Basic Welding Metallurgy of Stuctural Steels explained in everyday terms

Physical Metallurgy, and Welding Metallurgy are subjects that are often presented using discipline specific terminology with relationships between variables expressed using complex equations. This is the way of explaining things that most accurately expresses the effects that a change may cause. But fundamental understandings of the way welding affects the microstructure and mechanical properties of a base metal may be gotten from having certain micrographs, and basic principles explained in everyday terms. This presentation will start with Physical Metallurgy and explain the Iron Iron-Carbide(Fe, Fe3C) diagram, and introduce the most basic microstructures in steels; Ferrite, Pearlite, Martensite, Austenite, Bainite. This will not be an in-depth analysis only enough to point out the very distinctive features of each and perhaps permit the participant to identify microstructures using the distinctive characteristics of each.