Iron-cementite

Cementite, the term for iron carbide in steel, is the form in which carbon appears in steels. It has the formula Fe C, and thus consists of 6.67 wt % carbon and the balance iron. Cementite is very hard and britde. As the hardest constituent of plain carbon steel, it scratches glass and feldspar, but not quart2. It exhibits about two-thirds the induction of pure iron in a strong magnetic field, but has a much lower Curie temperature. 

One of the most important characteristics of iron products, which enable the spectrum of properties to be achieved is the concentration of carbon present. Ordinary steels are iron-carbon alloys, which are simply referred to as steel, and are so important that this alloy comprises more than 98% of all iron alloys produced. In most iron-carbon alloys, the carbon is present as iron carbide, FesC, also called cementite. Since the carbon content of cementite is only 6.69%, a small change in the carbon content of an iron causes a large change in the concentration of the cementite present in the iron. Cementite is soluble in molten iron, one of the reasons why carbon is accumulated in the product of the blast furnace process for reduction of iron ores. This is an advantage, since the melting point of the iron-cementite mixture is depressed... 

The Iron-Carbon (Fe-C) and Iron-Cementite (Fe-FejC) Systems... 

Figure 2.2. Detailed iron-cementite phase diagram. Source Ullmann s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 5th enhanced ed., vol. A14, p. 484, figure 11 in encyclopedia. Iron-cementite phase diagram. Copyright 1989 Wiley-VCH (reproduced and redrawn with permission)...

As for the cemented coating constitution, the carbon stability in iron is very low. This addition element is essentially present under the form of cementite. The presence of carbon atoms in iron leads to an increasing of the resistivity and diminishes the magnetic permeability. 

The carbon content of DRI depends primarily on the direct reduction process used and the way the process is operated. Carbon content can be adjusted within limits by operating changes within the DR process. Most steelmakers prefer slightly more carbon than is required to balance the remaining FeO in the DRI. DRI from gas-based processes typically contains 1 to 2.5% carbon, mostly in the form of cementite [12169-32-3] Fe C. DRI containing approximately 6 to 7% carbon in the form of cementite is called iron carbide. DRI from coal-based, rotary-kiln processes contains very low (ca 0.5%) levels of carbon. 

Nickel—Iron. A large amount of nickel is used in alloy and stainless steels and in cast irons. Nickel is added to ferritic alloy steels to increase the hardenabihty and to modify ferrite and cementite properties and morphologies, and thus to improve the strength, toughness, and ductihty of the steel. In austenitic stainless steels, the nickel content is 7—35 wt %. Its primary roles are to stabilize the ductile austenite stmcture and to provide, in conjunction with chromium, good corrosion resistance. Nickel is added to cast irons to improve strength and toughness. 

The iron—carbon system contains the orthorhombic iron carbide (3 1) [12011 -67-5] which melts congmendy and represents the cementite in... 

Iron carbide (3 1), Fe C mol wt 179.56 carbon 6.69 wt % density 7.64 g/cm mp 1650°C is obtained from high carbon iron melts as a dark gray air-sensitive powder by anodic isolation with hydrochloric acid. In the microstmcture of steels, cementite appears in the form of etch-resistant grain borders, needles, or lamellae. Fe C powder cannot be sintered with binder metals to produce cemented carbides because Fe C reacts with the binder phase. The hard components in alloy steels, such as chromium steels, are double carbides of the formulas (Cr,Fe)23Cg, (Fe,Cr)2C3, or (Fe,Cr)3C2, that derive from the binary chromium carbides, and can also contain tungsten or molybdenum. These double carbides are related to Tj-carbides, ternary compounds of the general formula M M C where M = iron metal M = refractory transition metal. 

The iron-carbon solid alloy which results from the solidification of non blastfurnace metal is saturated with carbon at the metal-slag temperature of about 2000 K, which is subsequendy refined by the oxidation of carbon to produce steel containing less than 1 wt% carbon, die level depending on the application. The first solid phases to separate from liquid steel at the eutectic temperature, 1408 K, are the (f.c.c) y-phase Austenite together with cementite, Fe3C, which has an orthorhombic sttiicture, and not die dieniiodynamically stable carbon phase which is to be expected from die equilibrium diagram. Cementite is thermodynamically unstable with respect to decomposition to h on and carbon from room temperature up to 1130 K... 

The higher solubility of carbon in y-iron than in a-iroii is because the face-ceiiued lattice can accommodate carbon atoms in slightly expanded octahedral holes, but the body-centred lattice can only accommodate a much smaller carbon concentration in specially located, distorted tetrahedral holes. It follows that the formation of fenite together with cementite by eutectoid composition of austenite, leads to an increase in volume of the metal with accompanying compressive stresses at die interface between these two phases. 

Figure 6.3 The iron-carbon phase diagram showing the alternative production of iron and cementite from the liquid alloy, which occurs in practice, to the equilibrium production of graphite...

FejC (also called "iron carbide" or "cementite") Complex A hard and brittle chemical compound of Fe and C containing 25 atomic % (6.7 wt%) C. 

Most commercial cast irons contain 2.5-4% carbon, and it is the occurrence of some of this carbon as free graphite in the matrix that is the characteristic feature of thin material. About 0.8-0.9% carbon is in a bound form as cementite (iron carbide). 

Cast irons, although common, are in fact quite complex alloys. The iron-carbon phase diagram exhibits a eutectic reaction at 1 420 K and 4-3 wt.<7oC see Fig. 20.44). One product of this eutectic reaction is always austenite however, depending on the cooling rate and the composition of the alloy, the other product may be cementite or graphite. The graphite may be in the form of flakes which are all interconnected (although they appear separate on a... 

Cementite the iron-carbon compound of formula very close to FejC. 

NOTE Steel consists of ferrite and pearlite phases. Ferrite is a solid solution of carbon in iron, whereas pearlite is a mixture of ferrite and laminar cementite. Cementite is a carbide, such as ferric carbide (Fe3C), although part of the iron content may be replaced by other metals including molybdenum. 

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