Stainless Steel
Carbon and nitrogen atoms stay small enough to enter the alpha and gamma iron lattices as interstitial solute atoms.
Manganese, nickel, and chromium atoms are much larger. Those atoms sit near iron size and enter as substitutional solid solution instead.
#+TABLE_NAME: atomic_sizes_non_metallic_elements_iron
Atomic sizes of non-metallic elements in iron
| Element | Atomic radius, r (Ã…) | r/rFe |
|---|---|---|
| α-Fe | 1.28 | 1.00 |
| B | 0.94 | 0.73 |
| C | 0.77 | 0.60 |
| N | 0.72 | 0.57 |
| O | 0.60 | 0.47 |
| H | 0.46 | 0.36 |
Strengthening of Iron and its alloys
Pure iron is weak. Steel spans a wide strength range, from 200 to 5500 MN m^-2. It maintains toughness across all levels.
Multiple methods strengthen steel. You can combine mechanisms. Quantifying each contribution remains difficult despite progress in mathematical models.
Iron can strengthen through several mechanisms, like other metals. The most important ones are as follows.
1. Work hardening. 2. Solid solution strengthening by interstitial atoms. 3. Solid solution strengthening by substitutional atoms. 4. Refinement of grain size. 5. Dispersion strengthening, including lamellar and random dispersed structures.
Related
- Metallurgy - the parent topic
- Materials Selection - why you would pick it
- Metallography - how you would verify the phase balance
- EDS - confirming the Cr/Mo content
- Fasteners - the largest application of stainless
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- MetallographyMechanical Engineering
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