Additional Handout for Material Processing:

Steel Making:

In steel making when Iron is separated from the ore, it is poured in large moulds called ingots.
While cooling and solidification the following discontinuities are formed and are known as
inherent wrought discontinuities.

1. Pipe (Large void in the top of the ingot due to solidification contraction)
2. Non Metallic Inclusions
3. Porosity

Some steel mill incorporate a reservoir on top of the ingot to hold additional molten metal to
compensate for solidification shrinkage and eliminate or minimize the pipe (void) in the ingot.

The top portion with majority of the discontinuities is cut away or cropped and this part is known
as hot top.

Any remaining discontinuities may become a verity of discontinuities during further processing
such as rolling.

The porosity is flattened and become a lamination while rolling them in to plates. The Non
Metallic (slag) Inclusion in billets when rolled in to bar sections get elongated and become
stringers.

Castings:

The following are some typical casting discontinuities and possible reason for them to happen:

1. Hot Tear: Rupture of solidifying metal at junctions of thick & thin section of the casting
2. Cold Shut: Molten metal getting poured on a solidified layer resulting in an unfused layer
3. Unfused Chaplet: Insufficient temperature of molten metal to melt the chaplet surface
4. Shrinkage: Cavity created due to solidification shrinkage
5. Porosity: Gas entrapment (Happens on or near the surface)
6. Blow Holes: Rough surface due to blow of high pressure stream generated from wet mold
7. Scab: Sand from the mould getting incorporated in to the casting surface (mainly associated
with use of silica sand)

Forging:

Forging is one of the finest processes and is cable of producing products with excellent
mechanical properties. In this process, it is possible to control grain flow and achieve very high
mechanical properties, which makes the product stronger. The following are typical forging
defects and the possible reasons:

1. Forging Lap: Miss aligned dye

2. Forging Burst: Incorrect (low) forging temperature
3. Forging Flacks: Associated with high alloy forgings due to improper cooling control
4. Forging Tears: Due to improper handling of the forging within the dye

Welding Technology:

In SMAW (MMA), welding process low hydrogen process involves drying & subsequent holding
of the electrodes at the prescribed temperature that are specified by the electrode manufacturers
and the same must be systematically followed for achieving optimum results.
The welding process such as TIG (GTAW) and MIG are also low hydrogen process. GTAW is
one of the finest welding processes with low heat input, excellent mechanical properties, & good
surface finish. However it an expensive & require high levels of operator skill. TIG or MIG
welding processes are the most suitable ones for welding low-density materials such as
aluminum, titanium, cupper-nickel etc. TIG welding is excellent for welding very thin sheets of
such material as well. Since no coated electrodes are used in these processes, they are free
from possible slag inclusions.

SAW Welding process is good for high productivity due to the ability to use very high welding
currents in the range of 2,000 Amperes. This increases the weld deposition rate and at the same
time generates a very high heat in-put. This affects the mechanical properties and if proper
precautions are not taken, will lead to solidification or weld centre-line cracking.

The following are considered critical weld discontinuities:

1. Any type weld or HAZ* (Heat Affected Zone) cracking

2. Lack of Penetration
3. Lack of Fusion (Referred as Cold Lap or Over Lap if this occurs at the weld toe)
4. Porosity & slag are considered less critical (the only reason for a slag inclusion is improper
cleaning between passes of weld in SMAW (MMA), SAW & FCAW processes.)

Crater crack in welding is weld discontinuity associated with weld metal shrinkage and are
noticeable at the start stop points. The reason is lack of molten metal to compensate for weld
metal contraction during solidification. This appear like a star and hence known as star crack.
The solution is by passing the electrode for couple of seconds before lifting to provide additional
molten metal to compensate for the shrinkage.

* “Heat Affected Zone” is the area of the base metal adjacent to the fusion zone which is
subjected temperatures above the materials critical temperature affecting the micro structure.

In-service Failures:

The following are main reasons for in service failures

1. Corrosion: (Molecular break down due to contact with reactive elements)

2. Fatigue: (Subjecting a component to a cyclic loading. Any sharp notch present on the surface
of the components subjected to cyclic loading become a point of stress concentration (stress
risers) and the component begins to fail at this location)
3. Stress Corrosion: (Combined effect of corrosion & stress)
4. Overloading: (Loading the component with high work load not anticipated by the designer
leading to premature failure)

Extrusion:

Extrusion is done in three different ways in which the material in a plastic state is pushed
through a die having opening of the shape required such as Beams, Channels, Angles etc. there
are three different types commonly used and they are:

1. Direct,
2. Indirect &
3. Impact