Wear-resistant steels

Another group is the wear-resistant steels, made into wear plates for rock-processing machinery, crushers, and power shovels. These are austenitic steels that contain about 1.2 percent carbon and 12 percent manganese. The latter element is a strong austenizer; that is, it keeps steel austenitic at room temperature. Manganese steels are often called Hadfield steels, after their inventor, Robert Hadfield.

Wear resistance is brought about by the high work-hardening capabilities of these steels; this in turn is generated during the pounding (i.e., deforming) of the surface, when a large number of disturbances are created in the lattices of their crystals that effectively block the flow of dislocations. In other words, the more pounding the steel takes, the stronger it becomes. Such significant increases in strength by cold forming are also utilized in the production of high-strength, cold-drawn wire such as those used in prestressed concrete or automobile tires. A special case, piano wire drawn from 0.8-percent-carbon steel, can reach a tensile strength of 275 kilograms-force per square millimetre.

Bearing steels

One important group that well demonstrates the enormous impact of material developments on engineering possibilities is the steels used for roller and ball bearings. These steels often contain 1 percent carbon, 1.2 percent chromium, 0.25 percent nickel, and 0.25 percent molybdenum and are very hard after heat treatment. Most important, however, they are extremely clean, having been purged of practically all inclusions by vacuum treatment of the liquid steel. Inclusions are very harmful in bearings because they create stress concentrations that result in low fatigue strength.

Stainless steels

Scientific secrets of Game of Thrones' Valyrian steel

Using science to determine if Valyrian steel from Game of Thrones can be recreated.

This outstanding group receives its stainless characteristics from an invisible, self-healing chromium oxide film that forms when chromium is added at concentrations greater than 10.5 percent. There are three major groups, the austenitic, the ferritic, and the martensitic.

The best corrosion resistance is obtained in austenitic stainless steels. Their microstructures consist of very clean fcc crystals in which all alloying elements are held in solid solution. These steels contain 16 to 26 percent chromium and up to 35 percent nickel, which, like manganese, is a strong austenizer. (Indeed, manganese is sometimes used instead of nickel.) Austenitic steels cannot be hardened by heat treatment; they are also nonmagnetic. The most common type is the 18/8 or 304 grade, which contains 18 percent chromium and 8 percent nickel.

The ferritic and martensitic groups both have a bcc microstructure. The latter has a higher carbon level (up to 1.2 percent); it can be hardened and is used for knives and tools. Ferritic stainless steels contain only up to 0.12 percent carbon. Both types have 11.5 to 29 percent chromium as their main alloy addition and practically no nickel. Their corrosion resistance is modest, and they are ferromagnetic.

A special group of stainless steels is employed at high temperatures—e.g., 800° C (1,450° F). Solution hardening is used in this group to keep the steels strong at such heat. They contain up to 25 percent chromium and 20 percent nickel, in addition to small amounts of strong carbide formers such as niobium or titanium to tie up the carbon and avoid a depletion of chromium at the grain boundaries. For even more severe service, as in aircraft jet engines or gas turbines, superalloys are used. These work on the same principle, but they are based on nickel or cobalt or both and contain either no iron at all or only up to 30 percent iron. Their maximum service temperature can reach 80 percent of their melting point.

Electrical steels

An important group of steels, necessary for the generation and transmission of electrical power, is the high-silicon electrical steels. Electromagnets for alternating current are always made by laminating many thin sheets, which are insulated in order to minimize the flow of eddy currents and thereby reduce current losses and heat generation. A further improvement is achieved by adding up to 4.5 percent silicon, which imparts high electrical resistance. For electric transformers, grain-oriented sheets are often used; these contain about 3.5 percent silicon and are rolled and annealed in such a way that the edges of the unit cubes are oriented parallel to the direction of rolling. This improves the magnetic flux density by about 30 percent.

Tool steels

Tool steels are produced in small quantities, contain expensive alloys, and are often sold only by the kilogram and by their individual trade names. Generally they are very hard, wear-resistant, tough, inert to local overheating, and frequently engineered to particular service requirements. They also have to be dimensionally stable during hardening and tempering. They contain strong carbide formers such as tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, and chromium in different combinations and often cobalt or nickel to improve high-temperature performance.