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Internal structure <->property?

  1. Dec 2, 2004 #1
    internal structure <-->property?!

    can anyone suggest some link relating the internal structure of steel (like crystal arrangement such kind of thing) to their property like malleability, hardness etc.
    it's hard to get information from search engine.
    (it'd be better if it talks about the common steel)
    any help will be appreciated :rofl:
  2. jcsd
  3. Dec 2, 2004 #2


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    Staff: Mentor

    See my last post on your thread, "the shock absorbing ability of steel".


    ASM publishes several Specialty Handbooks, including one on "Carbon and Alloy Steels" and another on "Stainless Steels". See if your or other departments have it, or the university library; otherwise have them order it.

    Both books have tables of composition and properties of a wide variety of steels, as well as a discussion of the effects of composition on properties.

    Meanwhile, this can help get you started (from metals.about.com):

    Austenitic Steels

    "Definition: Steels containing high percentages of certain alloying elements such as manganese and nickel which are austenitic at room temperature and cannot be hardened by normal heat-treatment but do work harden. They are also non-magnetic. Typical examples of austenitic steels include the 18/8 stainless steels and 14% manganese steel. The 300 Series (e.g. SS302, 304, 308, 316, 321, 347) represent a large portion of austenitic steels."

    Ferritic Steels


    Martensitic Steels

    "Definition: These grades (SS400 Series) of stainless steels have chromium in the range of 11% to 17% as the sole major alloying addition. This is the same as the ferritic grades. However, carbon is added in amounts from 0.10 % to 0.65% to radically change the behavior of the martensitic alloys. The high carbon enables the material to be hardened by heat treatment."

    Duplex steels

    "Definition: A category of stainless steel with high amounts of chromium and moderate nickel content. The duplex class is so named because it is a mixture of austenitic (chromium-nickel stainless class) and ferritic (plain chromium stainless category) structures. This combination was originated to offer more strength than either of those stainless steels. Duplex stainless steels provide high resistance to stress corrosion cracking (formation of cracks caused by a combination of corrosion and stress) and are suitable for heat exchangers, desalination plants, and marine applications."

    Also, look on Google for Precipitation Hardening (and Precipitation Hardened Steels), Nimonic,

    Overview of stainless steels - http://www.outokumpu.com/pages/Page____5814.aspx

    Austenitic Manganese Steels

    Austenitic Steels

    In general - http://www.key-to-metals.com/Articles.htm
  4. Dec 3, 2004 #3


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    Staff Emeritus
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    Gold Member

    Normally, the physical metallurgy and heat treatment of steels is (at least) a one semester course.

    Astronuc has provided a good set of references for Alloy steels (like SS) and ASM handbooks are typically available at a good (university) library. If I recall correctly, the texts I used for Physical Metallurgy were Reed-Hill and Smallman.

    There's also a pretty good summary here

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