The book comprises three parts. Part 1 gives a historical description of the development of ironworking techniques since the earliest times. Part 2 is the core of the book and deals with the metallurgical basis of microstructures, with four main themes: phase diagrams, solidification processes, diffusion, and solid state phase transformations. The rules for the use and interpretation of phase diagrams are described and illustrated with the aid of numerous updated iron-base diagrams chosen among the most useful for the understanding of steels. Solidification processes are discussed in two chapters, one on the fundamental concepts involved and the other on the analysis and interpretation of complex solidification structures. Special consideration is given to solid state phase transformations, including recent understanding of the bainite transformation. Part 3 begins by an introduction to steel design principles, describing the effects of the different alloying elements and the various strengthening mechanisms available. It then goes on to consider the different categories of steels, placing emphasis on their specific microstructural features. Finally, a comprehensive reference list includes several hundred pertinent articles and books, while a detailed index will be added to ensure ease of consultation. The book is the work of a single author, thus ensuring uniformity and concision. It is intended for scientists, metallurgical engineers and senior technicians in research and development laboratories, design offices and quality departments, as well as for teachers and students in universities, technical colleges and other higher education establishments.

Autorentext

Madeleine Durand-Charre gained her Docteur-ès-Sciences degree at the Institut National Polytechnique in Grenoble, where she spent the remainder of her career as a teacher and research worker in the field of structural metallurgy. Her special interests concern the fundamental aspects of phase equilibria and their relationship to the microstructure of complex commercial alloys. Due to her combined teaching and research activities, one of her permanent preoccupations is to explain the mechanisms involved in the formation of microstructures and to illustrate them with the aid of examples either from simple systems or from more complex industrial materials. The present book concerning the microstructures of iron-base alloys is abundantly illustrated with explicit macro- and micrographs, emanating both from her own laboratory and from her numerous academic and industrial contacts. Madeleine Durand-Charre has previously published a similar monograph concerning the microstructure of superalloys.

Inhalt

First Part The history of iron and steel - of swords and ploughshares.- 1 From iron to steel.- 2 Of swords and swordmaking.- 2 The Genesis of Microstructures.- 3 The principal phases in steels.- 4 The basic phase diagrams.- 5 The formation of solidification structures.- 6 Liquid/solid structural transformations.- 7 Grains, grain boundaries and interfaces.- 8 Diffusion.- 9 The decomposition of austenite.- 10 The pearlite transformation.- 11 The martensite transformation.- 12 The bainite transformation.- 13 Precipitation.- 3 Steels and cast irons.- 14 Steel Design.- 15 Solidification macrostructures.- 16 Macro- and microstructures of sintered powder products.- 17 Plain carbon and low alloy steels.- 18 Quench hardening steels.- 19 Stainless steels.- 20 Heat resisting steels and iron-containing superalloys.- 21 Cast irons.- 22 Appendices.- 23 References.- 24 Index.