Functions of Alloy Elements on Steel

1. To increase hardenability
2. To increase resistance to softening and tempering
3. To increase resistance to corrosion
4. To improve high temperature properties
5. To increase high resistance to abrasion
6. To strengthen ferrite
Designations of Steel
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)

This is due to the increasing demand for standard

specifications for alloy steel
 Designations of Steel

SAE 1020
Refers to which
specification it
belongs

Refers to the type of alloy A Plain Carbon Steel of SAE

Specifications containing from
Refers to the series within 0.15 to 0.25 per cent Carbon
that alloy group

Refers to the points of Types of Steel (Figure Basis)

Carbon in the steel 1. Carbon 6. Chromium-Vanadium
2. Nickel 7. Tungsten
One point of Carbon = 0.01 per cent 3. Nickel-Chrome 8. Nickel-Chromium-Molybdenum
4. Molybdenum 9. Silicomanganese
5. Chromium
Nickel
One of the first developed alloy steel is the nickel
steel.
Nickel increased the strength and toughness of the
steel. These steels, which are still very important,
contain from 2 to 5 per cent nickel and from 0.10 to
0.50 per cent carbon. In this range, nickel contributes
great strength and hardness with elastic limit and
good ductility.
Chromium
 Chromium is used in steels as an alloying element
to combine hardness obtained by quenching with
high strength and high elastic limit.
Chromium in sufficiently large amounts also imparts
corrosion-resisting properties to the steel. Without
hardening and tempering by heat treatment,
chromium steels are not superior to plain carbon
steels, except that they are somewhat more ductile.
Chromium
 However, chrome steel when quenched and
tempered at about 12000F they have about double
the tensile strength, triple the yield point, and half
the ductility of the corresponding annealed steel.
The greatest use of chromium steels is in the
manufacture of high grade balls, rollers, and races for
bearings; and armor-piercing projectiles and armor
plates.
Chromium
 In a more limited degree, it is used for tools, dies,
gears, safes, and vaults.
 High-chromium steels are used to resist corrosion,
to impart greater wear-resistance, and to increase the
creep strength for high-temperature service.
Manganese
Steel containing 1.5 to 5 per cent of
manganese is very brittle and useless, but
with from 7 to 19 per cent the strength is
increased. Manganese steel usually contains
from 11 to 14 per cent manganese from 0.8 to
1.5 per cent carbon, and possesses a
combination of extreme hardness and
ductility.
Manganese
 This combination is acquired by quenching
the steel in water, from 1800 F. It is usually
cast into the desired shape and finished by
grinding. The wear-resistance of this
material is attributed to its ability to strain
harden.
Manganese
 Strain Harden, that is, the hardness is
increased greatly when the steel is cold
worked.
Manganese in quenched condition is
austenitic; if it is cooled slowly the carbides
are precipitated at the grain boundaries. The
steel tends to become martensitic and
correspondingly brittle.