PROBLEM: 11.5.

Discuss the various heat-treatment processes.

Heat treatment involves the use of heating or chilling, normally to extreme temperatures, to
achieve a desired result such as hardening or softening of a material.
1. The Softening Process
a. Annealing
Used variously to soften, relieve internal stresses, improve machinability, and to
develop particular mechanical and physical properties. Annealing has the process of
heating a metal above the critical temperature range, holding it at that temperature
for the proper period, and then slowly cooling. The objectives of annealing are the
following:

To refine the grain.

To soften the steel to meet definite specifications.

To remove internal stresses caused by quenching, forging, and cold working.

To change ductility, toughness, electrical, and magnetic properties.

To remove gases.

b. Normalising
Also used to soften and relieve internal stresses after cold work and to refine the
grain size and metallurgical structure. It may be used to break up the dendritic (as
cast) structure of castings to improve their machinability and future heat treatment
response or to mitigate banding in rolled steel. This requires heating to above the
critical temperature range, holding for sufficient time to allow temperature
equalisation followed by air cooling. It is therefore similar to annealing but with a
faster cooling rate.

2. The Hardening Process

a. Hardening or Quenching
Whenever a solid solution, such as steel, decomposes because of a falling
temperature into the eutectoid, the decomposition may be more or less completed,
depending on the cooling rate. This process is utilized in the hardening of steel. If the
steel is cooled slowly, the changes just discussed will occur; however, if the steel is
cooled too quickly, decomposition into the eutectoid will be prevented and a structure
called martensite is produced rather than steel. Martensite is a hard structure with
little ductility.

The successful hardening of steel may be achieved by the application of three

general principles:

Steel should always be annealed before hardening, to remove forging or cooling

stains.

Heating for hardening should be slow.

Steel should be quenched (cooled) on a rising, not on a falling temperature.

There is a range of quenching media of varying severity, water or brine being the
most severe, through oil and synthetic products to air which is the least severe. The
basic type of quenching media can be described as:

Brine for maximum hardness.

Water for rapid cooling of the common steel

Oils (light, medium, or heavy) for use with common steel parts of irregular shapes
or for alloy steel.

All hardened steel is in state of strain. and steel pieces with sharp angles or grooves
sometimes crack immediately after hardening. For this reason, tempering must follow
the quenching operation as soon as possible.

b. Tempering
After quenching the steel is hard, brittle and internally stressed. Before use, it is
usually necessary to reduce these stresses and increase toughness by 'tempering'.
Tempering of steel is defined as the process of reheating a hardened steel to a
definite temperature below the critical temperature, holding it at that point for a time,
an cooling it for the purpose of obtaining toughness and ductility in the steel.

By tempering, there will be a reduction in hardness and the selection of tempering

temperature dictates the final properties. Tempering curves, which are plots of
hardness against tempering temperature. exist for all commercial steels and are used
to select the correct tempering temperature. As a rule of thumb, within the tempering
range for a particular steel, the higher the tempering temperature the lower the final
hardness but the greater the toughness.

3. The Thermochemical Process

These involve the diffusion, to pre-determined depths into the steel surface, of carbon,
nitrogen and, less commonly, boron. These elements may be added individually or in

combination and the result is a surface with desirable properties and of radically different
composition to the bulk.
a. Carburising
Carbon diffusion (carburising) produces a higher carbon steel composition on the
part surface. It is usually necessary to harden both this layer and the substrate after
carburising.
b. Nitriding
Nitrogen diffusion (nitriding) and boron diffusion (boronising or boriding) both produce
hard intermetallic compounds at the surface. These layers are intrinsically hard and
do not need heat treatment themselves. Nitrogen diffusion (nitriding) is often carried
out at or below the tempering temperature of the steels used. Hence they can be
hardened prior to nitriding and the nitriding can also be used as a temper.
c. Boronising
Boronised substrates will often require heat treatment to restore mechanical
properties. As borides degrade in atmospheres which contain oxygen, even when
combined as CO or C02, they must be heat treated in vacuum, nitrogen or
nitrogen/hydrogen atmospheres.

PROBLEM: 12.5.
Describe a thermosetting plastic and list several.
A thermosetting plastic, also known as a thermoset, is polymer material that irreversibly
cures. Thermosetting polymer can be described as a prepolymer in a soft solid or viscous
state that changes irreversibly into an infusible, insoluble polymer network by curing. Curing
can be induced by the action of heat or suitable radiation, or both. Thermosetting plastics
can only be heated and shaped once. Once hardened a thermoset resin cannot be reheated
and melted to be shaped differently.

Thermosetting plastics can be divided into two groups: addition polymerides and
condensation polymerides. Addition polymerides consist of any polyvinyl types of resins;
condensation poymerides, the largest group, consist of phenolformaldehyde, cast phenolics,
transparent molded phenolics, resorcinol-formaldehyde, acroite, phenolfurfural, urea, caseinformaldehyde, sulfonamide resins, and polyesters.

Plastics of the thermosetting group have excellent mechanical and electrical properties and
are highly resistant of heat. These plastics are also highly resistant to water, oil, alkalies, and
acids. They also exhibit very little shrinkage. Thus, they are excellent where high first degree

of precisions is required. In this group the phenol-formaldehyde resins are probably the most
important reisns. The phenol-formaldehyde group can be subdivided into four general
classes:
1. Cellulose-filled compositions
The cellulose-filled composition utilizes wood flour as the filler and the final product
has high dielectric strength, mechanical strength, and it is very light. Uses have been
found in aerospace and automotive industries.
2. Mineral-filled compositions
The mineral-filled composition utilizes asbestos as the filler. Thus, articles made of
these plastics resist chemical and heat. Uses are for insulation of high-voltage
transmissions.
3. Molding sheets are made by impregnating paper with phenolic resins. These sheets
can be softened by heat and become brittle in the cold weather. These sheets are
used for molding application.
4. Impact-resistant materials
The plastic is made by impregnating paper and fabric fillers, built up in layers. This
product is called laminated plastics.

The table below provides several example of thermosetting plastic followed by its properties
and example product.
Thermosetting
plastics

Thermosetting plastics
properties

Epoxy resin
(Epoxide, ER)

Good electrical insulator,

hard, brittle unless
reinforced, resists
chemicals well.

Used for casting and

encapsulation, adhesives,
bonding of other materials.
Used for printed circuit boards
(PCBs) and surface coatings.

Melamine
formaldehyde
(MF)

Stiff, hard, strong, resists

some chemicals and
stains.

Used for Laminating work

surfaces, electrical insulation,
tableware.

Polyester resin
(PR)

Stiff, hard, brittle unless

laminated, good electrical
insulator, resists
chemicals well.

Used for casting and

encapsulation, bonding of other
materials, car bodies, boats.

Thermosetting plastics uses

Example product

Thermosetting
plastics

Thermosetting plastics
properties

Urea
formaldehyde
(UF)

Stiff, hard, strong, brittle,

good electrical insulator.

Used for electrical fittings,

handles and control knobs,
adhesives

Phenol
formaldehyde
(PF, Bakelite)

A colourless polymer coloured with artificial

pigments to produce a
wide range of different
colours.

Used for dark coloured

electrical fittings and parts for
domestic appliances, bottle
tops, kettle handles, saucepan
handles.

Thermosetting plastics uses

Example product

PROBLEM: 3
Find some example of civil engineering structure or project made from composite
material.
Composite materials are materials made from two or more constituent materials with
significantly different physical or chemical properties, that when combined, produce a
material with characteristics different from the individual components. The individual
components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure. The new material
may be preferred for many reasons: common examples include materials which are
stronger, lighter or less expensive when compared to traditional materials.

Composite materials are generally used for buildings, bridges and other structures. For
example, wall structure in non-residential building which use composite panels as its
exterior cladding. Composite panels also used in a wide range for partitioning, load bearing
walls and roofing elements. Composite panels are manufactured on a continuous lamination
basis with metal facings - usually steel or aluminium - encapsulating a foamed polyurethane
core. This composition offers a high degree of stability, rigidity and excellent load-bearing
capacity.

Composite panels are getting successful also due to ease, which composite panel gives in
installing them as per any building infrastructures. Composite panel can be molded, cut and
reshaped as per any building structure and most probably the different colors are providing
variety to, to decorate and make the building look more unique in easy and cheap manner.

Figure 3: Composite panel roof system

Figure 4: Building with composite panel exterior cladding

Figure 4: Composite panel partitioning

A composite panel is a load-bearing, lightweight laminated structure, the performance of

which can be analysed in the same way as that of a steel I beam. Bending moments,
induced by loading, are resisted by tensile and compressive forces in the facings, whilst the
core material absorbs the shear forces.

Figure 1: Composite Panels

Figure 2: Composite panels with

stainless steel facing

Solvent-free adhesives such as 1 and 2-component polyurethane adhesives must be used to

adhere the panel facings to the core. Reactive polyurethane, hot-melt, or epoxy adhesives
are also used in specific cases and various press technologies are deployed. The choice of
adhesive and bonding technique is governed by the strength requirements of the panels to
be produced, and their particular application.

The core material has to absorb the shear forces which occur due to the loading and
bending of the composite panel (figure 1). The performance and durability of a composite
panel depend upon the proper harmonization of its constituent parts and the manufacturing
process itself.

Composite panels have many benefits compared with non-composite panels, which are:

The core in composite panel has high compressive strength, prevent the facings from
buckling.

Composite panel has increased resistance to deflection.

The core shear strength provides high shear modulus.

The high shear modulus provided by foamed polyurethane core allows composite panels
to be designed with long self-supporting spans, and enhanced rigidity.

Composite panel is lightweight; make it easy to handle in all fields of application.

Composite panels offer highly effective long-term thermal insulating performance.