MedVision ad

corrosion: carbon in steel? (1 Viewer)

mushroom_head

holey moley!
Joined
Jan 6, 2004
Messages
530
Location
yu-en-ess-double-yu
Gender
Female
HSC
2004
can someone plz explain to me how the percentage composition of carbon in steel can determine its properties? something to do with the more carbon, the more corrosive??
 

xiao1985

Active Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2003
Messages
5,704
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
more carbon, the harder the steel gets... but less tensile, and mroe susceptible to corrosion (as carbon act as a cathodic site)
 

Xayma

Lacking creativity
Joined
Sep 6, 2003
Messages
5,953
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
Yay for engineering studies finally helping for something.

The more carbon the more cementite (Fe<sub>3</sub>C) forms, this forms in phases with ferrite, to form pearlite up to .8% carbon, where all grains consist of pearlite.

Basically it will get harder, more brittle, loses a specific yield point (and goes to a progressive yield), less tensile, it also becomes denser (as carbon doesnt replace iron it takes in gaps between the structure.

In a steel under .8% (above that it gets slightly more complex) inside the grain the cementite acts as a cathode, whereas the ferrite phase is anodic, this corrodes and then the cementite due to its brittleness snaps off.

This also happens between the pearlite grains and ferrite grains.

Above .8% you form a cementite precipitate which generally stops corrosion around the grain boundries (areas of high stress). Then you get into the cast irons which is different again.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top