Carbon steels and processes (1 Viewer)

[Wolf47]

I'm doing year 12 Engineering and I've got an assignment due in a week and I need a little help getting started.

One part of what we've been asked to do is find out information about a lifting hook. I've been searching for a few days and I haven't been able to come up with anything remotely useful. What we need to find out the material its likely to be made of and the processes used in its manufacturing.

So far I've come up with a high-carbon steel (need a specific carbon %) for the hook due to its high strength in tension, which are the only forces I imagine a hook is going to be put under, its strength, hardness and wear resistance. What do you think about this choice?

And for the process the first step is obviously forging because it gives a better product than casting, then I'll have to find some heat treatment process so that its not brittle (normalising, tempering, annealing, etc?). I need a little help with the heat treatment choice, but I know where to start.

 

[Denn]

0.15% CC Ferrite - Soft Malleable and ductile
Modification - Cold working or alloying, cannot be hardened by heat treatment
Examples - Nuts and bolts
0.35% CC - Ductile and tough, ferrite grains with approx. 30% of perlite.
Modification - By cold working or alloying, the steel cannot be hardened by heat treatment
Examples - Nuts and bolts
0.8% CC Perlite - Lamella structure of ferrite and cementite phases , the increased amount of cementite and its distribution throughout the microstructure gives a high UTS (Ultimate Tensile Strength) and a high hardness.
Modification - By heat treatment to harden the steel, alloying can also be used
Examples : brake cable wire
1.1 % Carbon Steel
Very Hard with low ductility , very brittle
Modification - Heat treatment to harden and temper the steel, alloying can be used aswell.
Examples : cutting tools

So your probably looking at 0.8% C steel.

You would use steel for the obvious fact that its non-corrosive.

Hope that helps