1.

Material Science and Mechanical Properties  Impact Tests:

This section defines the fundamental behaviors of materials o Izod Test: A test in which a specimen, supported at
under stress, strain, and various conditions. one end as a cantilever beam, is broken by the
impact of a falling pendulum.
 Deformation & Strength
o Charpy Test: One in which a specimen, supported
 Elasticity: The ability of a material to be deformed and to
at both ends as a simple beam, is broken by the
return to its original shape.
impact of a falling pendulum.
 Plasticity: The ability of the metal to be deformed
 Transverse Strength / Rupture Modulus: Refers to the
considerably without rupture, where the material does not
results of a transverse bend test, with the specimen mounted
return to its original shape.
as a simple beam; frequently applied to brittle materials like
 Stiffness: The ability to resist deformation; measured by cast iron.
the modulus of elasticity in the elastic range.
 Proof Stress: The stress which causes a specified
 Ductility: The property that permits permanent deformation permanent deformation of material, usually 0.01% or less.
before fracture in tension; measured by percent elongation.
 Material Classification & Structure
o Ductile materials: Greater than 5% elongation in a
 Homogeneous Materials: Materials that have the same
2-in. gage.
structure at all points.
o Brittle materials: Less than 2% elongation in a 2-
 Isotropic: Materials that have the same properties in all
in. gage. directions.
 Malleability: The material's susceptibility to extreme  Anisotropy: The characteristics of exhibiting different
deformation in rolling or hammering. properties when tested in different directions (as tensile
 Toughness: The capacity of a material to withstand a shock strength "with grain" or "across the grain").
load without breaking.  Damping Capacity: The ability of a material to absorb or
 Hardness: The measure of a material's resistance to damp vibrations, absorbing kinetic energy of vibration
indentation. owing to hysteresis and dissipating it as heat.

o Hard File: A term used for a hardness of perhaps  Embrittlement: Involves the loss of ductility because of a
600 Brinell. physical or chemical change of the material.

 Strain Hardening (Work Hardening): Increasing the o Red Shortness: A brittleness in steel when it is red
hardness and strength by plastic deformation at hot.
temperatures lower than the recrystallization range. The o Cold Shortness: The brittleness of metals at
result of a metal being stressed into its plastic range at
ordinary or low temperatures.
ordinary temperatures.
o Temper Brittleness: Brittleness that results when
 Residual Stresses: Stresses not due to applied loads or
certain steels are held within, or are cooled slowly
temperature gradients; they exist due to unequal cooling
through, a certain range of temperatures below the
rates, cold working, etc.
transformation range.
 Relaxation: Associated with creep and decreasing stress at
 Free Carbon: The part of the carbon content of steel or iron
a constant strain; important for metals in high-temperature
that is in the form of graphite or temper carbon.
service.
 Temper Carbon: The free or graphitic carbon that comes
 Creep: Implied through relaxation and high-temperature
out of solution usually in the form of rounded nodules in the
service contexts.
structure during graphitizing or malleablizing.
 Fillet Stress: The maximum tensile stress in the gear tooth
fillet.

 Contact Stress: The maximum compressive stress within

the contact zone between mating gear tooth profiles. Also
called Hertz stress.

 Testing & Measurement

 Percent Elongation: The extension in the vicinity of the

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

 Percent Reduction of Area: The smallest area at the point

of rupture of a tensile specimen divided by the original area.
2. Heat Treatment & Processing
 Poisson's Ratio: The ratio of lateral strain (contraction) to
longitudinal strain (extension) when an element is loaded
with a longitudinal force.
This section covers the operations involving heating, cooling,  Graphitizing: Causes the combined carbon to transform
and chemical changes to alter material properties. wholly or in part into graphitic or free carbon; applied to
cast iron or high-carbon steel.
General Operations
 Spheroidizing: Heating and cooling steel to produce a
 Heat Treatment: An operation involving the heating and rounded or globular form of carbide, typically by prolonged
cooling of a metal or alloy in the solid state for the purpose heating slightly below the transformation range.
of altering its properties.
 Hardening & Surface Treatments
 Cold Working: The process of deforming a metal
plastically at a temperature below the recrystallization  Hardening: The heating of certain steels above the
temperature and at a rate to produce strain hardening. transformation range then quenching, for the purpose of
increasing the hardness.
o Commercial amounts: 10 to 20% for steel.
 Tempering: Reheating of hardened or normalized steel to a
 Hot Working: Implied by processes like hot rolling and temperature below the transformation range, followed by
forging. any desired rate of cooling.
 Drawing: Often used to mean tempering, but this usage o Drawing: The term that is synonymous with Tempering.
conflicts with the process of pulling material through a die
and is to be avoided. (Note: In wire manufacturing, it refers o Double Tempering: A treatment in which quench-
to pulling material through a die). hardened steel is given two complete tempering cycles at
substantially the same temperature.

o Snap Temper: A precautionary interim stress-relieving

Annealing & Softening
treatment applied to high-hardenability steels
 Annealing: A comprehensive term denoting heating and immediately after quenching.
slow cooling of a solid metal, usually done to soften it or
 Stress Relieving: Heating a metal body to a suitable
alter properties.
temperature (e.g., 1100-1200 deg. F) and holding it to
o Full Annealing: Austenitizing a ferrous alloy and reduce internal residual stresses.
then cooling it at a slow, controlled rate so its
 Aging / Age Hardening: A change in a metal by which its
hardness approaches a minimum.
structure recovers from an unstable or metastable condition
o Process Annealing: A term used to denote various produced by quenching or cold working.
heat treatments that improve workability. o Precipitation Hardening: The term for age hardening
o Intermediate Annealing: Annealing at one or more with reference to stainless steel.
stages during manufacture and before final thermal o Artificial Aging: The aging at a moderately elevated
treatment.
temperature expedites the process.
o Cycle Annealing: An annealing process employing
 Solution Heat Treatment: Process of holding an alloy at a
a predetermined and closely controlled time- high temperature to permit constituents to pass into solid
temperature cycle. solution, then cooling fast enough to hold them as a
o Isothermal Annealing: Austenitizing and then supersaturated solution.
cooling to and holding at a temperature at which  Homogenizing: A high-temperature heat treatment process
austenite transforms to a relatively soft ferrite- intended to eliminate or to decrease chemical segregation by
carbide aggregate. diffusion.
o Quench Annealing: Annealing an austenitic alloy  Maraging: A precipitation hardening treatment applied to a
by solution heat treatment. special group of iron-base alloys to precipitate one or more
intermetallic compounds in a matrix of essentially carbon-
 Black Annealing: Box or Pot annealing used mainly for
free martensite.
sheet, strip, or wire.

 Blue Annealing: Heating hot-rolled sheet in an open

furnace to a temperature within the transformation range
and cooling in air; leaves a bluish oxide layer.

 Box Annealing: Annealing in a sealed container under

conditions that minimize oxidation; also called closed or pot
annealing.

 Bright Annealing: Annealing in a protective medium or

vacuum to prevent discoloration of the bright surface.

 Flame Annealing: Annealing in which the heat is applied

directly to the metal by a flame.
Case Hardening Methods:  Patenting: A process of heat treatment applied to medium-
or high-carbon steel in wire making.
o Carburizing: The process of adding carbon to the surface
of steel by exposing it to hot carbonaceous solids, liquids,  Stabilizing Treatment: A treatment applied to stabilize the
or gases above the transformation temperature. dimensions of a workpiece or the structure of a material.

 Liquid Carburizing: Immersing a part in a molten  Cold Treatment: Exposing to suitable subzero
salt bath to impart a thin case. temperatures for the purpose of obtaining desired conditions
or properties.
 Direct Quenching: Quenching carburized parts
directly from the carburizing operation.  Preheating: A heating to an appropriate temperature
immediately prior to austenitizing.
o Cyaniding: Case hardening accomplished by immersing
the part in a hot liquid salt bath, commonly using sodium  Baking: Heating at a low temperature in order to remove
cyanide (NaCN). Followed by Quenching. entrained gases.

o Nitriding: Placing a machined and heat-treated part in a  Bluing: A treatment of the surface of iron-based alloys to
nitrogenous environment, commonly ammonia gas, at form a thin blue oxide film for appearance and corrosion
relatively low temperatures (around 1000 deg. F). resistance.

o Carbonitriding: Case hardening steel by simultaneous  Overheating: Exposure of metal to an unduly high
absorption of carbon and nitrogen from a surrounding hot temperature, developing a coarse grain structure but not
gaseous atmosphere. permanently damaging it.

o Induction Hardening: Heating a thin surface layer of steel  Steel Classifications & Types
above the transformation range by electrical induction,  Killed Steel: Steel that has been deoxidized with a strong
followed by rapid cooling. deoxidizing agent (silicon or aluminum) to eliminate a
o Flame Hardening: The process of heating the surface of reaction between carbon and oxygen during solidification.
an iron-base alloy with an oxyfuel flame and then  Rimmed Steel: Incompletely deoxidized steel with an ingot
quenching it. surface layer quite free of slag inclusions and gas pockets.
 Flame Hardening (Process): Uses a concentrated  Wrought Steel: Steel that has been hammered, rolled, or
flame impinging on a localized area, followed by drawn in the process of manufacture; may be plain carbon
quenching in a bath or stream of water or oil. or alloy steel.
 Quenching: The rapid cooling of a metal.  Wrought Iron: Made by burning carbon from molten iron
o Interrupted Quenching: Workpiece is removed from the then putting the product through hammering and rolling
operations. (Note: Text also mentions it contains significant
first quench at a higher temperature and subjected to a
quantities of recognized alloying metals, though this
second quenching system.
definition conflicts with standard metallurgy; strictly
o Selective Quenching: Quenching only certain portions of following the provided text).
a workpiece.
 Cold-drawn Steel: Steel that is frequently used because it
o Time Quenching: Interrupted quenching in which the increases strength and machinability, and improves surface
duration of holding in the quenching medium is finish.
controlled.
 Hard Drawn: A temper produced in wire, rod, or tube by
o Slack Quenching: Incomplete hardening due to cold drawing.
quenching at a slower rate than the critical cooling rate.  Malleable Cast Iron: Heat-treated white cast iron that has
o Hot Quenching: Quenching in a medium maintained undergone an annealing process.
above 160 degrees.  Ductile Iron: Another term used for Nodular Cast Iron.
o Spray Quenching: Quenching in a spray of liquid.  Austempered Ductile Iron: An alloyed and heat-treated
alloy with attractive properties for transportation and
o Fog Quenching: Quenching in the mists.
industrial machinery.
 Martempering: A hardening procedure in which an
 Gray Iron: Available in grades having tensile strengths
austenitized ferrous workpiece is quenched into an
ranging from 20,000 to 60,000 psi.
appropriate medium, usually followed by tempering.
 Decarburization: A loss of carbon from the surface of
 Austempering: Quenching from a temperature above the
steel, occurring during hot rolling, forging, and heat
transformation range in a medium having a high rate of heat
treating.
abstraction to prevent the formation of high-temperature
transformation products.  Hardenability: The capacity of steel to through-harden
when cooled from above its transformation range.
 Cementation: The process of introducing elements into the
outer layer of metal objects by means of high-temperature  Carbon Potential: A measure of the ability of an
diffusion. environment containing active carbon to alter or maintain
the carbon content of steel.
 Stainless Steel Groups  Tungsten: Increases hardenability markedly in small
amounts and improves high-temperature hardness; used in
 Ferritic, Austenitic, and Martensitic: The three main high-speed tool steel to form abrasion-resisting carbide.
groups of stainless steel.
 Vanadium: Promotes fine-grain structure, improves
 Stainless Steel Characteristic: Must have a chromium endurance-to-ultimate strength ratio of medium carbon-
content of at least 10%. steels, increases hardenability, and strongly retards
softening during tempering.

 3. Alloying Elements & Special Alloys  Special Alloys & Trade Names

 Elements added to steel or base metals to modify properties.  Ni-Resists: Nickel-Iron alloy.

 Elements & Effects  Hastelloys: Nickel-Molybdenum alloys; sometimes

chromium, iron, or copper.
 Alloys: Elements used to improve hardenability, reduce
distortion from heat treatment, increase toughness, ductility,  Inconel: Nickel-Chromium.
and tensile strength.  Monel: Nickel-Copper alloy (67 Ni, 30 Cu).
 Aluminum: An efficient deoxidizer, an alloy in nitriding  Admiralty Metal: Metals usually used for condenser and
steels, and promotes fine grain size. other heat exchanger tubes and plates.
 Boron: An economical hardenability agent in low-or-  Yellow Brass: A type of brass used for electrical fixtures,
medium-carbon deoxidized steels when added in tiny plumbing, wires, pins, rivets, screw, spring, architectural
amounts (0.001% or less); has no effect on tensile strength. grillwork, radiator cores.
 Chromium: Improves hardenability economically,  Manganese Bronze: Used in clutch disks, pump rods, shaft,
resistance to corrosion (with other alloys), strength at high valve stems, welding rod.
temperature, and wearing properties.
 Zinc: The fourth most commonly used metal in the world.
 Cobalt: Improves red hardness.
o Zamak 3: The most widely used zinc casting alloy
 Columbium: Often used to "stabilize" stainless steel by
(Alloy No. 3).
preempting carbon and forestalling the formation of
undesired carbides.  Titanium: Used in aerospace structure and components,
chemical tank and processing equipment. High strength-to-
 Copper: Improves resistance to atmospheric corrosion,
weight ratio.
increases melt fluidity, and improves tensile strength and
yield ratio in a normalized condition.  Copper: Widely used in its nearly pure form for electrical
and plumbing applications due to high electrical
 Lead: Improves machinability, but affects different alloys
conductivity and good corrosion resistance.
differently.
 Brass: The family of alloys of copper and zinc.
 Manganese: Improves strength, increases hardenability
moderately, and counteracts brittleness from sulfur;  Teflon: Polytetrafluoroethylene is also called
becomes an alloy element when exceeding 0.6%. tetrafluoroethylene (TFE).
o Austenitic Manganese Steels: Contains 1.2%  HSLA Steels: High-Strength Low-Alloy.
Carbon and 12-13% Manganese; responds to work
hardening most readily.

 Molybdenum: Increases hardenability markedly and

economically, counteracts temper brittleness, and improves
creep strength, red hardness, and wear resistance.

 Nickel: Strengthens unquenched and annealed steels,

toughens steel (especially at low temperatures), and
simplifies heat treatment by lessening distortion.

 Selenium: Increases hardenability, strengthens low-carbon

steels, and improves machinability of stainless steel or
resulfurized carbon steels.

 Silicon: Strengthens low-alloy steels, improves resistance to

high temperature oxidation, acts as a good general-purpose
deoxidizer, and promotes fine grain.

 Tantalum: Acts as a stabilizer in steel alloys.

 Titanium: Used for deoxidation, stabilizing austenitic 4. Gear Terminology & Design
stainless steels to prevent intergranular corrosion, increasing
 Definitions specific to gear geometry, operation, and types.
low-carbon steel strength, and improving creep strength.
 Gear Geometry & Terms  Angle of Recess: The angle through which a gear turns
from the time a pair of teeth are in contact at the pitch point
 Pitch Circle: The basis of measurement for gears; the circle until they pass out of mesh.
through the pitch point having its center at the gear axis.
 Arc of Action: The arc of the pitch circle through which a
 Pitch Diameter: The size of a gear; the diameter of the tooth travels from the first point of contact with the mating
pitch circle. tooth to the point where contact ceases.
 Pitch Cylinder: The imaginary cylinder in a gear system  Arc of Approach: The arc of pitch through which a tooth
that rolls without slipping; the pitch circle is a trace of this travels from the first point of contact with the mating tooth
cylinder. to the pitch point.
 Pitch Point: The point of tangency of the pitch circles of  Arc of Recession: The arc of the pitch circle through which
two meshing gears; intersection between the axes of the line a tooth travels from its contact with a mating tooth at a pitch
of centers and the line of action. point until contact ceases.
 Base Circle: The circle from which the involute tooth curve  Lead: The axial advance of the helix in one complete turn.
is generated or developed; the circle in which the involute is
generated.  Length of Action: The distance on one involute line of
action through which the point of contact moves during the
 Addendum Circle (Outside Circle): The circle that bounds action of the tooth profile.
the outer ends of the gear teeth.
 Line of Action: The portion of the common tangent to the
 Addendum: The radial distance between the pitch circle base cylinders along which contact between mating involute
and the addendum circle (or top of the tooth). teeth occurs.
 Dedendum Circle (Root Circle): The circle that bounds  Pressure Angle: The angle between a tooth profile and a
the bottom of the gear teeth. radial line at its pitch point.
 Dedendum: The radial distance from the pitch circle to the  Fillet Radius: The radius of the concave portion of the
root circle (bottom of the tooth space). tooth profile where it joins the bottom of the tooth space.
 Whole Depth: The total height of a tooth, equal to the  Fillet Stress: The maximum tensile stress in the gear tooth
addendum plus the dedendum (and equal to the working fillet.
depth plus clearance).
 Tip Relief: An arbitrary modification of a tooth profile
 Working Depth: Equal to the radial distance from the where small amount of material is removed from the
addendum circle to the working depth circle; the sum of the involute space of the tooth surfaces near the tip of the gear
addendums of mating gears. tooth.
 Working Depth Circle: Marks the distance that a mating  Involute: The curve generally used as a profile of gear
tooth projects into the tooth space. teeth; the path of a point on a straight line as it rolls along a
 Clearance: The radial distance between the working-depth convex base curve (usually a circle).
circle and the root circle (dedendum minus the mating  Under Cut: The condition of general gear teeth when any
addendum). part of the fillet curve lies inside a line drawn at a tangent to
 Circular Thickness (Tooth Thickness): The width of a the working profile at its lowest point.
tooth measured along the pitch circle.  Interference: Contact between mating teeth at some point
 Chordal Thickness: The tooth width measured along the other than along the line of action.
chord of the pitch circle.  HPSTC (Highest Point of Single Contact): The largest
 Backlash: The width of a tooth space minus the circular diameter on a spur gear at which a single tooth is in contact
thickness of the mating tooth; the shortest distance between with the mating gear.
the non-driving surfaces of adjacent teeth.  LPSTC (Lowest Point of Single Tooth Contact): The
 Flank: The surface of the gear tooth between the pitch smallest diameter on a spur gear at which a single tooth is in
circle and the root cylinder. contact with its mating gear.

 Top Land: The surface of the top of the gear tooth.

 Bottom Land: The surface of the bottom of the gear tooth

space (or between the fillets of adjacent layers).

 Pinion: The smaller of two meshing gears.

 Gear: The larger of two meshing gears.

 Angle of Action: The angle through which a gear turns Gears & Types
from the time a pair of teeth come into contact until they go
out of contact.  Spur Gears: Toothed wheels whose tooth elements are
straight and parallel to the shaft axis; used to transmit
motion and power between parallel shafts.
 o External Spur Gears: Cylindrical gears with o Contact Ratio Total: The ratio of the sum of the arc
straight teeth cut parallel to the axes. Tooth loads of action and the face advantage to the circular
produce no axial thrust. Shafts rotate in opposite pitch.
directions.
o Ideal Range: For best running gear condition, the
o Internal Spur Gears: Compact drive arrangements contact ratio should be 1.25 to 1.4.
for transmitting motion between parallel shafts
rotating in the same direction.  Diametrical Pitch: The ratio of the number of teeth to the
number of inches in the pitch diameter in the plane of
 Helical Gears: Cylindrical gears with teeth cut at an angle rotation.
to the axes. Provide drive between shafts rotating in
opposite directions, with superior load-carrying capacity  Circular Pitch: The distance on the circumference of the
and quietness compared to spur gears. Tooth loads produce pitch circle in the plane of rotation between corresponding
axial thrust. points of adjacent teeth.

 Crossed Helical Gears: Helical gears that mesh together on  Module: The ratio of the pitch diameter to the number of
non-parallel axes. Also called Spiral Gears. teeth, normally the ratio of pitch diameter in mm to the
number of teeth.
 Straight Bevel Gears: Gears that have teeth that are radial
toward the apex and are of conical form.  Efficiency: The torque ratio of a gear set divided by its gear
ratio.
 Spiral Bevel Gear: Gears that have curved oblique teeth
that contact each other smoothly and gradually from one  Face Advance: The distance on the pitch circle that a gear
end of a tooth to the other end. tooth travels from the time pitch point contact is made at
one end of the tooth until the pitch point contact is made at
 Zerol Bevel Gears: Gears having curved teeth lying in the the other end.
same general direction as straight bevel teeth, but which
should be considered to be spiral bevel gears with zero  Helical Overlap: The ratio of the effective face width of a
spiral angle. helical gear divided by the gear axial pitch.

 Hypoid Bevel Gears: Gears that are a cross between spiral  Helix Angle: The angle that a helical gear tooth makes with
bevel gears and worm gears. The axes of these gears are the gear axis at the pitch circle, unless specified otherwise.
non-intersecting and non-parallel.  Base Helix Angle: The angle at the base cylinder of an
 Worm Gears: Gears that are used to transmit motion involute gear that the tooth makes with the gear axis.
between shafts at right angles, do not lie in a common  Center Distance: The shortest distance between the non-
plane, and sometimes connect shafts at other angles. These intersecting axes of mating gears, or between the parallel
gears have line tooth contact and are used for power axes of spur gears, parallel helical gears, crossed helical
transmission. gears, or worm gears.
 Rack Gear: A gear with teeth spaced along a straight line  Axial Thickness: The distance parallel to the axis between
suitable for straight line motion. two pitch line elements of the same tooth.
 Internal or Annular Gear: Gear that has teeth cut on the  Chordal Addendum: The radial distance from the circular
inside of the rim instead of outside of the rim. thickness chord to the top of the tooth.
 Helical and Herringbone Gears: Gears that are most often  Contact Diameter: The smallest diameter on a gear tooth
used in heavy-duty gear boxes. with which the mating gear makes contact.
 Bevel Gears: Gears used to connect intersecting shafts but  Equivalent Pitch Radius: The radius of curvature of the
not necessarily 90 degrees. pitch surface at the pitch point in a plane normal to the pitch
 Worm Gearing: Gears used to transmit power between line element.
non-intersecting shafts, nearly always at right angles to each  Axial Plane: The plane that contains the two axes in a pair
other. of gears.
 Gear Calculations & Ratios  Central Plane: The plane perpendicular to the gear axis in a
 Velocity Ratio: The angular velocity of the driver gear worm gear.
divided by the angular velocity of the driven gear.  Normal Plane: A plane normal to the tooth surfaces at a
 Gear Ratio: The number of teeth in the gear divided by the point of contact and perpendicular to the pitch plane.
number of teeth in the pinion; the ratio between the  Outside Diameter: The diameter of the circle that contains
numbers of teeth in the mating gears. the tops of the teeth of external gears.
 Contact Ratio: The ratio of the arc of action in the plane of  Root Diameter: The diameter of the circle that contains the
rotation to the circular pitch; sometimes thought of as the roots or bottoms of the tooth spaces.
average number of teeth in contact.
 Internal Diameter: The diameter of a circle that coincides
o Contact Ratio Face: The ratio of the face with the tops of the teeth of an internal gear.
advantage to the circular pitch in helical gears.
 Roll Angle: An angle subtended at the center of a base
circle from the origin of an involute to the point of tangency
of a point of a straight line from any point on the same
involute.

 Base Pitch: In an involute gear, the pitch on the base circle

or along the line of action; the distance along the line of
action between two successive and corresponding involute
tooth profiles.

 Base Tooth Thickness: The distance on the base circle in

the plane of rotation between involutes of the same tooth.

 Total Face: The dimensional width of a gear blank and may

exceed the effective face width as with a double helical
gear.

 Active Face: The dimension of the tooth face width that

makes contact with a mating gear.

 Tooth Face: The surface between the pitch line of element

and the tooth tip.

 Tooth Surface: The total tooth area including the flank of

the tooth and the tooth face.

 Degree of Involute: The expression used to define the base

circle for a particular pitch circle.

 Curves & Geometry

 Cycloid: The curve formed by the path of a point on a circle

as it rolls along a straight line.

 Epicycloid: The curve formed if a circle rolls along the

outside of another circle.

 Hypocycloid: The curve formed if a circle rolls along the

inside of another circle.

 Trochoid: The curve formed by path of a point on the

extension of the radius of a circle as it rolls along a curve or
a line.

5. Metallurgy & Phase Transformations

Definitions related to the internal structure and chemical

composition of metals.

 Phases & Transformations

 Critical Range / Transformation Range: The temperature
interval during which austenite forms during heating, or
disappears during cooling.

o Decalescence Point: The critical or transformation

point at which pearlite is transformed into austenite
as it is being heated.

o Recalescence Point: The critical or transformation

point at which austenite is transformed back into
pearlite on cooling.

 Austenitizing: Forming of austenite by heating into the

transformation (partial austenitizing) or above
transformation (full austenitizing) range.

 Ferrite: The element iron in the form metallurgically

known as such.

 Cementite: The chemical compound iron carbide (Fe3C) in

the form metallurgically known as such.

 Eutectic Alloy: The alloy composition that freezes at

constant temperatures, similar to a pure metal.

 Hypoeutectoid Steel: A fully annealed steel that has less

than 0.85% carbon.

 Transformation Temperature: The temperature at which a

change in phase occurs.

 Properties & Conditions

 Malleablizing: An annealing process whereby combined

carbon in white cast iron is transformed wholly or in part to
temper carbon.

 Graphatizing: Annealing a ferrous alloy in such a way that

some or all of the carbon is precipitated as graphite.

 Controlled Cooling: A term used to describe a process by

which a steel object is cooled from an elevated temperature
to avoid hardening, cracking, or internal damage.

 Conditional Heat Treatment: A preliminary heat treatment

used to prepare a material for a desired reaction to
subsequent heat treatment.

 Stabilizing Treatment: A treatment applied to stabilize the

dimensions of a workpiece or the structure of a material.

 Soaking: Prolonged heating of metal at a selected

temperature.

6. Standards, Acronyms & General Definitions

 Acronyms & Organizations

 ASTM: American Society of Testing Materials.

 SAE: American Society of Automotive Engineers.

 AISI: American Iron and Steel Institute.  Temperature & Hardness Values

 HPSTC: Highest Point of Single Contact.  Case Hardening Goal: Produce a case hardness in the
range of Rockwell C hardness HRC 55 to 60 or a Brinell
 LPSTC: Lowest Point of Single Tooth Contact. Hardness of 550 to 650.
 HSLA: High-Strength Low-Alloy.  Carburizing Result: Will produce a case hardness of HB
 Steel Specifications (Carbon Content) 550 to 700.

 Carbon, 10-20 points (10XX groups): Steel specifications  Stainless Steel Chromium: Must have a chromium content
used for tubings, forgings, pressed-steel parts, screws, of at least 10%.
rivets, and carburized case-hardened parts.  Steel Strength Loss: Ordinary steel begins to lose strength
 Carbon, 10-20 points (11XX): Free-cutting steel due to (and elasticity) significantly at about 600-700 deg. F.
higher sulfur content, good for use in automatic screw
machines; may also be carburized.

 Carbon, 20-30 points: General purpose grades, used for

forged and machined parts, screws, boiler plates, and
structural steel.

 Carbon, 30-55 points: Steel with 0.40-0.50% C, frequently

used for forged machined parts and shafts; often heat-
treated or cold-finished.

 Carbon, 60-95 points: Steel that can be hardened to a good

cutting edge, used for tools and springs; high strength, low
ductility, nearly always heat treated.

 Other Definitions

 Hard File: A term used for a hardness of perhaps 600

Brinell.

 Machinability: A somewhat indefinite property that refers

to the relative ease with which a material can be cut.

 Physical properties: Properties excluding mechanical ones,

such as density, conductivity, coefficient of thermal
expansion; also the ability to deform considerably without
rupture.

 Mechanical properties: Properties that have to do with

stress and strain, such as ultimate strength and percent
elongation.

 Sintering: Prolong heating at a temperature below melting

point.

 Infiltration: The process of melting a layer of another

metal such as lead or copper into pores of sintered material.

 Brittleness: A tendency to fracture without appreciable

deformation.

 Alloy: A substance with metallic properties, compound of

two or more elements of which at least one is metal.

 Alloying material: In steel are usually considered to be the

metallic elements added for the purpose of modifying the
properties.

 Tool Steels: The steels used typically for cutting tools,

punches, dies, shearing blades, chisels.

 Cast Iron: Large gears, machine structures, bracelets,

linkage parts, and other important machine parts are usually
made from.

 Malleable Iron: A group of heat-treatable cast irons with

moderate to high strength, high modulus of elasticity
(stiffness), good machinability, and good wear resistance.