College of Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Spring Semester 2012-2013 MEEN 3393: Mechanical Engineering Design-III Section: 101

Dr. Sathyan Krishnan

Ferrous Alloys & non- Ferrous Alloys

Group Members Muath A. Radwan Rayan Al-otaibi Falah Al-Qahtani Abdullaziz AL-Ghamdi Khalid Al-Khalidi #ID 200600662 200700408 200801237 200800801 200700386

Ferrous Alloys In the field of engineering, the two words, ferrous and non-ferrous are commonly used. Ferrous alloys are described as alloys which contains iron. On the other hand, non-ferrous alloys do not contain iron. The two materials are used in engineering for a specific function. In most cases, one type of alloys cannot be substituted with another. However, ferrous metals are harder compared to non-ferrous metals. For this reason, ferrous alloys are used for making components which needs a lot of strength. As I have already mentioned, these types of alloys do contain iron. The alloys are made carefully by passing combination of metals in several stages such as heating and chemical processing. Ferrous metals have got standard metal properties. Such properties include electricity as well as heat conductivity. They have ability to oxidation or corrosion. There are many types of ferrous alloys such as steel, pig iron, oiltite, wrought iron, cast iron and many others. All these types have got different uses in the world of engineering. In this report, I shall be analyzing the structure and composition of the most common alloys. I shall also give chemical properties of each as well as their applications in engineering.

Pig Iron Pig iron is one of the commonly used ferrous alloys in engineering. It has got several uses. To start with, lets look at its composition. Pig Iron is an intermediate product which is obtained by smelting iron core and mixing it with high-Carbon fuel. Charcoal, Coke as well as anthracite are used as fuel in the process. This particular material contains a lot of Carbon, Silica and Dross. Presence of these three components makes the final product brittle, which cannot be

readily used as material. The name, Pig Iron came from its traditional structure which is referred as branching. This structure has ingots which are at right angles to a runner. The configuration looks similar with that of piglets suckling their mother. When it is left to cool and hardened, these ingots can be broken into smaller parts. Pig Iron has been used in various ways. One of its uses is as ballasts when NASA Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft was being built. On the other hand, it is used in the production of steel. Its transferred in a steel mill when it is in liquid form. Once it has been subjected in an induction furnace, the excess carbon is burnt off in a controlled manner. Other process where pig iron is used includes puddling and open hearth furnaces (Jeeves).

The body-centered cubic structure of iron crystals (left, above) allow for the easy bending of iron while the face-centered crystal structure (center, above) of the austenite phase allows space for carbon atoms to dissolve into the crystal lattice. When quenched, the martensite phase contains a body-centred tetragonal lattice structure (right, above). This crystal lattice is like a vertically elongated body-centred cubic crystal lattice with the carbon atoms trapped in the crystal lattice during transformation. This results in high internal stresses, making martensite hard, but also brittle.

Wrought iron Wrought iron is another type of ferrous alloys. In this, the composition of Carbon is low as compared to cast Iron. Its structure is made up of fibrous inclusions. These inclusions give the material a grain appearance, which can easily be seen when bent. The Wrought Iron is malleable, ductile as well as tough. During the ancient times, it was considered as pure Iron, which was preferred for commercial purposes. Nowadays, it does not qualify for commercial Iron since the most recent standards requires small amounts of carbon, specifically not more than 0.008%. One of the most common uses of Wrought Iron is that, it is a very vital raw material in production of Steel. Steel produced from combinations of Wrought Iron and other materials was used to make swords, chisels and all other edged products. In 1860s its demand was very high since many people were in need of Steel for making warships and railways. From then, Wrought Iron has been used for various purposes until introduction of mild Steel. Wrought Iron can be obtained by carrying out several smelting procedures. These processes are known as blommeries. The process involves charging bloomerlies with charcoal and Iron core which is lit. Air is then blown through it to heat the mixture to a temperature below Irons melting point. During smelting, slag is produced, which runs out. Carbon dioxide enables conversion of the ore to Iron. This forms a spongy material. Once the smelting is completed, the bloom is removed. Wrought Iron slag inclusions make the materials different from all other ferrous metals. It is believed to contain more than 250, 000 inclusions for every square inch. On the other hand, it does not contain Carbon, which is necessary for hardening during heat treatment. One of the

greatest advantages of wrought Iron having low Carbon content is that, it can easily be welded. Note that presence of Sulfur impurities weakens its resistance. Wrought Iron has been used since Roman times. It is used to make wrought Iron gates as well as furniture. In fact, furniture made from this alloy is on high demand in Britain. Other uses of wrought iron includes; making of table bases, beds, candle holders, bars and wine racks. Today, wrought Iron can only be obtained from reclaimed metals such as old bridges oranchor chains. Since wrought iron is limited, it has been reserved for production of fine carpentry tools as well as restoring objects of great significance (LTD.).

Oiltite Oilitie is another commonly used ferrous metal. It is a porous Iron or Bronze alloy. The alloy was initially developed by Chrsler in 1930s. There are three types of oiltitenamely; oiltite plus, which is a bronze alloy, super oilitite and super oilitite 16, which are iron-based. Oilitite is comprised of powder metallurgy. This means that the metal has got tiny pores. The pores are impregnated, something which improves its bearing ability. Oilitite contains 20% of oil. When it comes to cutting the material, sharp objects are used so as to preserve the pores. If a dark object is used instead, the pores will remain closed up, something which is highly discouraged. This lowers its quality by a great percentage. In fact, it will not be suitable for the intended use if its pores are closed up. Oiltite is used for making bearings for spring shackles and water pumps. It can also be used as a filter in gasoline filters. Note that this should only be done if there is no oil at all (Vincent).

Non-ferrous alloys Nonferrous alloys do not contain iron. It is worth to understand that all metals in the periodic table are nonferrous, with an exception of Iron. Nonferrous materials possess the same metal properties as ferrous metals. The only difference comes from the fact that they are lighter than ferrous metals. Also, their melting points are very high. Unlike ferrous metals, these materials do not corrode. The main applications of these materials include industrial settings, where the main goal is to attain less weight of a machine. They are also widely used in making electronics products. Non-ferrous alloys are further divided into two groups, namely; light and heavy alloys. Examples of non-ferrous light alloy are Brass, Alclad, Y-alloy, Hidumidium and Aluminum Bronze. For heavy alloys, we have Bell metal, naval brass, Gun metal and many others. In this report, I will concentrate on the light alloys, their composition, how to make them as well as their applications in engineering. To start with, lets consider Brass alloy. This is an alloy of Zinc and Copper. Note that proportions of the two components can be varied to come up with different types of Brasses. Brass can be considered as a super alloy, which is suitable for decoration. This is because it is bright in appearance.

Brass alloy Brass is malleable and acoustic. This property makes it possible to be used for making musical instruments. There are wide ranges of musical instruments which can be produced by making use of Brass. These include cornet, Baritone horn, Euphonium, Saxophone as well as the

French horn. It is also good to know that Brass is more malleable than Zinc and Bronze. However, it has a low melting point of 900 degrees Celsius. It has a flow quality, which enables it to cast. Moreover, if the amounts of Zinc or Copper are changed, you can get both soft and hard Brass. Its density is about 0.303Ib cubic inch. In other words, its density is 8.4 grams for every cubic centimeter. The best thing with Brass is that, it can easily be recycled to produce pure Brass. To make it corrosion resistance, Aluminum is added which forms a layer of Aluminum Oxide. The layer is very thin as well as clear. Also, the Aluminum Oxide layer is selfheating. To make Brass wear and tear resistance, it is combined with Iron, Silicon, Manganese and Aluminum. Lead is added to make it more machinable. This is because lead has the lowest melting point compared to all other constituents of Brass. In absence of Lead, Silicon can be used for it will act as a perfect substitute for the latter. Dezincification resistant Brass is known to cope up with all harsh environments. For this reason, it is highly recommended for making water boilers. Brass is also used in Germicidal and antimicrobial applications. Presence of Copper in items makes it possible to fight microorganisms upon contact. It has been observed that Copper and Brass alloys destroy bacterial membranes. This has been proved in the laboratory by various scientists. Brass is also widely used in making aircraft sheets, engines and mainframes as well as structural parts. In summary, Brass is light weight and it can be heat treated or age-hardened (Muller).

Bronze Bronze is another common non-ferrous alloy. It is made up of Copper, and Tin. For this, Tin is the major additive. Bronze is characterized as a tough alloy. It is crucial to understand that there are many types of bronze alloys. The typical one is comprised of 88% Copper with the remaining percentage being Tin. Alpha Bronze contains less percentage of Tin, precisely 5%. This type of Bronze is used to make coins, turbines as well as blades. Its properties are as follows. It is known to oxidize superficially. This means that the Copper Oxide coat will eventually turn to Copper carbonate layer. This makes it corrosion resistance. On the other hand, if Copper Chloride is formed instead, the whole metal will become useless. The alloy has a low melting point, soft and weak as compared to steel. Copper alloys are used in various places because of their high electricity conductivity and resistance to corrosion. Note that the melting point of bronze is not constant. It changes with the composition of its components. Bronze has got various uses. It has been used for ship and boat fittings. This is because it is highly resistance to salt water. Still in ships, bronze is utilized for making ship propellers as well as submerged bearings. Apart from this, the alloy is a very important raw material for making Bronze wool, which is used in woodworking applications. This is because; it does not discolor any application. In this, it acts as perfect substitute for Steel. Other uses include making Bronze statues, sculptures, musical instruments, as well as medals (Inc.). Another example of non-ferrous alloys is Y-alloy. This is a Nickel-aluminum alloy which was developed during the First World War. During this period, scientists wanted to come up with a strong material that could remain strong at very high temperatures. The search for a

stronger material was aimed at coming up with an alloy which would be used to make pistons for aircrafts. The alloy was developed by the National Physical Laboratory. The body added some Nickel and Magnesium on what was termed as Duralumin alloy. This great innovation made it possible for the scientists to come up with a material which could retain its strength no matter the temperature. It is from this discovery which led the Y- alloy to be used in its cast form.it was later considered for forging. By so doing, the alloy became very popular in making aircraft engine pistons. This alloy requires heating. It should be heated at 520 degrees Celsius for more than six hours. After heating, the alloy should be left to age naturally for a week. At the end of the seven days, there will be formation of a precipitate on it. In summary, Y-alloy is resistance to corrosion as well as fatigue, it can withstand high temperatures and it can be heated and age-hardened. These qualities make it suitable for making cylinder heads and pistons for aircraft engines (Tisza).

Hiduminium alloy This is a development of Y-alloy. It was developed after the First World War. It was initially developed for motor pistons, but later on it was used for aircrafts. Just like the Y-alloy, this particular type can withstand high temperatures. It retains strength at high temperatures, making it suitable for production of pistons. It is worth to note that this alloy differs from Yalloy because it contains Silicon which is not present in the latter type. Its density is 2.75 cubic centimeters. However, it has melting point of 6356 degrees Celsius.

Hiduminium alloy requires heat treatment. Contrary to Y- alloy which hardens naturally at room temperatures after heating, Hiduminium tends to remain lax after heating. It requires you to heat it by precipitation to allow artificial hardening (America). From the above analysis, we can conclude that alloys are very useful in modern life. As we have seen, most of the commonly known alloys were developed during ancient times but they still play a very important role in human life. We have also observed that, when metals are mixed with others, they become more strong and resistant to corrosion. This makes it possible for industries to make durable and strong products. If it were not for the innovations about alloys, it would not have been easy to make certain products. However, from the above report it is clearly seen that there are some alloys which requires heat treatment while others do not. We can also say that the use of any particular alloy is determined by its physical and chemical properties. Also, its composition will influence its use. From the entire report, it can be drawn that, for the two types of alloys: Ferrous and nonferrous, each type is used for a particular purpose. For ferrous alloys, strength is the main focus while for the nonferrous alloys; their light weight makes them suitable for being applied in industrial sectors. Use of alloys will save you a lot of money since it will minimize replacements. Various alloys have good machinability, something which makes it possible for engineers to carry out their duties smoothly. In general, whenever you are looking for any material, it is good to consider its intended use, cost as well as durability. Most Aluminum alloys offer you with comfort of mind since you are assured of corrosion resistance.

References
America, Seel Founders' Society Of. "Hiduminium alloy." Find steel Foundaries (2010): 55-67. Inc., Copper Developemnt Association. Copper alloys. 5 February 2003. 25 February 2013 <http://www.copper.org/applications/architecture/arch_dhb/copper_alloys/intro.html>. Jeeves. Properties of Pig Iron. 2 January 2010. 25 February 2013 <http://uk.ask.com/beauty/Properties-of-Pig-Iron>. LTD., Luyi Forge. Wrought Iron Pickets. 3 January 2010. 25 February 2013 <www.luyiforge.com/Wrought-Iron-Pickets/Wrought-Iron-Pickets-1.html>. Muller, Larry. C69300 & C87850 Silicon Brass: Properties and Corrosion Performance ( Metallurgy and Technical Services): 20-40. Tisza, Miklos. "Pysical metallurgy for engineers." Tisza, Mikls. Pysical metallurgy for engineers. Seaford: Hampshire Press, 2000. 30-67. Vincent, Curcio. "The Life and Times of an Automotive Genius." Vincent, Curcio. The Life and Times of an Automotive Genius. Oxford: Oxford University press, 1965. 23-56.