Chapter 11

Part 2
Metals and Alloys

Nomenclature of Steels
Historically, many methods for identifying alloys
by their composition have been developed
The commonly used schemes in this country are
those developed by AISI/SAE and ASTM
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

European countries, Japan, Russia etc.

developed their own schemes
In order to avoid confusion, the Universal/Unified
Numbering System (UNS) was developed

AISI/SAE Classification of Steels

A four digit description

First two digits identify the alloy type
Last two digits indicate the carbon content
For example
AISI/SAE 1020 steel is a plain carbon steel (10xx) which has 0.20
wt.% carbon (xx20)
Plain carbon steel (10xx) are inexpensive, but have several limitations
including:
Poor hardenability because the critical cooling rate is very high
Rapid cooling leads to distortion and cracking
Poor corrosion resistance
Poor impact resistance at low temperature
Alloy steels were developed to address these issues
Alloying changes the eutectoid composition, the eutectoid carbon
content and the critical cooling rate
These alloys are more expensive, but a better combination of properties
is obtained

AISI/SAE Classification of Steels

UNS uses the AISI/SAE designation with a letter before and a 0 after the 4 digits
The letter identifies the alloy group

Overview of UNS

Axxxxx - Aluminum Alloys

Cxxxxx - Copper Alloys, including Brass and Bronze
Fxxxxx - Iron, including Ductile Irons and Cast Irons
Gxxxxx - Carbon and Alloy Steels
Hxxxxx - Steels - AISI H Steels
Jxxxxx - Steels - Cast
Kxxxxx - Steels, including Maraging, Stainless, HSLA, Iron-Base Superalloys
L5xxxx - Lead Alloys, including Babbit Alloys and Solders
M1xxxx - Magnesium Alloys
Nxxxxx - Nickel Alloys
Rxxxxx - Refractory Alloys

R03xxx- Molybdenum Alloys

R04xxx- Niobium (Columbium) Alloys
R05xxx- Tantalum Alloys
R3xxxx- Cobalt Alloys
R5xxxx- Titanium Alloys
R6xxxx- Zirconium Alloys

Sxxxxx - Stainless Steels, including Precipitation Hardening and Iron-Based

Superalloys
Txxxxx - Tool Steels
Zxxxxx - Zinc Alloys

AISI/SAE, ASTM, UNS

ASTM developed a parallel classification, starting with
a letter A followed by numbers and other descriptors

Tool Steels

AISI designation has a letter and a number.

The letter describes the application
M (high speed machine tool), H (hot working)
The letter describes the heat treatment
A (air hardening), O (oil quenching), W (water quenching)
UNS designation all tool steels start with a T

Stainless Steels
Excellent corrosion resistance
Contain 12 to 30% Chromium
Cr oxidizes easily and forms a thin continuous layer of oxide that
prevents further oxidation of the metal

Cr is a ferrite stabilizer
Ferritic Stainless Steels are
essentially Fe-Cr Alloys
Ferrite phase (bcc structure)
Inexpensive, high strength

Austenite is restricted to a small

region of the phase diagram

Stainless Steels
Austenitic Stainless Steels
Nickel is an austenite stabilizer. The addition of both
Cr and Ni results in the austenite (, fcc) phase being
retained to room temperature
The austenite phase is very formable (fcc structure)
Ni makes these alloys expensive

Martensitic Stainless Steels

Have both Cr and C
There is more Cr than in ferritic SS since Cr tends to
form Cr23C6, which removes available Cr for corrosion
protection
Can be heat treated to high strength

UNS letter S indicates stainless steel

Cast Iron

Fe-C alloys with 2-4%C

1-3% Si is added to improve
castability
Phase diagram shows
graphite rather than Fe3C
since C may be present in the
form of both graphite and
cementite
Temperatures and
compositions are different
from the Fe-Fe3C diagram
Features:
Low melting temperature
(1153C to 1400C)
Low shrinkage
Easily machinable
Low impact resistance
Low ductility

Cast Irons
Types
Gray cast iron
Carbon in the form of graphite flakes
2.5 4% C and 1 3% Si (Promotes formation of graphite)

Nodular cast iron

Carbon in the form of spherical graphite nodules
3-4% C and 1.8 2.8 % Si + Mg or Ce, and low impurities

Cast Irons
Types
White cast iron
Carbon in the form of cementite

Malleable cast iron

Carbon in the form of irregular graphite nodules
Obtained by heat treating white cast iron

Cast Irons
The microstructure of
the iron rich matrix can
be modified by heat
treatment
Pearlite
Ferrite

Gray cast iron

Fracture surface
appears gray because
of graphite flakes

White cast iron

Fracture surface
appears white (shiny)

Cast Irons
White cast iron has
no other use that to
be starting material
for malleable cast iron
In the other forms of
cast iron, carbon is in
the form of graphite
The graphite flakes
absorb vibration
Lubricate during
machining
Fracture initiation sites

Cast iron

Steel

ASTM specification by strength and ductility

UNS Letter F indicates cast iron

Copper Alloys

General properties of Copper:

Good electrical and thermal conduction

ease of fabrication
corrosion resistance
medium strength

UNS Classification
C followed by 5 digits
Numbers C10100 to C79900 designate wrought alloys
Numbers C80000 to C99900 designate casting alloys

Electrolytic tough pitch copper (C11000) is the least expensive and

used in production of wire, rod, and strip.
Has 0.04% oxygen
Cu2O + H2
2Cu + H2O at 400C causing blisters

Copper cast in controlled reducing atmosphere to form OFHC

copper (C10200)

UNS Classification of Copper Alloys

Copper Alloys
Cu-Zn Brass
Cu-Zn form substitutional solid solutions up to 35% Zn.
Cartridge brass (70Cu 30Zn) is single phase
Muntz brass (60Cu 40Zn) is two phase.
Zinc (0.5 to 3%) is always added to copper to increase
machinability

Cu-Sn Bronzes
1 to 10% tin with Cu to form solid solution strengthened alloys.
Stronger and less corrosive than Cu-Zn bronzes.
Up to 16% Sn is added to alloys that are used for high strength
bearings.

Cu-Be alloys
0.6 to 2% Be and 0.2 2.5 % Cobalt with copper.
Can be heat treated and cold worked to produce very strong
(1463 MPa) bronzes.
Excellent corrosion resistance and fatigue properties.
Used in springs, diaphragms, valves etc.

Aluminum Alloys
Grouped into Wrought and Cast Alloys
Wrought Alloys mechanically worked to final shape

4 digits based on major alloying elements.

First digit: major group of alloying elements
Second digit: impurity limits
Last two digits: identify specific alloy

Cast Alloys cast to final shape

4 digits with a period between the third and fourth digit
Compositions optimized for casting and mechanical properties

Alloy designations sometimes preceded with A or AA

Also classified into heat-treatable and non-heat treatable
alloys
Heat treatable alloys are strengthened by precipitation hardening
Non-heat treatable alloys are used in the as-cast condition or
can be work hardened

Classification of wrought aluminum alloys

Non-heat treatable aluminum alloys

1xxx alloys : 99% Al + Fe + Si + 0.12% Cu
Tensile strength = 90 MPa
Used for sheet metals

3xxx alloys : Mn principle alloying element

AA3003 = AA1100 + 1.25% Mn
Tensile strength = 110 MPa
General purpose alloy

5xxx alloys: Al + up to 5% Mg
AA5052 = Al + 2.5%Mg + 0.2% Cr
Tensile strength = 193 MPa
Used in bus, truck and marine sheet metals.

Heat treatable aluminum alloys

2xxx alloys : Al + Cu + Mg
AA2024 = Al + 4.5% Cu + 1.5% Mg +0.6%Mn
Strength = 442 MPa
Used for aircraft structures.

6xxx alloys: Al + Mg + Si
AA6061 = Al + 1% Mg + 0.6%Si + 0.3% Cu + 0.2% Cr
Strength = 290 MPa
Used for general purpose structures.

7xxx alloys: Al + Zn + Mg + Cu
AA7075 = Al + 5.6% Zn + 2.5% Mg + 1.6% Cu +
0.25% Cr
Strength = 504 MPa
Used for aircraft structures.

Cast Aluminum Alloys

Temper Designation for Aluminum Alloys

In addition to composition, the properties of
aluminum alloys can be modified by heat
treatment and mechanical working
These treatments are expressed in terms of
temper designations

F As fabricated
O Annealed
H Strain hardened
T Heat treated to produce a stable temper
Natural aging: precipitation treatment at room temperature
Artificial aging: precipitation treatment at an elevated
temperature

For example AA2024-T4 or AA6061-T6

Temper Designations

H designations
H1x Strain hardened
H2x Strain hardened and partially annealed
H3x Strain hardened followed by a low temperature thermal treatment
to improve ductility
In the above x indicates amount of strain hardening (x=8 means
UTS that is achieved by 75% cold work; x=0 means fully annealed;
x=4 means UTS half-way between x=0 and x=8)

T designations

T1 cooled from shaping temperature and naturally aged

T2 cooled from shaping temperature, cold worked and naturally aged
T3 Solution treated, cold worked and naturally aged
T4 Solution treated and naturally aged
T5 Cooled from shaping temperature and artificially aged
T6 Solution treated and artificially aged
T7 Solution treated and overaged improves resistance to stress
corrosion cracking
T8 Solution treated, cold worked and artificially aged

UNS A9 used to identify wrought aluminum alloys

UNS A0 used to identify cast aluminum alloys

Magnesium Alloys

Density ~1.74 g/cm3, less than that of Al (2.7 g/cm3)

More expensive than aluminum because
HCP structure makes Mg difficult to cold work hot work only
Molten Mg can burn in air difficult to cast

Classification:
Two letters followed by two numbers

A Aluminum
K Zirconium
M Manganese
E Rare Earth
H Thorium
Q Silver
S Silicon
T Tin
Z Zinc

The numbers indicate approximate alloying content

Additional letters to indicate variations of the basic alloy

Temper classification similar to aluminum alloys

UNS Letter M indicates magnesium alloys

Titanium Alloys

Titanium is the 4th most common metal on the earths crust.

Chemically very reactive and is difficult to extract

Like Cr and Al, it forms a protective oxide layer, making it corrosion resistant
Density ~4.5 g/cm3 lower density than Fe or Ni, higher use temperature than Al
Exhibits polymorphism:
At low temperatures: Alpha hcp
At high temperatures: Beta bcc

Alloying elements are either

Alpha stabilizers Al, O make the alpha phase stable at higher temperatures
Beta stabilizers V, Mo, Fe and Cr cause a eutectoid reaction in the alloys and
make the beta phase to be stable at lower temperatures, even down to RT

Alloys classified as or depending on the composition

New alloys are still being developed, and UNS designations have not been
standardized for all alloys
Properties depend upon composition and thermomechanical processing that
can change the microstructure of the alloys
Processing of titanium alloys is very difficult because of the structure
Expensive aerospace alloy that is now seeing more commercial applications

UNS Letter R indicates refractory metal (high melting point)

R5xxxx Titanium alloys

Materials Selection

Mechanical properties
Stiffness, strength, ductility, fatigue, creep

Manufacturability
Machining, Mechanical working, Casting,
Welding

Physical properties
Density, Melting point, Thermal conductivity

Cost
Availability, ease of processing