Material Substitutions
Material Substitutions
(OP)
I am a Metallurgist right out of college and am frequently asked to give a recommendation for material substitutions. Generally, I'm not 100% positive and was wondering if there is a guideline on substituting materials or if the ASTM specs include materials they could be substituted with? Any help or guidelines would be great!!
How do most refinery/chemical processing plants deal with issues like these?
How do most refinery/chemical processing plants deal with issues like these?





RE: Material Substitutions
Material substitutions in general can be very tricky because for one approach you can substitute with near equivalent materials or even upgrade materials as part of a substitution. However, for components that are designed and built to codes or standards one has to be aware that you do not substitute with materials that are not code approved. There are tables around the internet where you may have listed as an example, EN material designation with an ASTM listing side-by-side.
To be on the safe side, you should evaluate as a minimum three categories for a proper material substitution. These categories are chemical composition, mechanical properties and environment (or intended service use). You need to evaluate all three of these categories before deciding on a material substitution.
RE: Material Substitutions
RE: Material Substitutions
Thanks Cory for the book recommendation. I walked by that book in our library many times without thinking it might have been important.
RE: Material Substitutions
RE: Material Substitutions
I must say though that people do ask me a lot more questions about materials than I ever thought they would...it might be a curse being a metallurgist (jk). Even my in-laws will ask random questions at holidays..."Why is this made out of that?" etc.
Thanks everyone for the help!
RE: Material Substitutions
RE: Material Substitutions
RE: Material Substitutions
Also - don't forget the material substutition effects on manufacturability.
'I have only come here seeking knowledge,
Things they would not teach me of in college' Sting
RE: Material Substitutions