corrosion and any protective film,
and the rate of attack will be increased.

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EROSION-CORROSION
• If erosion is likely to occur, more resistant materials must
be specified or the material surface has to be protected

• Plastic insets used to prevent erosion-corrosion at the

inlet to heat exchangers

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HIGH TEMPERATURE OXIDATION

• Corrosion is normally associated with aqueous solutions

but oxidation can occur in dry conditions

• Carbon alloy steels will oxidise rapidly at high T and their

use is limited to<500C

• Chromium is the most effective alloying element to give

resistance to oxidation, forming a tenacious film.

• Chromium alloys should be specified for equipment

subject to T>55C in oxidizing atmospheres

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HYDROGEN EMBRITTLEMENT
• Name given to the loss of ductility caused by absorption
and reaction of hydrogen in a metal
• Important when specifying steels for use in a hydrogen
plant
• Alloy steels have a greater resistance to hydrogen
embrittlement than plain carbon steels

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MATERIAL COST

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CONTAMINATION AND SURFACE FINISH

• Contamination caused by
- metal contamination
- corrosion contamination
- product contamination

• Contamination to be avoided in
- food industry
- pharmaceutical and biochemical industry
- textile industry
- processes that involved usage of catalyst (catalyst
poisoning)

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CONTAMINATION AND SURFACE FINISH

•Presence of trace quantities of mercury in brass heat

exchanger tubes will form a mercury-copper amalgam,
can cause catastrophic failure
•Acetylene if contact with pure metals of alloys
containing copper, silver, mercury, gold will caused
formation of explosive acetylides.
•Surface finish as important as selection of material to
prevent contamination (food and pharmaceutical) and
fibers snagging (textile)

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CONTAMINATION AND SURFACE FINISH

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COMMONLY USED MATERIAL OF

CONSTRUCTION -- METAL
•Iron and steel
- most commonly used engineering material, good tensile strength and
ductility, cheap, available in range of forms and sizes, easily worked and
welded
•Stainless steel
- most frequently used corrosion resistant materials, chromium content >12%

•Nickel

•Monel

•Inconel

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COMMONLY USED MATERIAL OF

CONSTRUCTION -- METAL
•Hastelloys

•Copper and copper alloy

•Aluminium and its alloy

•Lead

•Titanium

•Tantalum

•Zirconium

•Silver

•Gold

•Platinum

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COMMONLY USED MATERIAL OF

CONSTRUCTION -- PLASTIC
•Increasing used corrosion resistance material in chemical
plant. Broadly classified as:

•Thermoplastic material - soften with increasing temperature

- polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene,
polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride
(PVDF)
•Thermosetting material – has rigid, cross-linked structure

- polyester, glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP), epoxy

resins

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COMMONLY USED MATERIAL OF

CONSTRUCTION -- PLASTIC

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COMMONLY USED MATERIAL OF

CONSTRUCTION -- OTHERS
• Rubber – lining for tanks and pipes, resistance to acid & alkalies (except nitric acid)
• Ceramic – non metallic and brittle

- Glass – specialist manufacturers, lining to vessel

- Stoneware – packing absorption and distillation column
- Acid resistant bricks and tiles – lining vessels, ditches and cover floors
- Refractory materials– high temperatures eg: furnaces, boilers and reactors
• Carbon – saturated with chemically resistant resin used for heat
exchanger, high conductivity
Protective coatings – paints, chlorinated rubber paints ,
epoxy based paints

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Refractory material

Rubber

Protective coating
Stoneware-packing material 40