ENGINEERING MATERIALS

Engineering Materials is classified in four groups - metals, polymers, ceramics and

composites.

Metals are of great importance in engineering because they possess so many

properties that are needed to make components and structures such as
conductivity and ductility. Or any of several solid mineral elements (such as iron,
gold, silver, copper, etc.) that are malleable under heat or pressure and can conduct
heat and electricity. The metallic elements are classified as Iron (Ferrous) and not
Iron (Non-ferrous). Any alloy containing iron is termed as Ferrous.

CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS

FERROUS MATERIALS – is an adjective used to indicate the presence of iron.

Ferrous metals include steel, cast iron (alloys Fe + Cl) and alloys of iron with other
metals (such as stainless steel). Alloy is a mixture of two or more substances where
at least one of them is a metal. Examples of alloys are steels, cast iron, brass,
bronze, etc. Pure metals have no practical use in industrial applications due to its
low properties.

Iron ore is quite abundant and cheap and can be made into a variety of iron based
materials. Iron is produced by melting the ore and other materials in a blast furnace
and then refining it. Pure iron is very difficult to produce.

Cast Iron. Cast iron was one of the first materials to be used for large scale
structures. The carbon forms as graphite flakes and this makes the material very
brittle but it is good for casting complex shapes. It does not rust easily so it is used
to make decorative outdoor structures such as garden furniture.

Wrought Iron. It is produced by repeatedly heating strips, stretching it and folding it.
This disperses the carbon and produces a material with properties similar to pure
iron. Being difficult to make it is expensive.

Carbon Steels. Steel is an alloy of iron and other elements that gives the required
properties. One of the most important elements is carbon.

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NON-FERROUS MATERIALS – is used to indicate metals other than iron and alloys
that do not contain an appreciable amount of iron. The following are the lists of non-
ferrous metals with some of their properties:

Copper
- red color
- a good conductor of heat and electricity and widely used for electrical components
- good corrosion resistant
- malleable and ductile and easily drawn into wire and tube
- easily joined by soldering

Aluminium
- white color
- not as good as copper for conducting electricity but cheaper and often used instead of
copper
- good corrosion resistance
- can be made into light and strong aluminium alloy and is used for many structural
components
- easily rolled into thin sheets and foil
- often extruded into various sections for light structures

Lead
- bluish gray color
- very heavy (dense). Used for screening from radiation.
- soft
- good corrosion resistant
- added to other metals to make them more machineable
- added to tin its makes solder.

Tin
- silvery white color
- good corrosion resistance and used to coat other metals
- widely alloyed with other metals e.g. to make bearings

Zinc
- bluish white color
- good corrosion resistance
- used to coat steel sheets and components such as nails (galvanized).
- widely alloyed with other metals to make good casting material.

Silver
- the best electrical conductor of all but too expensive for making wires and cables
- mainly used for jewellery

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Gold
- very resistant to oxidisation and used for coating electrical contacts in high quality
switches
- mainly used for jewellery

Platinum
- better than gold but more expensive
- mainly used for jewellery

Alloys
- Common elements that are added to make alloy steel are molybdenum,
manganese, nickel, silicon, boron, chromium, boron and vanadium. Some of the
alloys formed by these metals are:
Brass – mainly copper and zinc
Bronze – mainly copper and tin and often with phosphor added.

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CLASSIFICATIONS OF COMMERCIAL STEELS

Plain Carbon Steels is a type of steel that has less than 1% of carbon and traces of
manganese, sulfur, silicon and phosphorus. Plain carbon steels is subdivided into
low carbon steel, medium carbon steel, high carbon steel and very high carbon
steel.

Low-alloy steels are steels containing less than 8% total alloying elements and have
higher strength of plain carbon. Types of low-alloy steels are structural steel, high-
strength steel and ultra high strength steel. In low alloy steel the carbon content is
below 0.25% and often 0.15% for specially welding applications and the common
alloying materials are manganese, nickel, chromium,molybdenum,silicon,vanadium
and boron and the less common alloying elements are aluminum, cobalt,copper,
titanium,tungsten,tin and zirconium. Mostly low alloy steel is used to achieve better
hardenability and is increased corrosion resistance in certain environment. Low
alloy steel is difficult to weld. By lowering the carbon content to 0.10% along with
other alloying materials it increase strength of the material.

High-alloy steels contain more than 8% total alloying elements. High alloy steel
consists of at least two chemical elements and the properties of this type of steel
depend on the percentage of chemical element present in it. If the percentage is
high then its properties are depend on that chemical element with high percentage.
High alloy steel is highly corrosion resistant with high reliability, and is used
extensively in petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and nuclear power plants, heat
exchangers, centrifugal separators, driers, pipelines, couplings, valves, bolts, salt
manufacturing, exhaust gas desulfurizer, and semiconductor cleaning equipment.

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CLASSIFICATIONS OF PLAIN CARBON STEELS

Low carbon steel (less than 0.3% carbon) are used for wire, structural shapes, and
screw machine parts. They can be machined and welded nicely and their ductility is
greater than high carbon steel.

Medium-carbon steel (0.30 – 0.45% carbon) are used for axles, gears and similar
parts requiring medium to high hardness and high strength. Due to increased
carbon content there is an increase in hardness and tensile strength and decrease
ductility. And its machining and welding is difficult than low-carbon steel due to
increased content of carbon.

High-carbon steel (0.45 – 0.75% carbon) are used for drills, cutting tools, and knives.
And it is the challenge for welding and machining on this type of steel. Heating is
necessary to produce acceptable welds and is also used to control the mechanical
properties of steel after welding.

Very-high carbon steel (0.75 – 1.5% carbon). This type of steel requires heat before,
during and after welding to control its mechanical properties. This type of steel is
used for hard steel product such as metal cutting tools and truck springs.

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CLASSIFICATIONS OF HIGH-ALLOY STEELS

Stainless Steel is a steel formed by the addition of chromium and with a minimum of
10% chromium content. These steel is more resistant to stains, corrosion and rust
than ordinary steels. Stainless steel is commonly used in table cutlery, jewelry,
watch bands, watches, handgun model, pistol, storage tanks, tankers, food
processing plant, surgical instruments and in aviation industry.

Designation system of alloy steel:

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has established three-digit system for the
stainless steels:
2XX series - chromium-nickel-manganese austenitic stainless steel
3XX series - chromium-nickel austenitic stainless steel
4XX series - chromium martensitic stainless steel or ferritic stainless steel
5XX series - low chromium martensitic stainless steel

Tool and Die Steels are high carbon steels (either carbon or alloy) possessing high
hardness, strength and wear resistance. With carbon content between 0.7% to
1.5%, tool steels are manufactured under conditions to produce the required quality
of steel. In order to increase the hardness and wear resistance to tool steels,
alloying elements forming hard and stable carbides (chromium, tungsten,
vanadium, manganese, molybdenum) are added to the composition. Tool and die
steels are used to shape other metals by cutting, forming, machining and die
casting. Tool and die steel is used to make chisels, forging dies, hummers, drills,
cutters, shear blades, drills and razors.

American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has
established one letter system combination with a number for tool steel. The letter
means:

W - water hardened plain carbon

steel O - oil hardening cold work
alloy steel A - air hardening cold
work alloy steel
D - diffused hardening cold work alloy steel
S - shock resistance low carbon tool steel
T - high speed tungsten tool steel
M - high speed molybdenum tool
steel H - hot work tool steel
P - plastic mold tool steel

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AISI and SAE Designation of Steel

AISI Y XXXX SAE XXXX

Y is a letter, used in AISI only, to indicate the method of manufacturing (or steel
making technology). Letter prefixes before the four-digit number:
A - Alloy, basic open hearth
B - Carbon, acid Bessemer
C - Carbon, basic open hearth
D - Carbon, acid open hearth
E - Electric furnace

First number (or first two numbers) represents class of steel; First digit 1 indicates
carbon steel while 2 – 9 are used for alloy steels.

Second number indicates the approximate percentage of the principal alloying element.

Last two numbers indicate 100 times the approximate percentage of carbon
present in the metal or 0.01% carbon concentration.

Steel
Plain Carbon 10XX
Free Cutting
11XX
Manganese
13XX Boron
14XX
Nickel 2XXX
Nickel-Chromium 3XXX
Heat and corrosion resistant 303XX
Molybdenum 4XXX
Molybdenum-Chromium 41XX
Molybdenum-chromium-nickel
43XX Molybdenum-nickel 46XX
Molybdenum-chromium-nickel
47XX Molybdenum-nickel 48XX
Chromium 5XXX
Heat and corrosion 514XX
resistant 515XX
Chromium-vanadium 6XXX
Nickel-chromium-molybdenum – 8XXX
Silicon-manganese – 92XX
Nickel-chromium-molybdenum – 9XXX (except 92XX)

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For Example:

SAE 1030

First digit indicates carbon steel.

Second digit indicates modification of steel.

0 - Plain carbon (non-modified)

1 - Resulfurized
2 - Resulfurized and
rephosphorized 5 - Non-
resulfurized, Mn over 1.0%

Last two digits indicate carbon concentration in 0.01%.

SAE 1030 means non-modified carbon steel, containing 0.30% of carbon.

AISI B1020 means non-modified carbon steel, produced in acid Bessemer and
containing 0.20% of carbon.
SAE 5130 means alloy chromium steel, containing 1% chromium and 0.30% of carbon.

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CLASSIFICATIONS OF STAINLESS STEELS (HIGH-ALLOY STEELS)

Ferritic stainless steels

Contain more than 12–27 percent chromium and contain no nickel (part of the AISI
400 series). Turbine blades are manufactured from ferritic stainless steels.

Martensitic stainless steels

Are heat-treatable and contain no nickel, primarily in higher carbon contents (part
of the AISI 400 series). Surgical instruments are manufactured from martensitic
stainless steels.

Austenitic stainless steels

Contain 4–22% nickel as an alloying element and are commonly used for general
corrosive purposes. Basic composition is 8% nickel and 18% chromium (18-8 type).
Austenitic stainless steels are weldable, non-magnetic, hardenable, and can be
polished to a mirror finish.

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CLASSIFICATIONS OF CAST IRONS

White cast irons

Hard, brittle, and not weldable. Wear-resistant cast irons consisting of pearlite and
cementite. They have a compressive strength of more than 200,000 psi, and when
annealed, they become malleable cast iron.

Grey cast irons

Cast irons with slow cooling, consisting of ferrite and dispersed graphite flakes. This
cast iron is relatively soft, easily machined and welded, and used for machine
blocks, pipes, and machine tool structures.

Malleable cast irons

Produced by heat treatment of white cast irons and consisting of ferrite and
particles of free graphite. It can be welded, machined, is ductile, and offers good
strength and shock resistance.

Nodular (ductile) cast irons

Grey cast irons in which graphite particles are modified by magnesium added to the
melt before casting. Nodular cast iron consists of spheroidal nodular graphite
particles in ferrite or pearlite matrix. It gets this name because its carbon is in the
shape of small spheres, not flakes. Nodular cast iron is ductile and malleable.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF MATERIALS

Physical Properties – Are the distinguishing qualities that a material normally

possesses while not acted upon by external forces. Among these properties are
density, specific heat, thermal conductivity, coefficient of expansion, etc.

Mechanical Properties – Are those characteristics which describe the behavior of

materials when acted upon by forces. These properties include strength, ductility,
machinability, elasticity, and hardness.

Chemical Properties – Are the characteristics of a given material in relation to its

behavior in chemical reactions, especially in connection with corrosion, caustic
embrittlement, presence of alloying ingredients, and formation of compounds.

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SOME IMPORTANT PROPERTIES

Brittleness – Tendency to fracture without appreciable deformation.

Ductility – The property that permits permanent deformation before fracture in

tension. Ductility is the property of a material by virtue of which it may be
plastically elongated.

Elasticity – Ability of a material to be deformed and return to its original shape.

Elasticity enables the material to regain its original form and shape when the
externally applied force is removed. It is essentially the opposite of plasticity.

Hardness – Resistance to indentation or penetration.

Machinability – Relative ease with which a material can be cut.

Malleability – Susceptibility to extreme deformation in rolling and hammering. It is

the property of a material by virtue of which it may be plastically compressed.

Plasticity – Ability of a metal to be deformed considerably without rupture. Plasticity

is the property of a material by virtue of which permanent deformation will occur.

Stiffness – Ability to resist deformation.

Toughness – Ability to withstand shock load without breaking.

Poisson's Ratio – The ratio of the transverse strain to the longitudinal strain.
Poisson’s ratio is constant within the proportional limit.

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IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT ENGINEERING MATERIALS

Steel is the most prevalent engineering metal due to the abundance of iron ore,
low cost, simplicity of production, and high performance.

Metals are the most commonly used materials in engineering design.

Metallurgy is the study that encompasses the procurement and production of

metals. Extractive metallurgy is the study which covers the refinement of pure

metals from their ores. Iron (Fe) is obtained from oxides (Fe₂O₃).

Gangue is the earth and stone mixed with the iron oxides.

Blast furnace is the place in which the process to reduce iron oxides to pure iron.

Coke is coal that has been previously burned.

Bessemer and oxygen processes are used to reduce the carbon content and purify the
iron.

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MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Elastic Limit – The maximum stress to which a material may be subjected without a
trace of any permanent set remaining upon complete withdrawal of the stress.

Proportional Limit – The maximum stress to which a material can be subjected

without any deviation from the proportionality of stress and strain.

Yield Point – The stress at which the strain begins to increase very rapidly
without a corresponding increase in the stress.

Yield Strength – An arbitrary stress intensity to be used for materials not having a well-
defined yield point.

Ultimate Strength – Maximum stress to which a material may be subjected before

failure occurs.

Endurance Limit – The maximum stress induced in a material when subjected to

alternating or repeated load without causing failure.

Endurance Strength – The stress that will produce failure in some specified number
of cycles of the stress application.

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HEAT TREATMENT PRACTICES

Annealing – Heating above the transformation range, usually 1300 to 1350°F, and
cooling slowly to soften the metal and increase ease in machining.

Hardening – Heating above the transformation temperature and quenching, usually

in oil, for the purpose of increasing hardness.

Normalizing – Heating to some 100°F above the transformation range with

subsequent cooling to below that range in still air at room temperature to produce
uniform structure of the metal. It is used to release internal strains caused by cold
working.

Stress Relieving – Heating to a subcritical temperature, about 1100 to 1300°F, and

holding at that temperature for a suitable time for the purpose of reducing internal
residual stresses.

Tempering – Reheating to a temperature below the transformation range, followed

by any desired rate of cooling to attain the desired properties of the metal.

Case Hardening – Process of hardening the surface or case of a metal to provide

a hard, wear-resistant surface while retaining toughness in the core.

METAL FORMING PROCESSES

Rolling – Process of forming metal parts by the use of dies after the metal is
heated to its plastic range.

Forging – Process of forming metal parts by the use of powerful pressure from a
hammer or press to obtain the desired shape, after the metal has been heated to its
plastic range.

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COMMONLY USED METALS

Metal: Wrought Iron

Description: Iron formed by hammering and rolling
operations Uses: Rivets, welded steam, and water pipes

Metal: Cast Iron

Description: Iron formed by casting
Uses: Cylinder blocks, brake drums, gears, machine tool ways

Metal: Malleable Iron

Description: Heat-treated cast iron which is strong, ductile, and easily
machined Uses: Gears

Metal: Nodular Cast Iron

Description: Cast iron added with magnesium and cerium to become stronger and
more ductile Uses: Casings, crankshafts, hubs, rolls, forming die

Metal: Cast Steel

Description: Steel formed by casting
Uses: Gears, crankshafts, cylinder
barrels

Metal: Wrought Steel

Description: Steel formed by hammering, rolling, or
drawing Uses: Bars, tubes

Metal: Stainless Steel

Description: Steel obtained by the addition of
chromium Uses: Steam turbine blades, valves

Metal: Brass
Description: Alloy of copper and zinc. These alloys are highly resistant to corrosion,
easily machinable and make good bearing materials.
Uses: Propeller shafts, piston rods, screws, etc.

Metal: Bronze
Description: Alloy of copper, tin, and phosphorus. Bronzes are more costly than
brasses. Uses: Clutch disks, pump rods, shafts, valve stems, etc.

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FUNCTIONS OF ALLOYING ELEMENTS (CHEMICAL SYMBOL IN PARENTHESIS)

Aluminum (Al) - is an efficient deoxidizer, an alloy in nitriding steels (nitralloys), and

it promotes fine grain size.

Boron (B) - in very small amounts (0.001% or less) is an economical hardenability

agent in low or medium carbon deoxidized steels.

Chromium (Cr) - improves hardenability economically, resistance to corrosion (with

other alloys), strength at high temperatures, and wearing properties (high carbon).

Cobalt (Co) - improves red hardness.

Columbium (Cb) - is often used to stabilize stainless steel.

Copper (Cu) - improves steels resistance to atmospheric corrosion.

Lead (Pb) - improves machinability, but affects different alloys differently.

Manganese (Mn) - improves strength and increases hardenability moderately,

counteracts brittleness from sulfur.

Molybdenum (Mo) - increases hardenability markedly and economically, tends to

counteract temper brittleness, improving creep strength and red hardness; it
improves wear by forming abrasion-resistant particles.

Nickel (Ni) - strengthens unquenched and annealed steels, toughens steel

(especially at low temperatures), and simplifies heat treatment by lessening
distortion. It is the most element for reducing the brittleness of steel at very low
temperature.

Phosphorous (P) - increases hardenability, strengthens low carbon steels, improves

machinability of free cutting steels, and improves resistance to corrosion.

Selenium (Se) - improves machinability of stainless steel; also added to leaded

resulfurized carbon steels for the same purpose.

Silicon (Si) - strengthens low alloy steels and improves resistance to high
temperature oxidation; it is a good general purpose deoxidizer and promotes fine
grain.

Tantalum (Ta) - is a good stabilizer.

Titanium (Ti) - is used for deoxidation and for stabilizing austenitic stainless steels; it
increases the hardness and strength of low carbon steel and improves creep
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strength.

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Tungsten (W) - increases hardenability markedly in small amounts and improves
hardness and strength at high temperature.

Vanadium (V) - promotes fine grain structure, improves the ratio of endurance
strength to ultimate strength of medium carbon steels, increases hardenability
strongly when dissolved, and results in retention of strength and hardness at high
temperature; it is the most effective element in retarding softening during
tempering.

USES OF ALLOY STEELS

AISI 1330: Bolts, studs, tubing subjected to torsional stresses.

AISI 2330: Quenched and tempered shafting, connecting rods, very highly stressed
bolts, forgings.

AISI 2350: High capacity gears, shafts, heavy duty machine parts.

AISI 3130: Shafts, bolts, steering knuckles.

AISI 3140: Aircraft and truck engine crankshafts, oil well tool joints, spline shafts,
axles, ears, moving equipment.

AISI 3150: Wear resisting parts in excavating and farm machinery, gears, forgings.

AISI 3240: Shafts, highly stressed pins and keys, gears.

AISI 3300 series: For heavy parts requiring deep penetration of the heat treatment
and high fatigue strength per unit weight.

AISI 4063: Leaf and coil springs.

AISI 4130, 4140: Automotive connecting rods and axles, aircraft parts and tubing.

AISI 4340: Crankshafts, axles, gears, landing gear parts; perhaps the best general
purpose AISI steel.

AISI 4640: Gears, splined shafts, hand tools, miscellaneous heavy duty machine parts.

AISI 8630: Connecting rods, bolts, shapes; air hardens after welding.

AISI 8640, 8740: Gears, propeller shafts, knuckles, shapes.

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DEFINITION OF TERMS

Age Hardening - is a change in a metal by which its structure recovers from an

unstable or metastable condition that has been produced by quenching or cold
working.

Alloy - is a substance with metallic properties, composed of two or more elements of

which at least one is a metal.

Alloying elements - in steel are usually considered to be the metallic elements added
for the purpose of modifying the properties.

Anisotropy - is the characteristic of exhibiting or enabling different properties when

tested in different directions (as tensile strength “with the grain” or “across the
grain”).

Brittleness - is the tendency to fracture without appreciable deformation.

Charpy test - is one in which a specimen, supported at both ends as a simple beam,
is broken by the impact of a falling pendulum.

Cold shortness - is brittleness of metals at ordinary or low temperatures.

Cold working - is the process of deforming a metal plastically at a temperature

below the recrystallization temperature and at a rate to produce strain hardening.
Cold working is the forming of the metal while at a low temperature.

Creep - continuous increase in the strain, or deformation, of any material subjected

to stress at high temperature for a long period of time.

Damping capacity - is the ability of a material to absorb or damp vibrations, which is

a process of absorbing kinetic energy of vibration owing to hysteresis.

Decarburization - is a loss of carbon from the surface of steel, occurring during hot
rolling, forging, and heat treating, when the surrounding medium reacts with the
carbon (as oxygen and carbon combining).

Ductility - is that property that permits permanent deformation before fracture in

tension.

Elasticity - is the ability of a material to be deformed and to return to the original shape.

Embrittlement - involves the loss of ductility because of a physical or chemical

change of the material.

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Free carbon - is that part of the carbon content of an iron or steel that is in the form
of graphite or temper carbon.

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Hard drawn - is a temper produced in a wire, rod, or tube by cold drawing.

Homogeneous materials - (have homogeneity) have the same structure at all points.

Hot Working - is referred to working a metal by rolling, forging, hot extrusion, or hot
pressing, in which the metal is sufficiently heated to sustain high plasticity and
easily worked.

Isotropic - materials that have the same properties in all directions.

Izod test - is a test in which a specimen, supported at one end as a cantilever beam,
is broken by the impact of a falling pendulum.

Killed steel - is steel that has been deoxidized with a strong deoxidizing agent, such
as silicon or aluminum, in order to eliminate a reaction between the carbon and
oxygen during solidification.

Machinability - is a somewhat indefinite property that refers to the relative ease with
which a material can be cut.

Malleability - is a material’s susceptibility to extreme deformation in rolling or

hammering.

Mechanical properties - are those that have to do with stress and strain.

Modulus of Resilience - is the strain energy that can be absorbed by a unit volume of
material when the stress is at the proportional limit.

Modulus of Toughness - is the energy absorbing capacity by a unit volume of material.

Percentage elongation - is the extension in the vicinity of the fracture of a tensile

specimen, expressed as a percentage of the original gage length.

Percentage reduction area - is the smallest area at the point of rupture of a tensile
specimen divided by the original area.

Physical properties - exclude mechanical properties, and are other physical

properties such as density, conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion.

Plasticity - is the ability of a metal to be deformed considerably without rupture.

Poisson’s ratio - is the ratio of the lateral strain to the longitudinal strain when the
element is loaded with longitudinal tensile force.

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Precipitation heat treatment - brings about the precipitation of a constituent from a
supersaturated solid solution by holding the body at an elevated temperature, also
called artificial aging.

Proof stress - is that stress which causes a specified permanent deformation of a

material, usually 0.01% or less.

Red shortness - is a brittleness in steel when it is red hot.

Relaxation - associated with creep, is the decreasing stress at a constant strain;

important for metals in high-temperature service.

Residual stresses - are those that do due to applied loads or temperature gradients.

Resilience of a material - is the capacity to absorb energy within the elastic range. It
is measured by the modulus of resilience.

Rimmed steel - is incompletely deoxidized steel.

Solution heat treatment - is the process of holding an alloy at a suitably high

temperature long enough to permit one or more constituents to pass into solid
solution and then cooling fast enough to hold the constituents as a supersaturated
solution.

Stiffness - is the ability to resist deformation.

Strain hardening - is increasing the hardness and strength by plastic deformation at

temperatures lower than the recrystallization temperature.

Temper - is a condition produced in a non-ferrous metal by mechanical or thermal

treatment.

Toughness - is the capacity of a material to withstand a shock load without breaking

or bruising; it is the ability of a material to absorb energy in the plastic range and is
measured by the modulus of toughness.

Transverse strength - refers to the results of a transverse bend test, the specimen
being mounted as a simple beam; also called rupture modulus.

Work hardening - is the same as strain hardening.

Wrought steel - is steel that has been hammered, rolled, or drawn in the process of
manufacture; it may be plain carbon or alloy steel.

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CORROSION

Corrosion is the natural deterioration of a metal in which metallic atoms leave the
metal or form compounds in the presence of water or gases. General corrosion may
be minimized by the use of corrosion-resistant materials and the addition of
protective coatings and liners.

Galvanic corrosion occurs when dissimilar metals exist at different electrical

potentials in the presence of an electrolyte. Galvanic corrosion may be reduced by
the careful design and selection of materials regarding dissimilar metals and the
use of sacrificial anodes.

Localized corrosion can be especially damaging in the presence of other destructive

forces such as stress, fatigue, and other forms of chemical attack.

Stress-corrosion cracking occurs at grain boundaries under tensile stress. It

propagates as stress opens cracks that are subject to corrosion, ultimately
weakening the metal until failure. Effective means of reducing SCC are:
● Proper design
● Reducing stress
● Removing corrosive agents
● Avoiding areas of chloride and hydroxide ion concentration.

Chloride stress corrosion occurs in austenitic stainless steels under tensile stress in
the presence of oxygen, chloride ions, and high temperature. It is controlled by the
removal of oxygen and chloride ions in the environment and the use of low-carbon
steels.

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