Mechanics of Materials Lab Experiment #3: Effect of Heat Treatment on the Strength of Steel Objective The purpose of this experiment is to introduce the students to the effect of

heat treatment on the mechanical properties of steel. Steel is the most important commercial metal alloy. Of course, "steel" is not a single alloy, but instead is a bewildering array of compositions whose common component is iron. The microstructure of steel is the key to its behavior, because the crystal structure, size, carbon content and arrangement of the microconstituents (BCC ferrite, BCT martensite, FCC austenite, orthorhombic cementite, etc.) determine its properties.