PROPERTIES OF MILD STEEL

Steel is an alloy of iron, consisting of 0.2% to 2.1% of carbon, as a hardening

agent. Beside carbon , there are many metals as part of it, it includes vanadium,
manganese, chromium and tungsten.

Mild steel is typically the variety which has a comparatively low amount of
carbon (0.05%- 0.26% ).

All elements along with carbon acts as a hardening agents. They prevent
dislocation from happening inside the iron crystals and stop the lattice layers
from sliding past each other.

Low carbon steel has carbon content of 0.15% to 0.45%. Low carbon steel is the
most common form of steel as it’s provides material properties that are
acceptable for many applications. It is neither externally brittle nor ductile due to
its lower carbon content. It has lower tensile strength and malleable. Steel with
low carbon steel has properties similar to iron. As the carbon content increases,
the metal becomes harder and stronger but less ductile and more difficult to
weld. .
 BASIC CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

CARBON 0.16%- 0.18%

SILICON 0.40% max
MANGANESE 0.70 % - 0.90 %
SULPHUR 0.040 % max
PHOSPHOROUS 0.040 % max
Some of the basic mechanical properties of mild steel used in the industry
are :

 Mild steel has ferromagnetic properties .

 Unlike other steel, which tend to be brittle , mild steel is hard ,yet
malleable.

 It has high flexibility, compared to others.

 Bright mild steel is an improved quality material free of scale has

been cold worked to size.

 Bright dawn steel has more consistent hardness and increased tensile
strength.


 BASIC MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Max stress 400-560 N/mm2

Yield stress 300-440 N/mm2

0.2% proof stress 280-420 N/mm2

Elongation 10-14 %

Due to these above properties mild steel are used in

 They are used in welding, due to their ferromagnetic properties

It is their hard , yet malleable properties which are used in pipeline industries.
 HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES

 ANNEALING : Annealing is a process involving heating and cooling,

usually applied to produce softening.

 The term also refers to treatments intended to alter mechanical or

physical properties, pro- duce a definite microstructure, or remove gases.

 The temperature of the operation and the rate of cooling depend upon
the material being annealed and the purpose of the treatment.

 As a definite microstructure, or remove gases. The temperature of the

operation and the rate of cooling depend upon the material being
annealed and the purpose of the treatment.

 The term also refers to treatment intended to alter mechanical or

physical properties.

 The microstructures of the hypoeutectoid steels that result after full

annealing are quite similar to those shown for the equilibrium conditions.
 HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES

 FULL ANNEALING: Carbon steel is heated to approximately

above the upper critical temperature (550-650°C) for 1 hour.

 Here all the ferrite transforms into austenite. The steel must then
cooled in the realm of 38 per hour.

 This results in a coarse pearlite structure. Full annealed steel is

soft and ductile with no internal stress.

 Eutectoid and hypereutectoid steels frequently spheroidize partially or

completely on full annealing.

 The microstructures of the hypoeutectoid steels that result after full

annealing are quite similar to those shown for the equilibrium conditions.

.
 HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES

PROCESS ANNEALING:
The steel is heated to a temperature below or close to the lower critical
temperature (550-650), held at this temperature for some time and then
cooled slowly.

 The steel is usually heated close to, but below, the

transformation temperature .

 If the steel is not to be further cold-worked, but relief of

internal stresses is desired, a lower range of temperature
will suffice.

 This type of anneal will cause recrystallization and softening

of the cold-worked ferrite grains, but usually will not affect
the relatively small amounts of cold-worked pearlite

 Typical structures of cold-worked, process-annealed, and

fully annealed mild steel have large variation between the
phase transformation and grain size .
 HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES

DIFFUSION ANNEALING :
 The process consists of heating the steel to high temperature (1100-
1200).

 It is held at this temperature for 3 hours to 20 hours and then cooled to

800-850C inside the furnace for a period of about 6 to 8 hours.

 It is further cooled in the air to room temperature. This process is mainly

used for ingots and large casting. It is also called isothermal annealing.

 These effects promotes brittleness and reduce ductility and toughness of

steel.

 Diffusion annealing is employed to remove any structural non-uniformity.

 Segregated zones are eliminated , and chemically homogeneous steel is
obtained by this treatment as a result of diffusion.
 HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES

NORMALIZING:
 Normalizing is a process in which a steel is heated to a temperature above
the transformation temperature and then cooled in still air.

 The purpose of the treatment is to obliterate the effects of any previous

heat treatment (including the coarse-grained structure sometimes
resulting from high forging temperatures) or cold-working and to insure a
homogeneous austenite on reheating for hardening or full annealing.

 The resultant structures are pearlite or martensite with excess ferrite or

cementite, depending upon the composition of the steel.

 Since the type of structure, and, therefore, the mechanical properties, are
affected by the rate of cooling, considerable variations may occur in
normalized steels because of differences in section thickness of the shapes
being normalized.
 HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES

HARDENING:
Steels can be hardened by the simple expedient of heating to above the
transformation, holding long enough to insure the attainment of uniform
temperature and solution of carbon in the austenite, and then cooling rapidly
(quenching).

Complete hardening depends on cooling so rapidly that the austenite, which

otherwise would decompose on cooling through the transformation is maintained
to relatively low temperatures.

The maximum hardness that can be obtained in completely hardened low-alloy

and plain carbon structural steels depends primarily on the carbon content.

Once this has been accomplished, slow cooling from then on, either in oil or in air,
is beneficial in avoiding distortion and cracking.

Special treatments, such as time quenching and martempering, are designed to

bring about these conditions. As martensite is quite brittle, steel is rarely used in
the as-quenched condition, that is, without tempering.

The maximum hardness that can be obtained in completely hardened low-alloy

and plain car bon structural steels depends primarily on the carbon content.
 HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES

TEMPERING:
Tempering (sometimes called drawing) is the process of reheating
hardened (martensite) or normalized steels to some temperature below
the lower critical.

Proper tempering of a hardened steel re- quires a certain amount of

time.
At any selected tempering temperature, the hardness drops rapidly at
first, gradually decreasing more slowly as the time is prolonged.
Proper tempering of a hardened steel requires a certain amount of time.

At any selected tempering temperature, the hardness drops rapidly at

first, gradually decreasing more slowly as the time is prolonged.

The necessity for tempering a steel promptly after hardening cannot be

overemphasized. If fully hardened steel is allowed to cool to room
temperature during hardening there is danger that the steel may crack.

Part of all of this residual austenite will transform to martensite on

cooling from the tempering temperature so that the final structure will
consist of both tempered and untempered martensite. The brittle un-
tempered martensite, together with the internal stresses caused by its
formation, can easily cause failure of the heat-treated part.
 HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES

CASE HARDENING:
Case hardening is a process of hardening a ferrous alloy so that the
surface layer or case is made substantially harder than the interior or
core.

The chemical composition of the surface layer is altered during the

treatment by the addition of carbon, nitrogen, or both.

The most frequently used case-hardening processes are carburizing,

cyaniding, carbonitriding, and nitriding.

 CARBURIZING:
Carburizing is a process that introduces carbon percentage solid
ferrous alloy by heating the metal in contact with a carbonaceous
material to a temperature above the transformation of the steel
and holding at that temperature.

The depth of penetration of carbon is dependent on temperature,

time at temperature, and the composition of the carburizing agent.

As a rough indication, a carburized depth of about 0.030 to 0.050

in. can be obtained in about 4 hr at 1,700 F, depending upon the
type of carburizing agent, which may be a solid, liquid, or gas.
 CYANIDING:
A hard, superficial case can be obtained rapidly on low-carbon
steels by cyaniding. This process involves the introduction of both
carbon and nitro-gen into the surface layers of the steel.

Steels to be cyanided normally are heated in a molten bath of

cyanide-carbonate-chloride salts (usually containing 30 to 95% of
sodium cyanide) and then quenched in brine, water, or mineral oil;
the temperature of operation is generally within the range of 1,550
to 1,600 F.

Steels can be cyanided also by heating to the proper temperature

and dipping in a powdered cyanide mixture or sprinkling the
powder on the steel, followed by quenching.

Cyaniding salts are violent poisons if allowed to come in contact

with scratches or wounds; they are fatally poisonous if taken
internally.

Molten cyanide should never be permitted to come in contact with

sodium or potassium nitrates commonly used for baths for
tempering as the mixtures are explosive.
CARBONITRIDING:
Carbonitriding, also termed gas cyaniding, dry cyaniding, is a
process for case hardening a steel part in a gas-carburizing
atmosphere that contains ammonia in controlled percentages.

Carbonitriding is used mainly as a low-cost substitute for Cyaniding

and, as in cyaniding, both carbon and nitrogen are added to the
steel.

The process is carried on above the transformation temperature of

the steel, and is practical up to 1,700 F. Quenching in oil is
sufficiently fast to attain maximum surface hardness; this
moderate rate of cooling tends to minimize distortion.

The depth to which carbon and nitrogen penetrate varies with

temperature and time.

The depth to which carbon and nitrogen penetrate varies with

temperature and time.

The penetration of carbon is approximately the same as that

obtained in gas carburizing.
As above , we went through all the heat treatment processes , now we go through
all the testing equipments and the testing processes that are to be used during
the project.

TENSILE STRENGTH TEST:

This test is done to obtained the maximum stress and yield stress ,

along with percentage elongation for the project .

The heat treated specimens were treated in UTS Machine for obtaining the %
elongation, Ultimate Tensile Strength. The procedures for obtaining these values
can be listed as follows;

1) At first the cross section area of the specimen was measured by means of an
electronic slide caliper and then the gauge length was calculated.

2) Now the distance between the jaws of the UTS was fixed to the gauge length
of the specimen

3) The specimen was gripped by the jaws of the holder

4) The maximum load was varying gradually and load was set as a reference f
200 KN , and then varied .

5) The specimen was loaded till it fails

Tensile test of a metal work piece is done to obtain the allowable maximum
stress , for the experiment. Tensile properties indicate how the material will
react to forces being applied in tension. A tensile test is a fundamental
mechanical test where a carefully prepared specimen is loaded in a very
controlled manner while measuring the applied load and the elongation of
the specimen over some distance. Tensile tests are used to determine the
modulus of elasticity, elastic limit, elongation, proportional limit, reduction
in area, tensile strength, yield point, yield strength and other tensile
properties.
The basic procedures for the testing of tensile strength for the

experiments are :
 The tensile testing machine is to be checked and maximum stress
that it can overtake during the process , should be determined.

 Work piece of accurate dimension , and proper material are required

for the test.

 The load applied on the work piece , should be done gradually as, if a
sudden load is applied creep could be formed , and proper values are

not obtained .
 After the work piece are crake from the gauge point, the increase in
elongation is noted , for the project
 HARDNESS TEST
Hardness is resistance of material to plastic deformation caused by
indentation.

Stanley P. Rockwell invented the Rockwell hardness test. He was a

metallurgist for a large ball bearing company and he wanted a fast
non-destructive way to determine if the heat treatment process they
were doing on the bearing races was successful.

Therefore, Brinell tests are frequently done on large parts

By varying the test force and ball size, nearly all metals can be tested
using a Brinell test. Brinell values are considered test force
independent as long as the ball size/test force relationship is the
same.

APPLICATIONS:
Because of the wide test force range the Brinell test can be used on
almost any metallic material. The part size is only limited by the
testing instrument's capacity.

STRENGTHS:
1. One scale covers the entire hardness range, although comparable
results can only be obtained if the ball size and test force relationship
is the same.
2. A wide range of test forces and ball sizes to suit every
application.
TYPES OF ROCKWELL TEST:
There are two types of Rockwell tests:
1. Rockwell: The minor load is 10 kgf, the major load is 60,
100, or 150 kgf.

2.Superficial Rockwell: the minor load is 3 kgf and

major loads are 15, 30, or 45 kgf.

There are 30 different scales. The majority of applications are

covered by the Rockwell C and B scales for testing steel, brass, and
other metals.
However, the increasing use of materials other than steel and brass
as well as thin materials necessitates a basic knowledge of the factors
that must be considered in choosing the correct scale to ensure an
accurate Rockwell test.
The choice is not only between the regular hardness test and
superficial hardness test, with three different major loads for each,
but also between the diamond indenter and the 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 and
1/2 in. diameter steel ball indenter
For soft materials such as copper alloys, soft steel, and aluminum
alloys a 1/16" diameter steel ball is used with a 100-kilogram load
and the hardness is read on the "B" scale.
In testing harder materials, hard cast iron and many steel alloys, a
120 degrees diamond cone is used with up to a 150 kilogram load
and the hardness is read on the "C" scale.
There are several Rockwell scales other than the "B" & "C" scales,
(which are called the common scales). A properly reported Rockwell
value will have the hardness number followed by "HR" (Hardness
Rockwell) and the scale letter.
Laboratory exercise: Rockwell-C hardness
test:
1. Choose the appropriate scale to suit the material to be tested
(scale C)

2. Select a location for the test Remove oil or dirt, but the surface
does not need to be polished

3. Make sure the part can be held securely.

4. Raise the 1200 diamond cone according to 10 kgf pre-load

5. Zero the C-scale

6. Apply the 150 kgf main load and wait until the indicator stops
moving
7. Remove the load

8. Take a reading. The C scale should be between 80 to 100

OTHER TYPES OF HARDENSS TESTS ARE:

BRINELL HARDNESS TEST:

The oldest of the hardness test methods in common use today, the
Brinell test is frequently used to determine the hardness of forgings
and castings that have a grain structure too course for Rockwell or

.
vicker testing
 MICROSTRUCTURE VARIATION

Examination of the microstructure of a material provides information

used to determine if the structural parameters are within certain
specifications. The analysis results are used as a criterion for
acceptance or rejection.

Normalized – microstructure has fine bands of Pearlite – more phase

boundaries than annealed, but not as much as other methods, gives
more hardness and less ductility. Thinner bands of pearlite form
when steel is air-cooled.
As quenched – microstructure is martensite, a super-carbon-
saturated steel solution – extremely hard and brittle, has almost no
ductility. Successful formation of martensite depends on how rapidly
the steel is cooled.

Quenched and tempered – Microstructure has extremely small

spheres of cementite in a matrix of martensite – very fine structure
has a very large amount of phase boundaries, can be very hard but
less brittle than as quenched.

As the tempering temperature rises, the rate of diffusion increases,

which would allow larger Fe3C particles. Larger particles results in
less phase boundary area, lower strength, and higher ductility.

.
  SAMPLE PREPARATION:

In order to identify and evaluate the microstructure of material, it is

very important to prepare the test sample carefully and properly. The
various steps in sample preparation for micro structural examination

include:
1.Selecting a representative sample of the materials.

.
2 Sectioning the sample to avoid altering or destroying the structure
of interest.

3.Mounting the section without damage to the test sample.

4.Grinding to achieve a flat sample with a minimum amount of

damage to the sample surface.

5.Polishing the mounted and ground sample.

6.Etching in the proper etchant to reveal the micro structural details.

As the sample is created , the sample is taken to a laboratory

microscope and the phase transformation are detected and images
are taken for further tests.
The basic procedures for the micro structure
test are:
1.SELECTING : The raw material is selected for the process.

2. SECTIONING: Proper sections for the work piece is created

for the purpose.

3.GRINDING: All the extra abrasive part of the metal is

removed.

4.POLISHING: It removes the last thin layer of the abrasive

particle.

5.ETCHING: It is the last step and is required so that grain

orientation and phase transformation could be checked.

These were the basic theories and the procedures required

during the project.