Gas carburizing is known to promote internal oxidation in steel which can adversely affect certain properties. This chapter discusses the root of the problem and its effect on component lifetime and performance. It explains that gas-carburizing atmospheres contain water vapor and carbon dioxide, providing oxygen that reacts with alloying elements, particularly manganese, chromium, and silicon. It examines the composition and distribution of oxides produced in different steels and assesses the resulting composition gradients. It describes how these changes influence the development of high-temperature transformation products as well as microstructure, hardenability, and carbon content and properties such as fatigue and fracture behaviors, hardness, and wear resistance. It also explains how to manage internal oxidation through material design, process control, and other measures.

Mechanical treatments such as grinding and shot peening are often employed in the production of case-carburized parts. Grinding, besides restoring precision, removes carbide films, internal oxidation, and high-temperature transformation products. Shot peening strengthens component surfaces and induces a stress state that increases fatigue resistance. This chapter describes both processes as well as roller burnishing. It explains how these treatments are applied and how they influence the microstructure, properties, and behaviors of case-hardened components. It also addresses process challenges, particularly in regard to grinding.

This chapter provides information on various contributors to failure of carburized and carbonitrided components, with the primary focus on carburized components. The most common contributors covered include component design, selection of proper hardenability, increased residual stress, dimensional stability, and generation of quenching and grinding cracks. They also include insufficient case hardness and improper core hardness, influence of surface carbon content and grain size, internal oxidation, structure of carbides, and inclusion of noncarbide. Details on micropitting, macropitting, case crushing, pitting corrosion, and partial melting are also provided.

This chapter examines the hot corrosion resistance of various nickel- and cobalt-base alloys in gas turbines susceptible to high-temperature (Type I) and low-temperature (Type II) hot corrosion. Type I hot corrosion is typically characterized by a thick, porous layer of oxides with the underlying alloy matrix depleted in chromium, followed (below) by internal chromium-rich sulfides. Type II hot corrosion is characterized by pitting with little or no internal attack underneath. As the chapter explains, chromium additions make alloys more resistant to all types of hot corrosion attacks.

The inspection of castings normally involves checking for shape and dimensions, coupled with aided and unaided visual inspection for external discontinuities and surface quality. This chapter discusses methods for determining surface quality, internal discontinuities, and dimensional inspection. Casting defects including porosity, oxide films, inclusions, hot tears, metal penetration, and surface defects are reviewed. Liquid penetrant inspection, magnetic particle inspection, eddy current inspection, radiographic inspection, ultrasonic inspection, and leak testing for castings are discussed. The chapter provides information on the procedures involved in the inspection of castings that are limited to visual and dimensional inspections, weight testing, and hardness testing. It also discusses the use of computer equipment in foundry inspection operations.

Stainless steel retains strength and has excellent oxidation resistance from room temperature to nearly 1000 deg C relative to competitive materials. This chapter focuses on the high-temperature oxidation of stainless steel by oxygen or water vapor. It begins by discussing the thermodynamic conditions and electrochemical nature of oxidation and providing information on transient oxidation. This is followed by a description of Wagner's theory for metal oxidation. The volatile nature of Cr 2 O 3 is then reviewed. The chapter further discusses the causes and preventive measures of spalling and cracking of oxide scale. It ends with a section providing information on oxidation behaviors under less-oxidizing atmospheres.

Many metallic components, such as retorts in heat treat furnaces, furnace heater tubes and coils in chemical and petrochemical plants, waterwalls and reheater tubes in boilers, and combustors and transition ducts in gas turbines, are subject to oxidation. This chapter explains how oxidation affects a wide range of engineering alloys from carbon and Cr-Mo steels to superalloys. It discusses the kinetics and thermodynamics involved in the formation of oxides and the effect of surface and bulk chemistry. It provides oxidation data for numerous alloys and intermetallics in terms of weight gain, metal loss, depth of attack, and oxidation rate. It also discusses the effect of metallurgical and environmental factors such as oxygen concentration, high-velocity combustion gas streams, chromium depletion and breakaway, component thickness, and water vapor.

This article explains how alloying elements affect the properties and behaviors of electrical contacts. It describes the composition, strength, hardness, and conductivity of a wide range of contact alloys and composites based on silver, copper, gold, platinum, palladium, tungsten, and molybdenum, and related oxides and carbides.

Oxidation usually dominates high-temperature corrosion reactions, but under certain conditions, some alloys may be affected by nitridation as well. This chapter explains why nitridation occurs and how it attacks various metals, in some cases, penetrating deeper than oxidation. It provides images and data describing the nitridation process and its effects on metals and alloys in high-temperature air as well as NH3-H2O, NH3 and H2-N2-NH3, and N2 environments. It also includes test data showing that nitridation is more severe in a nitrogen atmosphere than an ammonia environment at 1090 °C (2000 °F).

This chapter discusses the thermally induced changes that occur on the surface of steel exposed to different environments. It explains how oxide scales form during heat treating and how factors such as temperature, composition, and surface finish affect growth rates, grain structure, and uniformity. It provides examples of oxides that form beneath the surface of steel and explains why it occurs. It describes the conditions associated with decarburization and explains how to determine the depth of decarburized layers in eutectoid, hypoeutectoid, and hypereutectoid steels. It also discusses the carburizing process, the factors that determine the depth and gradient of the carburized case, the effect of post-process treatments, and a variation on the process known as ferritic carbonitriding.

This chapter explains how decarburization can occur during carburizing processes and how to limit the severity of its effects. It describes the reactions and conditions that result in a loss of carbon atoms and how they vary with changes in the physical metallurgy of the affected material and the processing environment. It examines the characteristic features of decarburized microstructures and assesses their influence on hardness, residual stresses, and fatigue and fracture behaviors. It also discusses corrective measures and practical considerations regarding their use.

Superalloys tend to operate in environments where they are subjected to high-temperature corrosion, oxidation, and the erosive effects of hot gases. This chapter discusses the nature of these attacks and the effectiveness of various protection methods. It describes the primary forms of oxidation, the development of protective oxides, and the conditions associated with mixed gas corrosion and hot corrosion attack. It discusses oxidation and corrosion testing, the equipment used, and various ways to present the associated data. It describes the effect of gaseous oxidation on different alloys, discusses the formation of oxide scale in the presence of mixed gases, and explains how alloy composition contributes to oxide growth. The chapter discusses the underlying chemistry of hot corrosion, how to identify its effects, and how it progresses under various conditions. It also discusses protective coatings, including aluminide diffusion, overlay, and thermal barrier types, and how they perform in different environments based on their ability to tolerate strain.

This chapters reviews the various process, material, and post-treatment problems that can occur in nitriding and how to troubleshoot them. The troubleshooting methods discussed relate to gas nitriding, salt bath nitriding, and ion nitriding.

This article discusses the compositions, properties, and uses of silver, gold, and platinum group metals, including platinum, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, and osmium. It describes the role of various alloying elements and explains how they affect physical, mechanical, and electrical properties as well as corrosion resistance.

Microstructures can be altered intentionally or unintentionally. In some cases, metallographers must diagnose what may have happened to the steel or cast iron based on the microstructural details. This chapter discusses how microstructure in steels and cast irons can be intentionally altered during heat treatment, solidification, and deformation (hot and cold working). Some specific examples are then shown to illustrate what can go wrong through unintentional changes in microstructure, for example, the loss of carbon from the surface of the steel by the process known as decarburization or the buildup of brittle carbides on the grain boundaries of an austenitic stainless steel by the process known as sensitization.

This chapter provides a brief but practical overview of the case carburizing process. It discusses the benefits and challenges of the process and compares and contrasts it with other hardening methods. It explains how design allowables and safety factors compensate for unknowns and familiarizes readers with the steps involved in determining case depth and verifying that case carbon requirements have been met.

Mechanical components often require surface treatments to meet application demands. This chapter describes several surface hardening treatments for steel and their effect on microstructure, composition, and properties. It discusses flame hardening, induction heating, carburizing, nitriding, carbonitriding, and nitrocarburizing. The discussion on carburizing addresses several interrelated factors, including processing principles, alloying, surface oxidation, residual stresses, bending fatigue, contact fatigue, and fracture.

This chapter discusses two damage mechanisms in which stress plays a major role. In the one case, stress causes cracks in the oxide scale on metals, leading to preferential corrosion attack. An example from industry of this type of failure is the circumferential cracking that occurs on the waterwall tubes of supercritical coal-fired boilers fired under low NOx combustion conditions, conducive to the production of sulfidizing environments. In the other case, stress contributes to brittle fracture in the form of intergranular cracking. The phenomenon, which is known by various names, typically occurs at the lower end of the intermediate temperature range and has been observed in ferritic steels, stainless steels, Fe-Ni-Cr alloys, and nickel-base alloys, as described in the chapter.

This chapter examines the effects of welding on the structure of metal, particularly the changes induced in the isothermal regions adjacent to the weld. It presents more than 150 images identifying structures and features associated with fusion and solid-state welding processes, including electroslag, TIG, gas, electron-beam, and arc welding as well as vacuum diffusion, forge, friction, electrical-resistance, and explosive welding. It also discusses the effect of welding temperature, pressure, and composition on the transformations that occur in and around the weld, and it includes a short section on brazing and braze welding.