Ferrite in Pearlite Matrix

Pearlite Lamellae

Cementite Boundary in Pearlite Matrix

Spheroidised Pearlite

Spheriodised Carbides in Ferrite Matrix

Quenched Martensite

Water Quenched Tempered Martensite

Quenched and Tempered Martensite

Ferrite,Martensite,Bainite

Bainite, Martensite,Pearlite

Bainite with Austenite Boundary

Steel
Low Carbon Steel

This is the microstructure of a high carbon steel, also known as mild steel. It contains about
0.1% C by weight, alloyed with iron. The steel has two major constituents, which are ferrite and
pearlite.
The light coloured region of the microstructure is the ferrite. The grain boundaries between the
ferrite grains can be seen quite clearly.
The dark regions are the pearlite. It is made up from a fine mixture of ferrite and iron carbide,
which can be seen as a "wormy" texture.
You can also see small spots within the ferrite grains. These are inclusions or impurities such as
oxides and sulphides.
The properties of the steel depends upon the microstructure. Decreasing the size of the grains
and decreasing the amount of pearlite improves the strength, ductility and the toughness of the
steel.
The inclusions can also affect the toughness. For example, they can encourage ductile fracture.
Mild steel is a very versatile and useful material. It can be machined and worked into complex
shapes, has low cost and good mechanical properties.

Medium Carbon Steel

0.3%c
High Carbon Steel

This is the microstructure of a high carbon steel. It contains about 0.8% C by weight, alloyed
with iron. The steel has one major constituent, which is pearlite.
It is made up from a fine mixture of ferrite and iron carbide, which can be seen as a "wormy"
texture.
The pearlite has a very fine structure, which makes the steel very hard. Unfortunately this also
makes the steel quite brittle and much less ductile than mild steel.
The high carbon steel has good wear resistance, and until recently was used for railways. It is
also used for cutting tools, such as chisels and high strength wires. These applications require a
much finer microstructure, which improves the toughness.

Normalised Steel

This is a medium carbon steel, which means that it contains about 0.3% carbon (as a proportion
of its mass). It is a typical engineering steel, although many steels are used in the normalised
condition.

The steel is heated to about 950C and then allowed to cool slowly or "naturally" in air. This
allows the steel to develop a microstructure of ferrite and pearlite. The ferrite is the light
background or matrix in the picture. The dark areas are pearlite.
The pearlite is hard and it gives the steel strength. The ferrite is soft and it gives the steel
ductility and toughness. If the amount of carbon in the steel is increased, this increases the
amount of pearlite in the steel. This has the effect of increasing the strength, but it also
decreases the ductility and toughness.
"Mild" steel, which has a low carbon content (less than 0.1%) has low strength and very good
ductility. It can be easily formed and shaped. Rail steel, which has a high carbon content (about
0.8%), has high strength and hardness, but cannot be easily deformed. It is often used to make
railway tracks.
The strength of the steel can be increased by quenching and then tempering.

Quenched Steel

This is the same steel as the "normalised" steel, but, after heating to about 950C, it was
quenched in water. This cooled the steel very quickly and instead of developing the ferrite and
pearlite microstructure, a martensitic microstructure was produced.
This is an example of a "diffusion- less" phase transformation. The ferrite and pearlite form by
phase transformations involving diffusion.
The martensite is extremely hard. This is because of carbon atoms which become trapped during
the very quick diffusionless phase transformation.
Unfortunately, the martensite is also extremely brittle and the steel is virtually useless in this
condition. Even though it's hard enough to scratch glass, you could snap it with your hands.
The quenched steel still needs to be tempered to make it useful.

Tempered Steel

The quenched steel is tempered by heating to about 200C for an hour. The heat allows the
trapped carbon to diffuse and many small carbide precipitates are developed.
The tempered steel is less hard than the quenched steel, and is much more tough. It is harder
and stronger than the normalised steel, but has less ductility.
Quenching and tempering is a common heat treatment and can be used to make tools, such as
chisels and also aircraft undercarriages.

Cast Iron

This is the microstructure of a grey cast iron. This is an alloy of iron (Fe) with 4% carbon (C) by
weight.
The microstructure has two main constituents. The long pale regions are flakes of graphite. They
have a shape similar to the cornflake breakfast cereal. The background or matrix of the alloy is
pearlite. This is a fine mixture of ferrite and iron carbide.
This alloy has a lower melting point than steel, due to the high carbon content. This makes it
very appropriate and economical for cast products, hence its name.

The graphite also improves the wear resistance of the iron by providing lubrication. However, it
causes a big reduction in toughness and ductility since the brittle graphite acts as a source of
cracks. Cast irons are much less tough than steels.

Silicon Carbide

This is the microstructure of a silicon carbide ceramic.

The microstructure has two main constituents. The darker grey particles are the grains of silicon
carbide (SiC). They are cemented by a matrix of glass. The glass prevents porosity in the
ceramic, which improves the toughness.
Silicon carbide has very good wear resistance and good oxidation resistance. It can be used for
cutting tools, or a low density material for turbochargers. The glass becomes soft at high
temperatures, which limits this material's applications.
Porosity can also be reduced by manufacturing the ceramic via other routes (such as hot isostatic
pressing), which allows the high temperature oxidation resistance to be used. Applications
include vanes and nozzles in jet engines.

Fiber Reinforced PP

Fibres are often used to improve the strength, stiffness and toughness of materials. These
materials are usually called fibre-reinforced composites.
The composite is made of fibres in a weaker matrix. The fibres can be carbon fibre or aramid (or
Kevlar) fibres. These have very high stiffness and strength.
The composite will have a high strength and stiffness, if the adhesion or bond between the fibre
and matrix is strong.
If the bond between the fibre and the matrix is weak, the composite will not be strong or stiff.
However, it can be very tough because the easy failure of large areas of the bond absorbs a lot of
energy.
Materials scientists control the strength of the bond to obtain the best combination of strength,
stiffness and toughness. This can be done by surface treatments, such as plasma spraying or
chemical reactions, which roughen the surface of the fibre.
This picture shows an aramid (Kevlar) fibre in a polypropylene matrix. The rough surface of the
fibre has encouraged the formation of crystals in the polypropylene, at the interface between the
fibre and the matrix. This has produced a strong interface and the composite has good strength
and stiffness.