Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states:
The term carbon steel may also be used in reference to steel which is not stainless steel; in this use carbon steel may include alloy steels. High carbon steel has many different uses such as milling machines, cutting tools (such as chisels) and high strength wires. These applications require a much finer microstructure, which improves the toughness.
As the carbon content percentage rises, steel has the ability to become harder and stronger through heat treating; however, it becomes less ductile. Regardless of the heat treatment, a higher carbon content reduces weldability. In carbon steels, the higher carbon content lowers the melting point.[2]
Properties, characteristics & environmental impact
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Type
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Mild or low-carbon steel[
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Mild steel (iron containing a small percentage of carbon, strong and tough but not readily tempered), also known as plain-carbon steel and low-carbon steel, is now the most common form of steel because its price is relatively low while it provides material properties that are acceptable for many applications. Mild steel contains approximately 0.05–0.30% carbon[1] making it malleable and ductile. Mild steel has a relatively low tensile strength, but it is cheap and easy to form. Surface hardness can be increased with carburization.[4]
The density of mild steel is approximately 7.85 g/cm3 (7,850 kg/m3; 0.284 lb/cu in)[5] and the Young's modulus is 200 GPa (29×10^6 psi).[6]
Low-carbon steels[7] display yield-point runout where the material has two yield points. The first yield point (or upper yield point) is higher than the second and the yield drops dramatically after the upper yield point. If a low-carbon steel is only stressed to some point between the upper and lower yield point then the surface develops Lüder bands.[8] Low-carbon steels contain less carbon than other steels and are easier to cold-form, making them easier to handle.[4] Typical applications of low carbon steel are car parts, pipes, construction, and food cans.[9]
High-tensile steel
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High-tensile steels are low-carbon, or steels at the lower end of the medium-carbon range,[citation needed] which have additional alloying ingredients in order to increase their strength, wear properties or specifically tensile strength. These alloying ingredients include chromium, molybdenum, silicon, manganese, nickel, and vanadium. Impurities such as phosphorus and sulfur have their maximum allowable content restricted.
Higher-carbon steels
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Carbon steels which can successfully undergo heat-treatment have a carbon content in the range of 0.30–1.70% by weight. Trace impurities of various other elements can significantly affect the quality of the resulting steel. Trace amounts of sulfur in particular make the steel red-short, that is, brittle and crumbly at high working temperatures. Low-alloy carbon steel, such as A36 grade, contains about 0.05% sulfur and melt around 1,426–1,538 °C (2,600–2,800 °F).[10] Manganese is often added to improve the hardenability of low-carbon steels. These additions turn the material into a low-alloy steel by some definitions, but AISI's definition of carbon steel allows up to 1.65% manganese by weight. There are two types of higher carbon steels which are high carbon steel and the ultra high carbon steel. The reason for the limited use of high carbon steel is that it has extremely poor ductility and weldability and has a higher cost of production. The applications best suited for the high carbon steels is its use in the spring industry, farm industry, and in the production of wide range of high-strength wires.[11][12]
AISI classification
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The following classification method is based on the American AISI/SAE standard. Other international standards including DIN (Germany), GB (China), BS/EN (UK), AFNOR (France), UNI (Italy), SS (Sweden) , UNE (Spain), JIS (Japan), ASTM standards, and others.
Carbon steel is broken down into four classes based on carbon content:[1]
Low-carbon steel
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Low-carbon steel has 0.05 to 0.15% carbon (plain carbon steel) content.[1]
Medium-carbon steel
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Medium-carbon steel has approximately 0.3–0.5% carbon content.[1] It balances ductility and strength and has good wear resistance. It is used for large parts, forging and automotive components.[13][14]
High-carbon steel
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High-carbon steel has approximately 0.6 to 1.0% carbon content.[1] It is very strong, used for springs, edged tools, and high-strength wires.[15]
Ultra-high-carbon steel
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Ultra-high-carbon steel has approximately 1.25–2.0% carbon content.[1] Steels that can be tempered to great hardness. Used for special purposes such as (non-industrial-purpose) knives, axles, and punches. Most steels with more than 2.5% carbon content are made using powder metallurgy.
Heat treatment
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Iron-carbon phase diagram, showing the temperature and carbon ranges for certain types of heat treatmentsThe purpose of heat treating carbon steel is to change the mechanical properties of steel, usually ductility, hardness, yield strength, or impact resistance. Note that the electrical and thermal conductivity are only slightly altered. As with most strengthening techniques for steel, Young's modulus (elasticity) is unaffected. All treatments of steel trade ductility for increased strength and vice versa. Iron has a higher solubility for carbon in the austenite phase; therefore all heat treatments, except spheroidizing and process annealing, start by heating the steel to a temperature at which the austenitic phase can exist. The steel is then quenched (heat drawn out) at a moderate to low rate allowing carbon to diffuse out of the austenite forming iron-carbide (cementite) and leaving ferrite, or at a high rate, trapping the carbon within the iron thus forming martensite. The rate at which the steel is cooled through the eutectoid temperature (about 727 °C or 1,341 °F) affects the rate at which carbon diffuses out of austenite and forms cementite. Generally speaking, cooling swiftly will leave iron carbide finely dispersed and produce a fine grained pearlite and cooling slowly will give a coarser pearlite. Cooling a hypoeutectoid steel (less than 0.77 wt% C) results in a lamellar-pearlitic structure of iron carbide layers with α-ferrite (nearly pure iron) between. If it is hypereutectoid steel (more than 0.77 wt% C) then the structure is full pearlite with small grains (larger than the pearlite lamella) of cementite formed on the grain boundaries. A eutectoid steel (0.77% carbon) will have a pearlite structure throughout the grains with no cementite at the boundaries. The relative amounts of constituents are found using the lever rule. The following is a list of the types of heat treatments possible:
Case hardening
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Case hardening processes harden only the exterior of the steel part, creating a hard, wear-resistant skin (the "case") but preserving a tough and ductile interior. Carbon steels are not very hardenable meaning they can not be hardened throughout thick sections. Alloy steels have a better hardenability, so they can be through-hardened and do not require case hardening. This property of carbon steel can be beneficial, because it gives the surface good wear characteristics but leaves the core flexible and shock-absorbing.
Forging temperature of steel
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[24]
See also
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References
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Bibliography
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“Carbon steel” has two meanings — a technical definition and a more general classification. The technical definition is very clear: According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), a steel must meet the following standards to match the technical definition of carbon steel:
The technical definition, while complex, boils down to one simple constraint — true carbon steels must have almost no alloying elements, making them primarily comprised of two materials: iron and carbon. The amount of carbon can vary and there are a few acceptable alloying materials, but these steels are simple.
In addition to the precise definition, the term carbon steel is also used to refer to the broad group of alloy steels that are not stainless steels. Unlike carbon steels, low-alloy steels can contain small quantities of a wide variety of alloying elements, allowing them to be customized for a wider variety of applications. These steels, while not satisfying the technical requirements of carbon steel, signify the greater divide in steel: stainless steel vs everything else.
Carbon steel by definition is extremely simple. It’s Iron with some carbon, and limited alloying elements. In addition, any steel that requires alloying elements (like 4140 and 4340, for example) are not carbon steels. Within the carbon steel definition, materials can be defined as either low-carbon steel or high-carbon steel. Low-carbon steels are extremely common, while high-carbon steels are only used in high-strength, non-corrosive environments. 1020 Steel, a low-carbon steel, is one of the most popular steels produced today.