MATERIAL SELECTION CRITERIA

Many factors have to be considered when selecting engineering materials,

but for chemical process plant the overriding consideration is usually the
ability to resist corrosion. The process designer will be responsible for
recommending materials that will be suitable for the process conditions.
The most important characteristics to be considered when selecting a
material of construction are:
1. Mechanical properties
(a) Strength-tensile strength (b) Stiffness-elastic modulus (Young's
modulus) (c) Toughness-fracture resistance (d) Hardness-wear resistance
(e) Fatigue resistance (f) Creep resistance
2. The effect of high and low temperatures on the mechanical properties
3. Corrosion resistance
4. Any special properties required; such as, thermal conductivity, electrical
resistance, magnetic properties
5. Ease of fabrication-forming, welding, casting (see Table 7.1}
6. Availability in standard sizes-plates, sections, tubes
7. Cost
Effect of temperature on the mechanical properties
The tensile strength and elastic modulus of metals decrease with
increasing temperature.For example, the tensile strength of mild steel (low
carbon steel, C < 0.25 per cent) is 450 N/mm2 at 25ÄC falling to 210 at
500ÄC, and the value of Young's modulus 200,000 N/mm2 at 25ÄC falling
to 150,000 N/mm2 at 500ÄC. If equipment is being designed to operate at
high temperatures, materials that retain their strength must be selected.
The stainless steels are superior in this respect to plain carbon steels.
Creep resistance will be important if the material is subjected to high
stresses at elevated temperatures. Special alloys, such as Inconel
(International Nickel Co.), are used for high temperature equipment such as
furnace tubes. The selection of materials for high-temperature applications
is discussed by Day (1979). At low temperatures, less than 10ÄC, metals
that are normally ductile can fail in a brittle manner. Serious disasters have
occurred through the failure of welded carbon steel vessels at low
temperatures. The phenomenon of brittle failure is associated with the
crystalline structure of metals. Metals with a body-centred-cubic (bcc)
lattice are more liable to brittle failure than those with a face-centred-cubic
(fee) or hexagonal lattice. For low-temperature equipment, such as
cryogenic plant and liquefied-gas storages, austenitic stainless steel (fee)
or aluminium alloys (hex) should be specified

CORROSION RESISTANCE
The conditions that cause corrosion can arise in a variety of ways. For this
brief discussion on the selection of materials it is convenient to classify
corrosion into the following categories:
1. General wastage of material-uniform corrosion.
2. Galvanic corrosion-dissimilar metals in contact.
3. Fitting-localised attack.
4. Intergranular corrosion.
5. Stress corrosion.
6. Erosion-corrosion.
7. Corrosion fatigue.
8. High temperature oxidation.
9. Hydrogen embrittlement.
Metallic corrosion is essentially an electrochemical process. Four
components are necessary to set up an electrochemical cell:
1. Anode-the corroding electrode.
2. Cathode-the passive, non-corroding electrode.
3. The conducting medium-the electrolyte-the corroding fluid.
4. Completion of the electrical circuit-through the material. Cathodic areas
can arise in many ways: (i) Dissimilar metals. (ii) Corrosion products. (iii)
Inclusions in the metal, such as slag, (iv) Less well-aerated areas. (v)
Areas of differential concentration. (vi) Differentially strained areas
Corrosion Chart: An R indicates that the material is resistant to the named
chemical up to the temperature shown, subject to the limitations given in
the notes. The notes are given at the end of the table. A blank indicates
that the material is unsuitable. ND indicates that no data was available for
the particular combination of material and chemical.