Crash Course on Steel and its Properties

In a series of two blogs titled "Know Your Iron'', readers were made
cognizant of Fe's chemical as well as physical properties. (Read the blog -
https://sgffab.blogspot.com/2018/10/everything-to-know-about-iron-from-sgf.html)
In this article, chapter and verse on steel and stainless steel would be given.
Metals like iron, aluminum, copper, et al are extensively used in the
construction industry. Their importance is manifold as they provide a
scaffolding that stands the test of time. These metals, dovetailed with know-
how and innovation, have produced a plethora of mesmerizing marvels in
the world. These metals bear the weight of globalization, industrialization,
and innovation. Companies and industries are constantly putting together
these strong, robust metals and their resilient alloys to develop novel and
sturdy machines and implements.

Source - indiasteel.in

One such giant is single girder crane manufacturers SGF Fab. These
log handling crane manufacturers have established an irreproachable
name for themselves in the construction equipage industry.
SGF Fab provide infallible cranes, material handling equipment, and
industrial fabrications that escalate a gamut of activities. What
distinguishes these grab manufacturers in India is their service of
tailor-made equipage. Customize equipment according to a site's or job's
necessity.
A plethora of companies is also dabbling in inventing new substances,
alloys, and materials from these metals. Steel, like some vital alloys, is
ineluctable. Let's have a gander at steel and its properties.

History
Commercial steel production in the late 19th century was a result of Sir
Henry Bessemer's creation of an efficient way to lower the carbon content
in cast iron. By lowering C's amount in iron to about 2 percent, the much
harder and more malleable metal product of steel is produced. However, for
a 360 view of the history of steel, you'll have to go back 4,000 years to the
beginning of the Iron Age. Steel has been with us for a very long time.

Production
Today, most steel is produced by basic oxygen methods (also known as
basic oxygen steelmaking or BOS). BOS derives its name from the process
that requires oxygen to be blown into large vessels containing molten iron
and scrap steel.

Although BOS accounts for the largest share of global steel production, the
use of electric arc furnaces (EAF) now accounts for about one-third of all
steel production.

Grades
According to the World Steel Association, there are over 3,500 different
grades of steel, encompassing unique physical, chemical, and
environmental properties. You might be wondering how there can be so
many different grades of steel when steel is only composed of iron and
carbon. That's because the amount of carbon as well as the level of
impurities and additional alloying elements determine the properties of
each steel grade, and those combinations reach very high numbers.
Commercial steel is generally classified into four groups depending on
their metal alloy content -

1. Carbon Steels (which include low carbon, medium carbon, and high
carbon steels)
 2. Alloy Steels (which include such common alloy metals
as manganese, silicon, nickel, and chromium)
3. Stainless Steels (which contain about 10 percent chromium and are
classified as austenitic, ferritic, and martensitic)
4. Tool Steels (which are steels that are alloyed with high temperature
and hard metals, such as molybdenum and tungsten)

A wide range of alloy compositions allow steel to have diverse mechanical

properties.

Properties
Different types of steel are produced according to the properties required
for their application, and various grading systems are used to distinguish
steels based on these properties, which include density, elasticity, melting
point, thermal conductivity, strength, and hardness (among others).

According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), steels can be
broadly categorized into four groups based on their chemical compositions:

1. Carbon Steels
2. Alloy Steels
3. Stainless Steels
4. Tool Steels

Applications
It is steel's properties that have made it the most widely used and most
recycled metal material on earth. From stainless and high-temperature
steels to flat carbon products, steel's various forms and alloys offer different
properties to meet a wide range of applications. For these reasons, as well
as the metal's combination of high strength and a relatively low production
cost, Steel applications make steel a durable and aesthetic metal used today
in countless products.

This information on steel is just a drop in the ocean. However, the above
paragraphs cover a substantial amount of information on this magical,
humble alloy.

Types of Stainless Steel

There are five major types of stainless steel. They are -

Austenitic stainless steels are 200 series or 300 series. They are non
magnetic and have high corrosion resistance. They can be hardened only by
cold working – not by heat treatment. They are highly formable. But, they
are prone to stress corrosion cracking. There are three subtypes: straight, L
and H. L types have higher corrosion resistance than the straight types.
Austenitic stainless steels are used in shafts, valves, bolts, bushings, nuts,
aircraft fittings, chemical equipment, food processing equipment, brewing
equipment, cryogenic vessels, etc.

Ferritic stainless steels are 400 series. They are magnetic. They have
lower ductility and lower corrosion resistance than the austenitic grades.
But, they offer high resistance to stress corrosion cracking. They are
hardened by cold working and are not heat treatable. Typical applications
are heat exchangers, automotive fasteners, furnace parts, and heater parts.

Martensitic stainless steels are 400 series and 500 series. They are
magnetic. They have higher strength, higher wear resistance and higher
fatigue resistance than the austenitic and ferritic grades. They can also be
heat treated. But, corrosion resistance is moderate and lower than the
austenitic and ferritic grades. Major applications are machine parts, pump
shafts, bolts, bushings, coal chutes, cutlery, hardware, jet engine parts,
mining machinery, rifle barrels, screws, valves, aircraft fittings, fire
extinguisher inserts, and rivets.

Precipitation Hardening Grade Stainless Steels are also called PH

types. Their corrosion resistance is equivalent to that of austenitic grades
and strength is generally higher than that of martensitic grades. They also
retain high strength at elevated temperatures. They are heat treatable, and
are mainly used in aerospace industry for aerospace structural components.
Duplex stainless steels are mixture of austenitic and ferritic. They
provide higher corrosion resistance than the austenitic stainless steels.
They are also more resistant to stress corrosion cracking than the austenitic
stainless steels. Duplex have higher strength than the austenitic grades.
Typical applications are water treatment plants and heat exchanger
components.

(Inputs from the balance)

___________________________________________________