FundamentalsoftheHeatTreatingofSteel-ASMInternational.PDFVIP

© 2006 ASM International. All Rights Reserved. Practical Heat Treating, Second Edition (#05144G) CHAPTER 2 Fundamentals of the Heat Treating of Steel BEFORE CONSIDERATION can be given to the heat treatment of steel or other iron-base alloys, it is helpful to explain what steel is. The common dictionary definition is “a hard, tough metal composed of iron, alloyed with various small percentage of carbon and often variously with other metals such as nickel, chromium, manganese, etc.” Although this defini- tion is not untrue, it is hardly adequate. In the glossary of this book (see Appendix A, “Glossary of Heat Treat- ing Terms”) the principal portion of the definition for steel is “an iron- base alloy, malleable in some temperature range as initially cast, contain- ing manganese, usually carbon, and often other alloying elements. In carbon steel and low-alloy steel, the maximum carbon is about 2.0%; in high-alloy steel, about 2.5%. The dividing line between low-alloy and high-alloy steels is generally regarded as being at about 5% metallic al- loying elements” (Ref 1). Fundamentally, all steels are mixtures, or more properly, alloys of iron and carbon. However, even the so-called plain-carbon steels have small, but specified, amounts of manganese and silicon plus small and generally unavoidable amounts of phosphorus and sulfur. The carbon content of plain-carbon steels may be as high as 2.0%, but such an alloy is rarely found. Carbon content of commercial steels usually ranges from 0.05 to about 1.0%. The alloying mechanism for iron and carbon is different from the more common and numerous other alloy systems in that the alloying of iron and carbon occurs as a two-step process. In the initial step, iron combines with 6.67% C, forming iron carbide, which is called cementite. Thus, at room temperature, conventional steels consist o