Objectives of this lecture: At the end of this lecture, students will be able to: understand what is an alloy steel

l understand the major components of an alloy steels know the characteristic of an alloy steels Alloys Steels Alloy steels may contain from 1 to 5 percent by weight of alloying elements will be considered alloy steels. Owing to these additions, low alloy steels have mechanical properties that are superior to those of plain carbon steels for given applications. Superior properties usually mean higher strength, hardness, hot hardness, wear resistance, toughness, and more desirable combinations of these properties. Heat treatment is often required to achieve these improved properties. The alloy elements distribute themselves in carbon steel depend primarily on the compound and carbide forming tendencies of each element. For instance, nickel will dissolve in ferrite. Silicon combines with oxygen in steel to form non-metallic inclusions. Most manganese added to steels will form carbides will usually enter cementite as (FeMn)3C. Chromium will also form carbide, ( FeCr)3C. Other alloying elements are Vanadium, Titanium, Columbian. Alloy steels in the United States are usually designated by four-digit AISI-SAE system. The first two digits indicate the principal alloying element or group of elements in the steel, and the last two digits indicate the hundredths of percent of carbon in the steel. We can summarize the effects of the principal alloying ingredients as follows: Alloying elements Chromium Molybdenum Nickel Vanadium Maganese + increase Strength + + + + + hardness + + + + Hot hardness + + Wear resistant + Corrosion resistance + + + + toughness