Manganese, alloying element

In addition to these principal alloying elements, which provide soHd solution strengthening and/or precipitation strengthening, wrought alloys may contain small amounts of titanium and boron [7440-42-8J, B, for control of ingot grain size, and ancillary additions of chromium, manganese, and zirconium to provide dispersoids. AH commercial alloys also contain iron and siUcon. 

Alloying elements either enlarge the austenite field or reduce it. The former include manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper, carbon, and nitrogen and are referred to as austenite stabilizers. 

For slightly less than 10% of products, alloying elements are introduced to produce properties not available for carbon steels where the functional elements are usually considered to be carbon, siHcon (to 0.6%), and manganese (to 1.65%). Copper, which may be present up to 0.6 wt %, is relatively rare compared to the ubiquitous siHcon and manganese. 

The important (3-stabilizing alloying elements are the bcc elements vanadium, molybdenum, tantalum, and niobium of the P-isomorphous type and manganese, iron, chromium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and siUcon of the P-eutectoid type. The P eutectoid elements, arranged in order of increasing tendency to form compounds, are shown in Table 7. The elements copper, siUcon, nickel, and cobalt are termed active eutectoid formers because of a rapid decomposition of P to a and a compound. The other elements in Table 7 are sluggish in their eutectoid reactions and thus it is possible to avoid compound formation by careful control of heat treatment and composition. The relative P-stabilizing effects of these elements can be expressed in the form of a molybdenum equivalency. Mo (29) ... 

Mechanical properties depend on the alloying elements. Addition of carbon to the cobalt base metal is the most effective. The carbon forms various carbide phases with the cobalt and the other alloying elements (see Carbides). The presence of carbide particles is controlled in part by such alloying elements such as chromium, nickel, titanium, manganese, tungsten, and molybdenum that are added during melting. The distribution of the carbide particles is controlled by heat treatment of the solidified alloy. 

Since the rate of formation of cementite is determined by nucleation, and therefore proceeds more rapidly in fine-grained steels, it follows that the T-T-T diagram will show a more rapid onset of austenite decomposition than in steels of the same composition, but a coarser grain size. The shape of the T-T-T curve is also a function of the steel composition, and is altered by the presence of alloying elements at a low concenuation. This is because the common alloying elements such as manganese, nickel and clrromium decrease... 

Steel is essentially iron with a small amount of carbon. Additional elements are present in small quantities. Contaminants such as sulfur and phosphorus are tolerated at varying levels, depending on the use to which the steel is to be put. Since they are present in the raw material from which the steel is made it is not economic to remove them. Alloying elements such as manganese, silicon, nickel, chromium, molybdenum and vanadium are present at specified levels to improve physical properties such as toughness or corrosion resistance. 

Mild steels to which only small amounts of alloying elements are deliberately added, e.g. manganese (Section 3.1). 

The addition of low concentrations of elements to steel such as manganese, titanium, or boron can greatly enhance the properties of steel. Improved hardness, strength, machinability, and resistance to corrosion can all be improved by alloying. The effect of various alloying elements is provided in TABLE 9-3. 

One of the principal functions of alloying elements in steel, such as manganese, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, etc., is to increase the hardenabilitv. Whereas prodigious amounts of expensive alloys were formerly used to insure full hardening, especially in medium and heavy sections, wartime shortages focused attention on the use of as little alloy as possible within the hardenabilitv requirements. A large number of steels were developed containing relatively small additions of a number ol elements, and a number of these steels hav e continued in use. 

Letters indicate ihc Iwo principal alloying elements A, Aluminum E, Rare-Earth H. Thorium K, Zirconium M, Manganese Q, Silver, S, Silicon T, Tin Z, Zinc. Thus HK signifies a thorium-zirconium magnesium alloy. 

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