(1) The metal present in the largest proportion in an alloy; brass, for example, is a copper-base alloy. (2) An active metal that readily oxidizes, or that dissolves to form ions. (3) The metal to be brazed, cut, soldered, or welded. (4) After welding, th ...

Forming austenite by heating a ferrous alloy into the transformation range (partial austenitizing) or above the transformation range (complete austenitizing). When used without qualification, the term implies complete austenitizing.

A compound of iron and carbon, known chemically as iron carbide and having the approximate chemical formula Fe3C. It is characterized by an orthorhombic crystal structure. When it occurs as a phase in steel, the chemical composition will be altered by the ...

A coating consisting of' a compound of the surface metal, produced by chemical or electrochemical treatments of the metal. Examples include chromate coatings on zinc, cadmium, magnesium, and aluminum and oxide and phosphate coatings on steel. See also chr ...

A substance that reduces the surface tension of a liquid, thereby causing it to spread more readily on a solid surface.

Occurs in the base metal adjacent to weldments due to high through-thickness strains introduced by weld metal shrinkage in highly restrained joints. Tearing occurs by decohesion and linking along the working direction of the base metal; cracks usually run ...

A thin, inhibiting paint, usually chromate pigmented with a polyvinyl butyrate binder.

See ferrite.

The absorption of carbon into a metal surface; may or may not be desirable.

(1) A cathode, usuully corrugated to give variable current densities, that is plated at low current densities to preferentially remove impurities from a plating solution. (2) A substitute cathode that is used during adjustment of operating conditions.

An electrolytic cell, the electromotive force of which is due to a difference in air (oxygen) concentration at one electrode as compared with that at another electrode of the same material; an oxygen concentration cell (a cell resulting from a potential d ...

(1) A solid solution of one or more elements in body-centered cubic iron. Unless otherwise designated (for instance, as chromium ferrite), the solute is generally assumed to be carbon. On some equilibrium diagrams, there are two ferrite regions separated ...

An electrode widely used as a reference electrode of known potential in electrometric measurement of acidity and alkalinity, corrosion studies, voltammetry, and measurement of the potentials of other electrodes. See also electrode potential, reference ele ...

A raised area, often dome shaped, resulting from (1) loss of adhesion between a coating or deposit and the base metal or (2) delamination under the pressure of expanding gas trapped in a metal in a near-subsurface zone. Very small blisters may be called p ...

A coating developed on a metal surface by a high temperature diffusion process (as carburization, calorizing, or chromizing).

Removal of dissolved mineral matter, generally from water.

The stress at which a material exhibits a specified deviation from proportionality of stress and strain. An onset of 0.2% is used for many metals.

Corrosion that is accompanied by a flow of electrons between cathodic and anodic areas on metallic surfaces.

A heat treatment, whether accidental, intentional, or incidental (as during welding), that causes precipitation of constituents at grain boundaries, often causing the alloy to become susceptible to intergranular corrosion or intergranular stress-corrosion ...

The size of a flaw (defect) in a structure that will cause failure at a particular stress level.