Elsevier Ltd., Oxford, UK, 2006. 344 pp.
In this book, I have attempted to outline the principles which determine the microstructures of steels and through these the mechanical properties. At a time when our metallographic techniques are reaching almost to atomic resolution, it is essential to emphasize structure on the finest scale, especially because mechanical properties are sensitive to changes at this level. While this is not a book on the selection of steels for different uses, I have tried to include sufficient information to describe how broad categories of steels fulfil practical requirements. However, the main thrust of the book is to examine analytically how the gamma/alpha phase transformation is utilized, and to explain the many effects that non-metallic and metallic alloying elements have, both on this transformation and on other phenomena. This book is written with the needs of metallurgists, materials scientists and engineers in mind, and should be useful not only in the later years of the first degree and diploma courses but also in postgraduate courses. An elementary knowledge of materials science, metallography, crystallography and physics is assumed.
In this book, I have attempted to outline the principles which determine the microstructures of steels and through these the mechanical properties. At a time when our metallographic techniques are reaching almost to atomic resolution, it is essential to emphasize structure on the finest scale, especially because mechanical properties are sensitive to changes at this level. While this is not a book on the selection of steels for different uses, I have tried to include sufficient information to describe how broad categories of steels fulfil practical requirements. However, the main thrust of the book is to examine analytically how the gamma/alpha phase transformation is utilized, and to explain the many effects that non-metallic and metallic alloying elements have, both on this transformation and on other phenomena. This book is written with the needs of metallurgists, materials scientists and engineers in mind, and should be useful not only in the later years of the first degree and diploma courses but also in postgraduate courses. An elementary knowledge of materials science, metallography, crystallography and physics is assumed.