1. Structure and Properties of Steels and Non-ferrous Metals
Week 1

2. Advantages of Metals In general they are ductile
Stronger metals exhibit greater stiffness & tensile strength
Metals are non-porous
They are easily alloyed with other metals
Strong bonding is easily achieved using welding, brazing & soldering

3. Disadvantages of Metals
Relatively expensive in terms of energy requirements during production
Liable to corrosion
Have high density – high self weight

4. Structure of Metals
Major advantage with metals is that the metallic bond is a reasonably flexible type of bond
As bonds are non-directional, bonding can take place readily between atoms of similar size
Most metallic elements will therefore bond with each other in a process called alloying
Alloying can be used to vary the properties of pure metals

5. Properties Properties tend to be divided into two groups:
1.) Structure intensive
2.) Structure sensitive

6. Structure Intensive
Associated with the properties of the atoms themselves & the forces acting between them
They do not depend on microstructure
Principle properties:
Mass
Density
Modulus of Elasticity
Specific heat
Thermal expansion coefficient
Some chemical & electrical

7. Structure Sensitive
Properties wholly dependent upon the microstructure of the material – depends upon past history:
Hot rolled, cold rolled, heating and cooling and rates involved
Final microstructure determined by such processes – can be used to manipulate material properties

8. Important Structure Sensitive Properties
Yield strength
Fracture strength
Ductility
Performance under fatigue

9. Variation in the Properties of Metals
Variation in properties can be very useful in construction applications with tensile strength broadly reducing along with melting point
Sheet roofing – requires softness & ductility – copper & zinc
Structural applications – iron – higher melting point than copper & zinc

10. Metallic Crystal Structures
Valence electrons in metals act collectively & are not confined to individual atoms
Metallic crystal structures can be considered in terms of closely packed spheres
Bonding tends to be non-specific & non-directional so far as particular atoms are concerned with one neighbour as good as any other
Therefore expect atoms to pack closely surrounded by as many neighbours as possible

11. Typical Atom
Valence electrons

12. Hexagonal Close-Packing (HCP)
Tightest arrangement – involves hexagons
Results from any triplet of touching atoms defining an equilateral triangle with each angle being 60°
Six equilateral triangles define a complete circle of 360°
Hexagonal close-packing can therefore be found in most metal crystals

13. Diagram Representing HCP

14. Face-Centred Cubic (FCC)
Crystal type exhibited by many metals - a cube with an atom at each corner & one at the centre of each face - planes of atoms are in fact hexagonal but widely separated
Shear forces from applied stress more likely to produce ‘slip’ of atoms causing them to slide over each other

15. Diagram Representing FCC

16. Body-Centred Cubic (BCC)
Some metals adopt a more openly packed structure – a cube with an atom at each corner and another at the body centre
Structure less densely packed than the HCP & FCC structures

17. Diagram Representing BCC

18. Overview of Packing
HCP
FCC
BCC

19. Yielding Atoms ‘slip’ over each other
During yielding bonds continue to reform with new neighbours
Yielding does not represent failure
Strength depends upon the ability of metals to resist shear stresses due to tensile or compressive stress

20. Stress/Strain Relationship
Ductile
Brittle
Strain
Stress
Slope = Modulus of Elasticity

21. Theoretical Performance
Theoretical Predictions of the mechanical strength of metals over estimate performance due to imperfections in the metallic crystal structure

22. Grain Boundaries
Solidification commences almost simultaneously at many different points within the melt

23. Grain Boundaries
These nuclei form many thousands of crystals which grow until they meet – this completes the solidification process
Each crystal orientation is different and regions of disorder occur where they meet – these are known as grain boundaries

24. Cont’d
Grain boundaries are surface defects – the surface of each crystal is affected
Faster cooling produces a larger number of smaller crystals
Can be a source of weakness in metals on account of imperfect bonding

25. Dislocations
Dislocations are a serious form of defect as they result in yielding of metals at much reduced stress
Form due to rapid cooling when metals are subjected to formation processes
Atoms do not have sufficient time to pack perfectly

26. Cont’d All metals contain millions of dislocations
Shear stress causes just a single atom per plane to swap neighbours
Process ends when the dislocation reaches the end of the crystal
The material has yielded but only by one atom each time on this plane - occurs at a much lower stress – accounts for lower yield strength than calculated from theoretical bond strength

27. Cont’d Dislocations are known as line defects
Effect can be controlled by:
1.) Limiting grain size – limits scope for travel
2.) Work hardening – plastic range – dislocations meet obstructions in the metal (grain boundaries)
3.) alloying – crystal planes interrupted by different sized atoms (point defects)

28. Common Building Metals
or MPa

29. Strength & Stiffness
There is a correlation between strength & stiffness – both are related to bond strength
Note that density shows no correlation

30. Tensile Strength of Metals
Depends on the cooling regime – more rapid cooling tends to produce a finer grain structure & hence higher strength

31. Yield Stresses
Determine the level of load that can be carried in service – usually substantially less than the ultimate stresses

32. Yield Stresses
UTS YS
Failure
Strain hardening region
Necking region

33. ‘Creep’
Zinc & lead tend to ‘creep’ to failure in the long term – this occurs at much lower stresses than those indicated in the table

34. Impurities
Impurities or alloying generally has a pronounced effect on strength – most impurities increase strength – also tend to increase brittleness

35. Iron
Iron – extracted from natural ores – about 4% carbon content makes it almost useless without further industrial processing
Pig iron re-melted with scrap iron or steel – produces cast iron – carbon content reduces to approx 2% - used for pipes & service fittings

36. White Cast Iron
Iron carbide – hard & very brittle – not suitable for structural use – used for high resistance to wear & abrasion – earth movers wearing edges

37. Grey Cast Iron
Most of the carbon is present as graphite – softer than white cast iron – easily machined – relatively weak in tension – good strength in compression – used in older structures for columns etc.

38. Steel
The most important ferrous material in the construction industry – alloy of iron & carbon – wide range of structural uses
Up to about 0.25% - mild steel or low carbon steel – structural steels
0.3 to 0.6% – medium carbon steels – carbon steels
> 0.6% - high carbon steels

39. Steel Off-cuts

40. Tensile Strength of Steel
Tensile strength tends to increase linearly with increase in carbon content up to 0.8% carbon content
Elongation to fracture decreases from 40% to almost zero

41. Typical Performance
0.5
1.0
1.5
300
600
900 20 60 40
% elongation (50mm GL)
tensile strength N/mm2 %C
Tensile strength
Elongation

42. Structural steel
Iron carbide (cementite) exists as very fine layers in between layers of iron (ferrite) – Known as pearlite
100% pearlite occurs at 0.8% carbon content

43. Steel Phase Diagram

44. Cont’d
Processed into required sections – hot rolling – normalised microstructure
Cold rolled – very low carbon content – accurate dimensional control – lightweight lintels etc.
Moderate strength - good toughness & ductility – easily welded due to low proportion of pearlite

45. Alloying elements
Manganese – increases yield strength & hardness of low carbon steels
Niobium – Produces smaller crystals (grains) – increases yield strength
Others – molybdenum, nickel, chromium & copper

46. Composition & properties of some structural steels

47. Steel for Structural Sections (BS EN 10025)
Hot rolled – easily welded – ductile – impact resistant – reasonably high yield strength (should yield if overstressed rather than give a brittle failure)
Codes – S 275 J2 H
S – structural
275 – min yield strength in N/mm2
J2 – impact resistance
H – hollow section

48. Typical structural Sections

49. Cont.

50. Reinforcing Steel (BS 4449; BS 4483)
Load transferred via concrete
Good bond required – use of hooked ends
Poor bond gives localised tensile cracking – water ingress
Good bond allows the formation of micro-cracks in the concrete – some cracking is inevitable

51. Cont’d
Safe design – under reinforced – steel yields & work hardens rather than concrete failing in shear or compression
Steel must therefore:
Bond to the concrete
Be ductile
Be weldable

52. Mild Steel Types Smooth round section Can form tight bends
Excellent ductility
Lower yield strength N/mm2
Uses – links or where tight bends are required

53. High Yield Types Yield strength – 460 N/mm2 now 500 N/mm2
Bars are deformed – provides additional bond:
Type 1 – cold worked by twisting
Type 2 – (grade 460A) - up to 16mm diameter - fabric steel - hot rolled - ribs
Type 3 – (grade 460B) - hot rolled - ribs