Preface

This book is intended for those wishing to learn more about metallurgy and the metals and engineering alloys used throughout industry. It would be useful to almost anyone who deals with metals, including designers, structural engineers, materials and process engineers, manufacturing engineers, and production personnel. It was written so that both the fundamentals of metallurgy and the specifics of the important engineering alloys could be combined in a single book. Throughout, the emphasis of this book is on practical principles of metallurgy and the engineering alloys.

It should be noted that it is not the objective of this book to replace handbooks on engineering alloys. Rather, the goal is to gather information on engineering alloys in one book and edit it into a uniform format so that the reader is able to compare the metallurgy, properties, and applications of the most important engineering alloy systems. Many of the chapters are adapted from the ASM Handbook series. When this was not possible, I wrote chapters to meet this objective.

The book is separated into two parts. Part I covers the fundamentals of physical and mechanical metallurgy, while Part II goes into greater detail for specific metals and their alloys.

The first eleven chapters cover most of the basics of physical metallurgy. Physical metallurgy may be described as the study of how metallic structure and processing affect the final properties of metals and alloys. Chapters on physical metallurgy include metallic structure; crystalline imperfections and plastic deformation; solid solutions; diffusion; phase transformations; phase diagrams; solidification and casting; recovery, recrystallization, and grain growth; precipitation hardening; the iron-carbon system; and the heat treatment of steel. This is followed by five chapters dealing with mechanical metallurgy, which is the study of how loads, either during fabrication or in service, affect metals and their properties. Chapters on mechanical metallurgy include mechanical behavior, fracture, fatigue, creep, and deformation processing. The last two chapters in Part I cover physical properties and corrosion.

Part II deals with specific engineering alloys. The first six chapters cover the important ferrous metal alloys: plain carbon steels, alloy steels, surface hardening of steels, tool materials, stainless steels, and cast irons. The next seven chapters are on the nonferrous metals and their alloys: copper, aluminum, magnesium and zinc, titanium, nickel and cobalt, superalloys, and refractory metals. This is followed by a chapter on several miscellaneous nonferrous metals and alloys. The last chapter deals with metal-matrix composites.

A first course in materials science would be helpful in understanding the material in this book; however, most of the material is self-explanatory and builds on itself as one progresses through the book.

I would like to acknowledge the help and guidance of the ASM International staff. Steve Lampman and Charles Moosbrugger championed the book through the approval process at ASM. Eileen De Guire, with help from Charles Moosbrugger, did the majority of the editorial work. Ann Britton provided help and guidance with the permissions. The efforts of Madrid Tramble, Kathryn Muldoon, and Liz Marquard in converting the manuscript into a book are appreciated. I would also like to thank the ASM peer reviewers for their valuable critiques. Finally, I would like to thank my wife Betty for her support and encouragement during this project.