×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Salt Contamination of Steel before Heating

Salt Contamination of Steel before Heating

Salt Contamination of Steel before Heating

(OP)
I have a question about road salt contamination of 5160 alloy bar.  The bar in question was transported un-tarped and was contaminated with road salt.

During processing the bar is austenized, formed, quenched in oil then tempered to 46 HRC to make a spring.

Do you think the road salt could detrimentally effect the spring in fatigue?  Would it be worth washing it off?

If spring steel is quenched in molten salt for a bainite microstructure I would imagine this would be similar......and from what I understand the salt does not have to be washed off......

TIA

RE: Salt Contamination of Steel before Heating

I use to wash the tomatoes I bought before eating them. Do you do the same? I guess the same principle applies to my 5160 alloy bars.
cheers,
gr2vessels

RE: Salt Contamination of Steel before Heating

(OP)
A stunningly erudite reply, gr2vessels, thank you for you wisdom.

RE: Salt Contamination of Steel before Heating

I would reject the material back to the supplier.

RE: Salt Contamination of Steel before Heating

I would agree with swall if the shipment requirements were not followed. In this case, if there were no shipping requirements, rejecting the shipment may cost you significant dollars because you (the purchaser) did not specify requirements for shipping.

If your management places you between a rock and hardplace, I would offer the following as a possible out for you; have the spring steel shipment thoroughly cleaned and subjected to a detailed visual inspection, as a minimum, followed by a wet fluorescent MT if areas of surface pitting is detected. Road salt on this heat treated spring material may cause corrosion pitting attack on the surface, and I would at least want to know what the surface condition is before accepting it for use in a spring application. The cleaning cost and any supplemental NDT are small in comparison to problems in service.

RE: Salt Contamination of Steel before Heating

(OP)
Thanks metengr.....

We are talking 300 ton of steel so yes the NDT is a small part of the cost of the steel

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources