Advantages and Disadvantages of Carbon Steel

 Due to the continuous development of urbanization construction, materials in the building materials market have emerged one after another. Although these materials are relatively common in our daily life, people who do not usually run in the building materials market may not know carbon steel. today I will explain to you what kind of material carbon steel is? And what are its advantages and disadvantages?

1) What material is carbon steel?

Carbon steel mainly refers to the steel whose mechanical properties depend on the carbon content in the steel, and generally does not add a large amount of alloying elements, and is sometimes called plain carbon steel or carbon steel. Carbon steel, also called carbon steel, refers to an iron-carbon alloy with a carbon content of less than 2% WC. In addition to carbon, carbon steel generally contains a small amount of silicon, manganese, sulfur, and phosphorus. Generally, the higher the carbon content of carbon steel, the greater the hardness and the higher the strength, but the lower the plasticity.

2) What are the advantages and disadvantages of carbon steel?

Advantage:

1. Carbon steel can get higher hardness and better wear resistance after heat treatment.

2. The raw materials of carbon steel are very common, easy to obtain, and the production cost is relatively low.

3. The hardness of carbon steel in the annealed state is very moderate, and it also has good machinability.

Disadvantage:

1. The hot hardness of carbon steel will be poor, because when the working temperature of the tool is greater than 200 degrees, its hardness and wear resistance will drop sharply.

2. The hardenability of carbon steel is very low. The diameter of the fully hardened steel is generally about 15-18 mm during water quenching, while the diameter or thickness of the carbon steel is only about 6 mm when it is not quenched, so it will be easier to deform and crack.

3) What are the classifications of carbon steel?

1. According to the use, carbon steel can be divided into three categories: carbon structural steel, carbon tool steel and easy-to-cut structural steel.

2. According to the smelting method, carbon steel can be divided into three categories: open hearth steel, converter steel and electric furnace steel.

3. According to the carbon content, carbon steel can be divided into three categories: low carbon steel, medium carbon steel and high carbon steel.

4. According to the deoxidation method, carbon steel can be divided into boiling steel, killed steel, semi-killed steel and special killed steel, which are represented by codes F, Z, b and TZ respectively.

5. According to the content of sulfur and phosphorus, carbon steel can be divided into ordinary carbon steel (the amount of phosphorus and sulfur will be higher), high-quality carbon steel (the amount of phosphorus and sulfur will be lower), high-grade high-quality steel (which contains lower phosphorus and sulfur content), and special-grade high-quality steel.

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High strength low alloy steel

　　High-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels, or microalloyed steels, are designed to provide better mechanical properties and/or greater resistance to atmospheric corrosion than conventional carbon steels in the normal sense because they are designed to meet specific mechanical properties rather than a chemical composition.

　　The HSLA steels have low carbon contents (0.05-0.25% C) in order to produce adequate formability and weldability, and they have manganese contents up to 2.0%. Small quantities of chromium, nickel, molybdenum, copper, nitrogen, vanadium, niobium, titanium and zirconium are used in various combinations.

　　HSLA Classification:

　　Weathering steels, designated to exhibit superior atmospheric corrosion resistance.

　　Control-rolled steels, hot rolled according to a predetermined rolling schedule, designed to develop a highly deformed austenite structure that will transform to a very fine equiaxed ferrite structure on cooling.

　　Pearlite-reduced steels, strengthened by very fine-grain ferrite and precipitation hardening but with low carbon content and therefore little or no pearlite in the microstructure.

　　Microalloyed steels, with very small additions of such elements as niobium, vanadium, and/or titanium for refinement of grain size and/or precipitation hardening.

　　Acicular ferrite steel, very low carbon steels with sufficient hardenability to transform on cooling to a very fine high-strength acicular ferrite structure rather than the usual polygonal ferrite structure.

　　Dual-phase steels, processed to a micro-structure of ferrite containing small uniformly distributed regions of high-carbon martensite, resulting in a product with low yield strength and a high rate of work hardening, thus providing a high-strength steel of superior formability.

　　The various types of HSLA steels may also have small additions of calcium, rare earth elements, or zirconium for sulfide inclusion shape control.

Low,Medium and High Carbon Steel

　　The world of carbon steels can be challenging to wrap your head around. There are many different options to choose from, and each type of steel has different benefits. The main differentiating factor is the amount of carbon that is mixed with iron during production. Other materials, mainly metals, can be added to change the physical properties. Notably, chromium is added to form stainless steel, while other big picture, there are three distinctions between carbon steels: low, medium, and high.

　　Low carbon steel

　　Low carbon steels such as 302, 304 or 316 grades of stainless are typically used in applications which require high degrees of corrosion resistance but do not require a hardened surface. The carbon content of these steels typically range between 0.03-0.08%, and consumers typically use these grades of stainless (often without thinking about it) in kitchen equipment, silverware or almost any grade of un-plated steel used in food preparation. It’s great because it can survive the dishwasher without rusting, but it cannot be case hardened due to the very low carbon content.

　　While it can be used to make linear shafting, it isn’t suitable for loaded ball contact. So if a linear ball bushing were to be used on a soft 304 stainless steel shaft, for example, the balls in the bearing would quickly impact the shaft surface, resulting in visible ball tracking on its surface and a drastic reduction in both bearing and shaft life. It can, however, be used in conjunction with polymer, plain-style bearings which provide great options for both corrosion resistance and self-lubrication. For the right applications, a 300 series stainless steel linear shaft presents a great option for withstanding tough environmental conditions!

　　Medium carbon steel

　　Medium carbon steels include grades with carbon contents ranging from 0.25% to 0.60% of the steel mass. Medium carbon grades are typically employed in conjunction with alloys such as chromium, nickel and molybdenum to produce high strength, wear resistance and toughness. Products using medium grades of carbon steel include gears, axles, studs and other machine components that require optimal combinations of strength and toughness.

　　Medium carbon steels have good machining characteristics, and one of the more popular grades used in machined steel product is AISI 1045. AISI 1045 can also be hardened by heating the material too approximately 820-850C (1508 -1562 F) and held until the material reaches a uniform temperature. It should be soaked for one hour per 25 mm section of material and subsequently cooled in still air.

　　High carbon steel

　　High carbon steels are those with carbon contents between 0.60% and 1.4% of the overall weight. The alloys in this particular category constitute the strongest and hardest within the three groups, but they are also the least ductile. These steels are used in a range of different mechanical, cutting and bearing applications as it can be hardened through heat treating and tempering. Additional alloys can be added to this steel category in order to generate different characteristics. Chromium and Manganese, for example, are used in the composition of 52100 steel and aid in the hardening process while enhancing the steel’s resistance to corrosion. Since 52100 is one of the steel grades frequently used to manufacture linear shafting, precise control of the case depth can be critical to generate a shaft with both a hardened surface (for loaded ball contact) and an un-hardened inner core which prevents the shaft from becoming brittle.

　　Steel alloys are given designators by organizations such as the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) for easier classification and identification. AISI typically follows a four digit system, where the first two digits indicate the alloy, and the second two digits denote the carbon content. ASTM uses an “A” to denote ferrous materials, followed by an arbitrarily assigned number for each alloy.

　　Regardless of the system used, this standardization allows cross talk between designers, engineers, and builders to ensure the proper material is being selected and used in engineering projects. It also makes looking up physical properties of alloys very easy, as a simple search with the identification number produces the correct information.