With cold work, mechanical strength (measured either by yield strength or ultimate tensile strength) increases and ductility (measured by elongation, reduction of area, or fracture toughness) normally decreases. This chapter discusses the mechanisms that produce these changes and the factors that influence them. It explains how cold working increases dislocation density and how that affects the stress-strain characteristics of steel, particularly the onset of deformation. It describes the effects of deformation on ferrite, austenite, cementite, and pearlite, and how to optimize their microstructure for various applications through controlled deformation. It also provides information on subcritical annealing, the examination and control of texture, the use of optical microscopy to monitor the effects of recrystallization, and the effect of cold working on threaded fasteners, nails, and filaments used to manufacture cords.

Titanium, like other metals, can be shaped, formed, and strengthened through deformation processes. This chapter describes the structural changes that occur in titanium during deformation and how they can be controlled. It discusses the role of slip, dislocations, and twinning, the effect of grain size and crystal orientation, the concept of texture strengthening, and the principles of strain hardening and superplasticity. It also discusses the effect of annealing and the difference between recrystallization and neocrystallization processes.

Annealing, a heat treatment process, is used to soften metals that have been hardened by cold working. This chapter discusses the following three distinct processes that can occur during annealing: recovery, recrystallization, and grain growth. The types of processes that occur during recovery are the annihilation of excess point defects, the rearrangement of dislocations into lower-energy configurations, and the formation of subgrains that grow and interlock into sub-boundaries. The article also discusses the main factors that affect recrystallization. They are temperature and time; degree of cold work; purity of the metal; original grain size; and temperature of deformation. The types of grain growth discussed include normal or continuous grain growth and abnormal or discontinuous grain growth.

This chapter examines the process, structure, and property relationships in titanium alloys. It provides information on microstructures and strengthening mechanisms, the role of alloy and interstitial elements, and the effect of composition, processing, and surface treatments on tensile and yield strength, fracture toughness, hardness, ductility, and creep and fatigue behaviors. The chapter covers wrought, cast, and powder metal titanium alloys and contains an extensive amount of property data.

This chapter briefly discusses the characteristics of mechanical twins and stacking faults in close-packed planes. It provides an overview of the composition, microstructures, thermodynamics, processing, deformation mechanism, mechanical properties, formability, and special attributes of twinning-induced plasticity steels.

This chapter discusses the use of electron microscopy in metallographic analysis. It explains how electrons interact with metals and how these interactions can be harnessed to produce two- and three-dimensional images of metal surfaces and generate crystallographic and compositional data as well. It discusses the basic design and operating principles of scanning electron microscopes, transmission electron microscopes, and scanning transmission electron microscopes and how they are typically used. It describes the additional information contained in backscattered electrons and emitted x-rays and the methods used to access it, namely wavelength and energy dispersive spectroscopy and electron backscattering diffraction techniques. It also describes the role of focused ion beam milling in sample preparation and provides information on atom probes, atomic force microscopes, and laser scanning microscopes.

The vast majority of beryllium products are manufactured from blocks, forms, or billets of compacted powder that are machined or worked into shape. This chapter describes the metalworking processes used, including rolling, forming, forging, extrusion, drawing, and spinning. It covers the qualitative and quantitative aspects of each process and provides examples showing how they are implemented and the results that can be achieved. The chapter also discusses the issue of beryllium’s low formability and describes some of the advancements that have been made in near-net shape processing.

Magnesium occupies the highest anodic position on the galvanic series and can be subject to severe corrosion. The corrosion problem is due to the impurity elements iron, nickel, and copper. However, the use of higher-purity magnesium alloys has led to corrosion resistance approaching that of some of the competing aluminum casting alloys. This chapter begins with a general overview of magnesium metallurgy and alloy designations and moves on to discuss in detail the nominal compositions, mechanical properties, heat treatment, fabrication, and corrosion protection of magnesium casting alloys and wrought magnesium alloys. It also discusses the nominal compositions, properties, and applications of commercially pure zinc, zinc casting alloys, and wrought zinc alloys.

Titanium alloys are generally resistant to stress-corrosion cracking (SCC), but under certain conditions, the potential for problems exists. This chapter identifies the types of service environments where titanium alloys have exhibited signs of SCC. It begins by describing the nominal composition, designation, and grade of nearly two dozen commercial titanium alloys and the different types of media (including oxidizers, organic compounds, hot salt, and liquid metal) in which SCC has been observed. It discusses the mechanical and metallurgical factors that influence SCC behavior and examines the cracking and fracture mechanisms that appear to be involved. The chapter also includes information on SCC test standards and provides detailed guidelines on how to prevent or mitigate the effects of SCC.

This chapter discusses coating technologies that are applicable to beryllium, including physical and chemical vapor deposition, thermal evaporation, electroplating, sputtering, ion plating, and plasma arc spraying. It describes the advantages and disadvantages of each method and the effect of temperature, pressure, and other process variables on the microstructures and properties developed.

This article discusses the role of alloying in the production and use of titanium. It explains how alloying elements affect transformation temperatures, tensile and creep strength, elasticity, hardness, and corrosion behaviors. It provides composition and property data for commercial grades of titanium, addresses processing issues, and identifies operating environments where certain titanium alloys are susceptible to stress-corrosion cracking.

This appendix provides references for additional information on titanium and its alloys. The references are organized by topic based on the author’s recommendations. Topics include physical metallurgy, corrosion, processing, applications and developments, and general background.

This chapter provides information and data on the fatigue and fracture properties of steel, aluminum, and titanium alloys. It explains how microstructure, grain size, inclusions, and other factors affect the fracture toughness and fatigue life of these materials and the extent to which they can be optimized. It also discusses the effect of metalworking and heat treatment, the influence of loading and operating conditions, and factors such as corrosion damage that can accelerate crack growth rates.

The various types of stainless steel have very different deformation characteristics in terms of strain hardening and anisotropy. It is important to understand and exploit these characteristics to optimize forming of stainless steels. This chapter discusses the various deformation processes involved in sheet-forming techniques, namely stretch forming and deep drawing. In addition, it provides information on some of the factors pertinent to cold-heading and hot forming of stainless long products.

This chapter explains the basic terminology and principles of metallurgy as they apply to extrusion. It begins with an overview of crystal structure in metals and alloys, including crystal defects and orientation. This is followed by sections discussing the development of the continuous cast microstructure of aluminum and copper alloys. The discussion provides information on billet and grain segregation and defects in continuous casting. The chapter then discusses the processes involved in the deformation of pure metals and alloys at room temperature. Next, it describes the characteristics of pure metals and alloys at higher temperatures. The processes involved in extrusion are then covered. The chapter provides details on how the toughness and fracture characteristics of metals and alloys affect the extrusion process. The weld seams in hollow profiles, the production of composite profiles, and the processing of composite materials, as well as the extrusion of metal powders, are discussed. The chapter ends with a discussion on the factors that define the extrudability of metallic materials and how these attributes are characterized.

Several specialized instruments are available for the metallographer to use as tools to gather key information on the characteristics of the microstructure being analyzed. These include microscopes that use electrons as a source of illumination instead of light and x-ray diffraction equipment. This chapter describes how these instruments can be used to gather important information about a microstructure. The instruments covered include image analyzers, transmission electron microscopes, scanning electron microscopes, electron probe microanalyzers, scanning transmission electron microscopes, x-ray diffractometers, microhardness testers, and hot microhardness testers. A list of other instruments that are usually located in a research laboratory or specialized testing laboratory is also provided.

This chapter discusses the alloy composition, metallurgy, mechanical behavior, stabilization, texture, anisotropy, high-temperature properties, and corrosion and oxidation resistance of ferritic stainless steels.

This chapter focuses on short-term tensile testing at high temperatures. It emphasizes one of the most important reasons for conducting hot tensile tests: the determination of the hot working characteristics of metallic materials. Two types of hot tensile tests are discussed in this chapter, namely, the Gleeble test and the conventional isothermal hot-tensile test. The discussion covers equipment used and testing procedures for the Gleeble test along with information on hot ductility and strength data from this test. The chapter describes the stress-strain curves, material coefficients, and flow behavior determined in the isothermal hot tensile test. It also describes three often-overlapping stages of cavitation during tensile deformation, namely, cavity nucleation, growth of individual cavities, and cavity coalescence.

This chapter discusses various alloying and processing approaches to increase the strength of low-carbon steels. It describes hot-rolled low-carbon steels, cold-rolled and annealed low-carbon steels, interstitial-free or ultra-low carbon steels, high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steels, dual-phase (DP) steels, transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels, and martensitic low-carbon steels. It also discusses twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steels along with quenched and partitioned (Q&P) steels.

Aluminum has many outstanding properties, leading it to be used for a wide range of applications. It offers excellent strength-to-weight ratio, good corrosion and oxidation resistance, high electrical and thermal conductivity, exceptional formability, and relatively low cost. This chapter examines the metallurgy, composition, processing, and mechanical properties of aluminum and its alloys, both cast and wrought forms. It also covers heat treating and basic temper designations, including annealed, work hardened, solution heat treated, and solution heated treated and aged. The chapter concludes with information on corrosion and oxidation resistance.