Handbook of Welding: Processes, Control and Simulation by 
Fundamentals of Materials Engineering - a Basic Guide by 
Rare metals play an important role in the development of major branches of industry, such as vacuum equipment, semiconductor electronics, nuclear power and rocket production, as well as in the production of special steels and hard, refractory and corrosion-resistant alloys.
The History of Metals in America
This lively book takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the evolution of metals and metallurgy from the beginning of iron production in colonial times with the first iron plant in 1645 to the prevailing metals of the 21st century.
Fundamentals of Aluminium Metallurgy : Production, Processing and Applications
Fundamentals of aluminium metallurgy provides a comprehensive overview of the production, properties and processing of aluminium, and its applications in manufacturing industries.
Applied Welding Engineering : Processes, Codes, and Standards
Applied Welding Engineering: Processes, Codes and Standards is designed to provide a practical in-depth instruction for the selection of the materials incorporated in the joint, joint inspection, and the quality control for the final product.
Metallurgy is the science that explores why metals behave the way they do. It explains the properties, behavior and internal structure of metals
The mechanical properties of a metal can be described as those quantifiable properties that enable the metal to resist externally imposed forces without failing.
Grain Structure
Cast grain Structure: Casting grains form as the outside of the molten metal begins to cool. The individual grains grow toward the center of the casting. As the grain structure grows inward, impurities in the metal are pushed into the center of the casting. The grain structure of some castings becomes so large that it can easily be seen on the broken surface.
Rolled grain Structure: Rolling, drawing, and extruding all cause the cast grain structure to be flattened and elongated as a result of the forces applied by the rollers. This grain structure is strongest in the direction it was rolled. The breaking down of the cast grain structure is called refining the grain, which strengthens the metal.
Forging grain Structure: Forging causes the cast or rolled grain structures to be broken down even further in a layer around the blank material used for the forging. The forging process results in a strong, hard layer of fine grain structure surrounding the core grain structure.
Mechanical Properties
Hardness: resistance to penetration. Hardness Property may, in many metals, be increased or decreased by heat-treating methods and increased in other metals by cold working.
Brittleness: Brittleness is the ease with which a metal will crack or break apart without noticeable deformation.
Ductility: the ability of a metal to be permanently twisted, drawn out, bent, or changed in shape without cracking or breaking. Ductile metals include aluminum, copper, zinc, and soft steel.
Toughness: is the property that allows a metal to withstand forces, sudden shock, or bends without fracturing.
Strength: is the property of a metal to resist deformation.
Strain: is deformation caused by stress.
Elasticity: is the ability of a material to return to its original form after removal of the load.
directly proportional to the load.
Impact strength: is the ability of a metal to resist fracture under a sudden load.
All solid matter exists in one of two basic forms: crystalline or amorphic in form
The fundamental building blocks of all metals are atoms arranged in very precise three-dimensional patterns called crystal lattices. The smallest identifiable group of atoms is the unit cell.
An alloy is a metal with one or more elements added to it, resulting in a significant change in the metal’s properties.
Ferrous metals are those which contain iron and non-ferrous metals that are those which contain no iron.
Solid-Solution Hardening: process of replacing some of the atoms in the crystal lattice with atoms of another metal
Precipitation Hardening: a heat treatment involving three steps: (1) heating the alloy enough to dissolve the second phase and form a single solid solution; (2) quenching the alloy rapidly from the solution temperature to keep the second phase in solution, thus producing a supersaturated solution; and (3) reheating the alloy with careful control of time and temperature to precipitate the second phase as very fine crystals that strengthen the lattice in which they had dissolved.
Transformation hardening is common when dealing with base metals such as mild steel. It involves the heat-quench-tempering heat treatment cycle used to adjust strength and ductility combinations for specific applications.
Quenching is the process of rapidly cooling a metal by one of several methods.
Tempering is the process of reheating a part that has been hardened through heating and quenched.
Heat Treatments
Preheat: is used to reduce the rate at which welds cool. Generally, it provides two beneficial effects—lower residual stresses and reduced cracking.
Annealing: consists of heating a metal to a high temperature, where recrystallisation and/or a phase transformation take place, and then cooling slowly, often in the heat treatment furnace.
Normalizing: This is a heat treatment that is carried out only on ferritic steels. It comprises heating the steel to some 30-50°C above the upper transformation temperature (for a 0.20% carbon steel this would be around 910°C) and cooling in still air.
Stress Relief: a heat treatment designed to reduce the residual stresses produced by weld shrinkage.
Post Heat: A low temperature heat treatment carried out immediately on completion of welding by increasing the preheat by some 100°C and maintaining this temperature for 3 or 4 hours.
Metal Forming and Welding Glossary
Dictionary from Advantage Fabricated Metals.
Welding and Joining Processes - Keys to Metals