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TheMetallurgyOfCarbonSteel
ThebestwaytounderstandthemetallurgyofcarbonsteelistostudytheIronCarbon
Diagram.Thediagramshownbelowisbasedonthetransformationthatoccursasaresult
ofslowheating.Slowcoolingwillreducethetransformationtemperaturesforexample:
theA1pointwouldbereducedfrom723Cto690C.Howeverthefastheatingand
coolingratesencounteredinweldingwillhaveasignificantinfluenceonthese
temperatures,makingtheaccuratepredictionofweldmetallurgyusingthisdiagram
difficult.

AusteniteThisphaseisonlypossibleincarbonsteelathightemperature.Ithasa
FaceCentreCubic(F.C.C)atomicstructurewhichcancontainupto2%carbonin
solution.
FerriteThisphasehasaBodyCentreCubicstructure(B.C.C)whichcanholdvery
littlecarbontypically0.0001%atroomtemperature.Itcanexistaseither:alphaor
deltaferrite.
CarbonAverysmallinterstitialatomthattendstofitintoclustersofironatoms.It
strengthenssteelandgivesittheabilitytohardenbyheattreatment.Italsocauses
majorproblemsforwelding,particularlyifitexceeds0.25%asitcreatesahard
microstructurethatissusceptibletohydrogencracking.Carbonformscompounds
withotherelementscalledcarbides.IronCarbide,ChromeCarbideetc.
CementiteUnlikeferriteandaustenite,cementiteisaveryhardintermetallic
compoundconsistingof6.7%carbonandtheremainderiron,itschemicalsymbolis
Fe3C.Cementiteisveryhard,butwhenmixedwithsoftferritelayersitsaverage
hardnessisreducedconsiderably.Slowcoolinggivescourseperlitesofteasyto
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machinebutpoortoughness.Fastercoolinggivesveryfinelayersofferriteand
cementiteharderandtougher
PearliteAmixtureofalternatestripsofferriteand
cementiteinasinglegrain.Thedistancebetween
theplatesandtheirthicknessisdependantonthe
coolingrateofthematerialfastcoolingcreatesthin
platesthatareclosetogetherandslowcooling
createsamuchcoarserstructurepossessingless
toughness.Thenameforthisstructureisderived
fromitsmotherofpearlappearanceundera
microscope.Afullypearliticstructureoccursat
0.8%Carbon.Furtherincreasesincarbonwill
createcementiteatthegrainboundaries,whichwill
starttoweakenthesteel.
Coolingofasteelbelow0.8%carbonWhenasteelsolidifiesitformsaustenite.
WhenthetemperaturefallsbelowtheA3point,grainsofferritestarttoform.As
moregrainsofferritestarttoformtheremainingaustenitebecomesricherincarbon.
Atabout723Ctheremainingaustenite,whichnowcontains0.8%carbon,changesto
pearlite.Theresultingstructureisamixtureconsistingofwhitegrainsofferrite
mixedwithdarkergrainsofpearlite.Heatingisbasicallythesamethinginreverse.

MartensiteIfsteeliscooledrapidlyfromaustenite,theF.C.Cstructurerapidly
changestoB.C.Cleavinginsufficienttimeforthecarbontoformpearlite.This
resultsinadistortedstructurethathastheappearanceoffineneedles.Thereisno
partialtransformationassociatedwithmartensite,iteitherformsoritdoesnt.
However,onlythepartsofasectionthatcoolfastenoughwillformmartensiteina
thicksectionitwillonlyformtoacertaindepth,andiftheshapeiscomplexitmay
onlyforminsmallpockets.Thehardnessofmartensiteissolelydependantoncarbon
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content,itisnormallyveryhigh,unlessthecarboncontentisexceptionallylow.

TemperingThecarbontrappedinthemartensitetransformationcanbereleasedby
heatingthesteelbelowtheA1transformationtemperature.Thisreleaseofcarbon
fromnucleatedareasallowsthestructuretodeformplasticallyandrelivesomeofits
internalstresses.Thisreduceshardnessandincreasestoughness,butitalsotendsto
reducetensilestrength.Thedegreeoftemperingisdependantontemperatureand
timetemperaturehavingthegreatestinfluence.
AnnealingThistermisoftenusedtodefineaheattreatmentprocessthatproduces
somesofteningofthestructure.Trueannealinginvolvesheatingthesteeltoaustenite
andholdingforsometimetocreateastablestructure.Thesteelisthencooledvery
slowlytoroomtemperature.Thisproducesaverysoftstructure,butalsocreatesvery
largegrains,whichareseldomdesirablebecauseofpoortoughness.
NormalisingReturnsthestructurebacktonormal.Thesteelisheateduntilitjust
startstoformausteniteitisthencooledinair.Thismoderatelyrapidtransformation
createsrelativelyfinegrainswithuniformpearlite.

WeldingIfthetemperatureprofileforatypicalweldisplottedagainstthecarbon
equilibriumdiagram,awidevarietyoftransformationandheattreatmentswillbe
observed.

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Note,thecarbonequilibriumdiagramshownaboveisonlyforillustration,inrealityitwill
beheavilydistortedbecauseoftherapidheatingandcoolingratesinvolvedinthewelding
process.

a) MixtureofferriteandpearlitegrainstemperaturebelowA1,therefore
microstructurenotsignificantlyaffected.
b) PearlitetransformedtoAustenite,butnotsufficienttemperatureavailableto
exceedtheA3line,thereforenotallferritegrainstransformtoAustenite.On
cooling,onlythetransformedgrainswillbenormalised.
c) TemperaturejustexceedsA3line,fullAustenitetransformation.Oncooling
allgrainswillbenormalised
d) TemperaturesignificantlyexceedsA3linepermittinggrainstogrow.On
cooling,ferritewillformatthegrainboundaries,andacoursepearlitewill
forminsidethegrains.Acoursegrainstructureismorereadilyhardened
thanafinerone,thereforeifthecoolingratebetween800Cto500Cis
rapid,ahardmicrostructurewillbeformed.Thisiswhyabrittlefractureis
mostlikelytopropagateinthisregion.

WeldsThemetallurgyofaweldisverydifferentfrom
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theparentmaterial.Weldingfillermetalsaredesignedto
createstrongandtoughwelds,theycontainfineoxide
particlesthatpermitthenucleationoffinegrains.Whena
weldsolidifies,itsgrainsgrowfromthecourseHAZgrain
structure,furtherrefinementtakesplacewithinthese
coursegrainscreatingthetypicalacicularferrite
formationshownopposite.

RecommendedReading
MetalsandHowToWeldThem:LincolnArcFoundation
Averycheaphardbackedbookcoveringallthebasicessentialsofwelding
metallurgy.
WeldingMetallurgyTrainingModules:(DevisedbyTheWeldingInstituteof
Canada)PublishedintheUKbyAbingtonPublishing.Notcheapbuttheinformation
isclearlyrepresentedinaveryreadableformat.

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Pagelastupdated08May2002

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