Materials for Civil and
Construction Engineers
Metals – Steel & Aluminum
Introduction
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Types of Metals
Ferrous Metals: Common Forms
2
Non-Ferrous Metals
Introduction – Steel
3rd most used construction material after concrete and
asphalt
• Iron ore → 1500 B.C. primitive furnace: iron
→ 18th century blast furnace: mass iron production
→ mid-1800s Bessemer converter: steel
Difference:
• Concrete & asphalt
➢Engineers and contractors directly influence strength,
stability, & durability
• Steel
➢Civil engineer has less flexibility in specifying steel
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Construction Uses of Steel
•Structural steel → plates, bars, pipes, structural
shapes, etc.
•Cold formed steel →studs, trusts, roofing,
cladding
•Fastening products → bolts, nuts, washers
•Reinforcing steel → rebar for concrete
•Miscellaneous → forms, pans, hardware, etc.
Steel Production
1. Reduction of iron ore to pig iron (high carbon)
2. Refining pig iron to steel
3. Forming steel into products
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Reduction of Iron Ore to Pig Iron
Blast furnace with carbon (coal or coke) &
limestone
➢Limestone removes impurities from iron ore
➢Slag (molten rock & impurities) is skimmed off the top
➢Molten iron w/carbon is collected at the bottom
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Refining Pig Iron and Scrap to Steel
Remove excess carbon and other impurities by
oxidation in another furnace
▪ Basic oxygen furnace – 300 tons in 25 minutes
▪ Electric arc – electric arc melts steel – lots of energy
•Deoxidize with aluminum, ferrosilicon,
manganese, etc.
•Killed Steel: completely deoxidized
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Forming Steel into Products
•Cast into ingots (large blocks that must be
re-melted and re-shaped)
•Continuous shapes
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Iron-Carbon Phase Diagram
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon
• Higher carbon: steel is harder & more brittle
• Modulus of Elasticity is the same for all three (same
atomic bonds)
➢Cast iron : high (>2%) carbon = brittle
➢High carbon steel : medium (0.8%-2%) carbon = brittle
➢Structural steel : low (0.15%-0.27%) carbon = ductile
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Heat Treatment
Refines grain structure, removes internal stresses,
removes gases, changes electrical and magnetic
properties
• Types
a) Annealing
b) Normalizing
c) Hardening
d) Tempering
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Annealing
➢Heating, then slowly cooling to room temperature.
➢Steel gets softer & more ductile, increasing
toughness.
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Normalizing
➢Similar to annealing, but hotter & air cooled
➢Gives a uniform, fine-grained structure
➢Provides high fracture toughness
➢More corrective rather than strengthening or hardening
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Hardening
➢Higher heat, then rapid cooling by quenching in
water/brine/oil
➢Steel is harder & more brittle & must be followed by
tempering.
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Tempering
➢Reheating hardened steel to a lower temperature and
quenching
➢Increases ductility and toughness after hardening –
both effects
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Steel Alloys
➢250,000 steel alloys
➢~200 used in engineering
• Steel alloy is steel + alloying metal to change properties
➢hardenability
➢corrosion resistance
➢machineability
➢ductility
➢strength
• Construction steels are low and medium carbon plain
steels.
• Stainless steel for highly corrosive uses
➢add chromium, nickel, etc.
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Alloying Elements
Typical Range s in Principal Effe cts
Alloy Ste e ls (%)
Aluminum <2 Aids nitriding
Restricts grain froth
Removes oxygen in steel melting
Sulfur <0.5 Adds machinability
Reduces weldability and ductility
Chromium 0.3 to 0.4 Increases resistance to corrosion and oxidation
Increases hardenability
Increases high-temperature strength
Can combine with carbon to form hard, wear-resistant microconstituents
Nickel 0.3 to 5 Promotes an austenitic structure
Increases hardenability
Increases toughness
Copper 0.2 to 0.5 Promotes tenacious oxide film to aid atmospheric corrosion resistance
Manganese 0.3 to 2 Increases hardenability
Promotes an austenitic structure
Combines with sulfur to reduce its adverse effects
Silicon 0.2 to 2.5 Removes oxygen in steel making
Improves toughness
Increases hardenability
Molybdenum 0.1 to 0.5 Promotes grain refinement
Increases hardenability
Improves high-temperature strength
Vanadium 0.1 to 0.3 Promotes grain refinement Increases hardenability
Will combine with carbon to form wear-resistant microconstituents
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Structural Steel
Cold formed
cladding
Hot rolled
structural
shapes
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Structural Steel
• Hot rolled structural shapes, plates, and • Types used for structural
bars used in columns, beams, brackets, applications
frames, bridge girders, etc. ➢ Carbon
• Grades determined:
➢ High-strength low-alloy
➢ Mechanical properties
Corrosion resistant high-
➢
▪ Yield strength
strength low-alloy
▪ Tensile or ultimate strength
▪ Percent elongation
➢ Chemical composition
▪ Percent carbon
▪ Other requirements – limit
undesirable chemicals, provide
desired properties
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Mechanical Requirements for “Carbon”
Steel
AS TM designation 1 1 Elon-
Fy (ksi) Fu (ksi)
gation2
(%)
A36 36 58–80 23
A53 Gr. B 35 60
42 58
Gr. B 23
46 58
A500
46 62
Gr. C 21
50 62
A501 36 58 23
Gr.50 50 65–100
A529 19
Gr.55 55 70–100
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Example Chemical Specifications
for Carbon Steel
AS TM designation 3
Typical Chemical Composition
C Cu5 Mn P S
a
A36 0.26 0.2 0.8-1.2 0.04 0.05
A53 Gr. B 0.25 0.4 0.95 0.05 0.045
Gr. B 0.3 0.18 0.045 0..045
A500
Gr. C 0.27 0.18 1.4 0.045 0.045
A501 0.3 0.18 0.045 0.045
Gr. 50
A529 0.27 0.2 1.35 0.04 0.05
Gr. 55
Other elements controlled include nitrogen,
chromium, silicon, molybdenum, and vanadium 24
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Section Shapes
Wide flange
W A992 I beam Channel
HP A572 G50 S A36 C, MC A36
M A36
Equal leg angle
Unequal leg angle
L A36
L A36
Tee Sheet piling Rail
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Grade Selection
Based on Shape
Hollow structural section
either circular or rectangular
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Specialty Steels
• High performance steels
• Stainless steel has minimum 10% chromium (common
steels have 0.3% – 0.4%).
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Cold Formed Steel
• Grades
➢Multiple grades are acceptable.
➢Steel Stud Manufactures Association recognizes two
yield stress grades, 33 and 55 ksi.
• Cold forming results in plastic deformation causing strain-
hardening that increases the yield strength, tensile
(ultimate) strength and hardness, but reduces ductility.
• Cold forming increases tensile strength by 50-70% and
ultimate strength by 20-30%.
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Stages of Cold Forming
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Cold Formed Steel Shapes
• Structural design requires special considerations due to
➢buckling
➢corrosion
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Fastening Products
• Conventional bolts
• Twist-off-type tension control bolt assemblies
• Nuts
• Washers
• Compressible-washer-type direct tension indicators
• Anchor rods
• Threaded rods
• Forged steel structural hardware
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Reinforcing Steel
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Reinforcing Steel
• Conventional Reinforcing Steel
➢Plain bars, deformed bars, and plain and deformed
wire fabrics
• Bars are made of 4 types of steel: A615 (billet), A616
(rail), A617 (axle), and A706 (low-alloy)
• Steel for Prestressed Concrete
➢Requires special wires, strands, cables, and bars
➢Must have high strength and low relaxation properties
➢Made of high-carbon steels and high-strength alloy
steels
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ASTM Reinforcing Bare Identification
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Mechanical Testing of Steel
Tension Test
• Determine yield strength,
ultimate (tensile) strength,
elongation, and reduction of
area (Poisson's Ratio)
• Plate, sheet, round rod, wire,
and tube can be tested
➢Typical specimens are
round or rectangular
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Testing Set Up
Extensiometer
Crosshead
Specimen
Fixed beam Threaded end
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Sample Loaded to Failure
Cup and cone Neck area
failure
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Typical Stress-Strain Behavior of Mild
Steel
• s- is linear elastic up to proportional limit.
•Then non-linear elastic up to elastic limit = yield point =
strain increases at constant stress.
•Then plastic deformation until failure.
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Effect of Carbon on Mechanical Behavior
Structural Steel
0.12 to 0.30
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Torsion
Test
• Determine shear modulus, G,
➢designing members under torsion,
▪ rotating shafts
▪ helical compression springs
➢Applied torque and angle of twist are measured on a
cylindrical or tubular specimen.
➢t-g is linear elastic up to the proportional limit
G=t/g very similar to E = s /
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Charpy V Notch Impact Test
• Measure toughness or fracture energy at different
temperatures
• Specimen of rectangular cross-section with a V notch
Charpy machine with a pendulum that breaks the
specimen
➢By measuring the height of the swing arm after striking the
specimen, the energy required to fracture is computed (higher
head = less energy absorbed)
• Energy absorbed is high at high temp. (shear = ductile)
and low at low temp. (cleavage = brittle)
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Loss of Toughness with Reduction in
Temperature
Large area Large shear
of brittle area ductile
cleavage, failure,
low energy high energy
absorption absorption
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Bend Test
• Ability of steel or a weld to
resist cracking during bending
• Steel is often bent to a desired
shape, especially rebar
• Bend the specimen through a
certain angle and to a certain
inside radius
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Hardness Test
Rockwell hardness tester
• Measures resistance to small dents
and scratches
• Need very high hardness for many
machine parts & tools
• Spring-loaded indenter (hardened
steel penetrating ball) is forced into
the surface of the material with a
specified load and rate.
• Depth or size of indentation is related
to hardness number.
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Welding
• Joining two metal pieces by
applying heat
➢partial melting fuses the pieces
together
➢distortion caused by uneven
heating
• Arc Welding or “Stick Welding”
➢Flux on the electrode (“stick”)
shields the molten metal from
atmosphere to prevent oxidation.
• Gas Welding or “MIG Welding”
➢“Metal in Gas” uses shielding
gas instead of flux.
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Steel Corrosion
• Oxidation (rust) can cause serious weakening of
structures.
• Cost of corrosion is about $8 billion per year in U.S.
alone.
• Steel is made by using heat to separate oxygen and iron
molecules in the ore – corrosion is a natural process.
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Corrosion Protection Methods
•Active corrosion protection
•Passive corrosion protection
•Permanent corrosion protection
•Temporary corrosion protection
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Required for Corrosion
1. Anode: Positive electrode where corrosion occurs
2. Cathode: Negative electrode needed for electric current
3. Conductor: Metallic pathway for electrons to flow
between electrodes
4. Electrolyte: Liquid that can support the flow of electrons
• 1, 2, and 3 are present in steel.
• 4 is moisture (in air).
• Pure water is not a good electrolyte, contaminants on the
steel or in the air provides electrolyte (salt, acid rain,
etc.).
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Corrosion Resistance
• Control rather than stop corrosion
• Protective coatings (paint, etc.) can be used to isolate
the steel from moisture.
1. Barrier coatings
➢Standard paint isolates steel from moisture & must be
repeated.
2. Inhabitive primer coatings
➢Pigments that migrate to the steel surface to
passivate it (transfer electrons)
3. Sacrificial primers (cathodic protection)
➢Metal pigments (zinc) become the anode, give up
electrons to the steel, and corrode instead of the steel.
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Cathodic Protection
• Protective current supplies electrons to the structure.
• The electrons cover the electron requirements for the
reduction of oxygen which comes into contact with the metal
surface.
• Without cathodic protection, the electrons cause
decomposition of the metal.
• The potential of the metal surface is sufficiently reduced to
prevent disassociation of positive ions from the metal.
• Where formerly an anodic reaction took place, the oxygen is
reduced by cathodic reaction.
• The entire surface of the structure becomes a safe cathode,
i.e., the metal is "cathodically " protected.
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