Alloying Sign Effect on Steel Mechanical and Corrosion

Elements Properties

Necessary to convert iron in to Steel and allow

hardening and increase in strength increase tensile
Carbon C strength and hardness but reduces toughness.
Reduce weldability. Increase corrosion. Restricted to
0.030% in stainless steel
( L-grades ) to reduce sensitization during welding

Improve hot working properties and increases

tensile strength , hardness and abrasion resistance.
Manganese Mn. Austenite Forming element. Decrease porosity and
cracking forms sulphides that may cause hydrogen
induced cracking
Increase brittleness and cracking during welding.
Increase being restricted to < 0.025 % for sweet and
Phosphorous P < 0.015 % for sour service pipe. Added with sulphur
to steel to improve machinability but such materials
should not be used for submarine service.
Alloying Sign Effect on Steel Mechanical and Corrosion
Elements Properties

Increase Porosity, brittleness and cracking by hot

Shortness during forming forms manganese sulphide
Sulphur S that
trap hydrogen leading to internal cracking. Surface
emergent sulphides initiate pitting. Increasingly
restricted to 0.01 % Sweet and < 0.005 % for sour
Pipe line.
Added to improve machinability. Not use for pipe
Selenium Se. line Steels.

Increase tensile strength but markedly reduce

Silicone Si toughness. Added as a deoxidizer to kill the steel
( removal gases ). Restricted to 0.35 – 0.4 %
Used to refine grain size. Increase harness. Added as
a deoxidizer to kill steel. Add weld toughness when
Aluminium Al added to 0.02 – 0.05 %
Alloying Sign Effect on Steel Mechanical and Corrosion
Elements Properties
Improves sour cracking resistance for improvements
at pH>4.5. Affects corrosivity of weld HAZ. In
Copper Cu conjunction with Ni claimed to stabilized corrosion
films and reduce corrosion. Often used with NI for
pipe line for bends and in thick section pipe. Tramp
elements in stainless steels though used to increase
hardness in special alloys.

Deoxidiser and desulphuriser. Secondary addition

Calcium Ca. used for inclusion shape control for sour service pipe
steel.
Used to improve resistance to oxidation. Increase
Cr. tensile strength and hardness. Decreases
Chromium weldability. Has major effect on corrosion resistance.
Material become a stainless steel if Cr ≥ 12 %

Tramp element. Become radioactive when irradiated

Cobalt Co so generally minimized.
Alloying Sign Effect on Steel Mechanical and Corrosion
Elements Properties
Increase tensile strength and corrosion resistance .
Reduce Pitting attack when added to chromium –
Molybdenum Mo Nickel stainless steel. Used in High grade bends as it
improves hot hardness.
Micro alloying element. Increase tensile strength,
Titanium Ti. hardenability and wear resistance. Combines with
carbon to form carbides that may reduce toughness.
Used in stainless steel to prevent sensitization.

Austenite stabiliser. Increase strength but reduce

Nitrogen N low temperature toughness. Used to increase
strength of austenitic ( N grade ) and Duplex
stainless steel. Restricted to 0.09 to 0.15 %
Micro-alloying elements in C-Steel and always added
Niobium Nb. to steel above X42. used to stabilised carbon in
stainless steel to prevent sensitision.
Increase tensile strength , hardenability and wear
Vanadium Vn. resistance . Used micro alloying element for thick
pipeline material.