Effect of Molybdenum on Thermal Expansion

[Berndt]

I have recently read that the addition of molybdenum to steel lowers the thermal expansion coefficient of that steel.

Is this true, and if so, what is the affect of molybdenum on the microstructure to cause this effect?

 

[metengr]

Kriegfix;
Go to the web site below and you can research on your own the effect of Mo as an alloy element to steel;

http://www.key-to-steel.com/default.aspx?ID=CheckArticle&NM=10

 

[weldtek]

I'm not a metallurgist, but, another excellent information resource on Molybdenum can be found at

http://www.imoa.info

 

[Berndt]

Thanks for the pointers. The IMOA site is a valuable source of information.
What I was really interested in is the effect molybdenum has on the atomic level when added as an alloying element. This got me thinking about why different metals exhibit different thermal expansion coefficients. What I did find was that it has to do with the number of free electrons available in the atoms of different metals. Though precisely how free electrons contribute to thermal expansions is still beyond me.
I guess it could be said that I am leaving the realm of engineering and encroaching on pure science which is too complex for all practical purposes.

 

[jedward]

thermal expansion is really a nonlinear effect that is discussed some books on solid atate physics, the anharmonic term in a simple harmonic oscillator model- Kittel could be one source