TITLE:
Thermo-Mechanical Processing of Iron-Phosphorous-Carbon Alloys
AUTHORS:
Yashwant Mehta, P. S. Mishra
KEYWORDS:
Iron-Phosphorous-Carbon alloys, Microstructure, Heat treatment, MechanicalProperties.
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering,
Vol.10 No.1,
January
20,
2011
ABSTRACT: Phosphorous is widely considered as an impurity in steels. Consequently, its role as an
important alloying element in iron could never be established. The present paper deals with the
exploitation of phosphorous as a useful alloying element in iron in conjunction with carbon by
way of improved thermo-mechanical processing leading to a tough steel equivalent to high
strength low alloy steels. It was observed that phosphorous is pushed towards ferrite grains by
carbon which in turn forms pearlite along ferrite grains. Suitable adjustment in the amounts of
carbon and phosphorous yields an attractive set of mechanical properties after appropriate
processing. Typical chemistry and processing combinations yields UTS: 700 MPa and % El:
25% Area under the stress-strain curve: 60 Joules.