University of Mindanao, Davao City

Engineering Department

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement in

Material Science
Carbon and Alloy Steels

Submitted by:
Aileen Joy Canania
Charina Guimte
Jay Mark Waluhan
Submitted to:
Engr. Angelita Fernandez
Instructor

May 2015

Introduction
Steel is the most common and widely used metallic material in
todays society. It can be cast or wrought into numerous forms and can be
produced with tensile strength exceeding 5 GPa. A prime example of the
versatility of steel is in the automobile where it is the material of choice
and accounts for over 60% of the weight of the vehicle. Steel is recycled
and easily separated from other materials by a magnet. Steel is
inexpensive compared with other competing materials such as aluminum
and various polymeric materials (Bramfitt, 2006).
Alloy Steels
Alloy steels are alloys of iron with the addition of one or more of the
following

elements:

carbon,

manganese,

silicon,

nickel,

chromium,

molybdenum, and vanadium. The alloy steels cover a wide range of

steels, including low-alloy steels, stainless steels, heat-resistant steels,
and tool steels. Some alloy steels, such as austenitic stainless steels, do
not contain intentional addition of carbon. Silicon, when required, is added
as a deoxidizer to the molten steel. Nickel provides strength and assists in
hardening the steel by quenching and tempering heat treatment. This
latter effect is called hardenability, which has been described earlier.
Chromium is found in stainless steels for corrosion resistance. Chromium
and molybdenum also assist in hardenability of the low-alloy steels.
Vanadium strengthens the steel by forming precipitates of vanadium
carbonitride. Vanadium is also a potent hardenability element.
Low-Alloy Steels
There is an SAE/AISI four-digit classification system for the
low-alloy steels. As in the carbon steels, the first two digits are for the
alloy class and the last two (or three) digits are for the carbon content.
Because of the various combinations of elements, the system is more
extensive than that used for the carbon steels. The general SAE/AISI
classification system for low-alloy steels is as follows:

Manganese steels
Nickel steels
Nickelchromium steels
Molybdenum steels
Chromiummolybdenum steels
Nickelchromiummolybdenum

13xx series
23xx, 25xx series
31xx, 32xx, 33xx, and 34xx series
40xx, 44xx series
41xx series
43xx and 47xx series

steels

81xx, 86xx, 87xx, and 88xx series

Nickelmolybdenum steels
Chromium steels

93xx, 94xx, 97xx, and 98xx series

46xx and 48xx series
50xx and 51xx series

Chromiumvanadium steels
Tungstenchromium steels
Siliconmanganese steels
Boron steels
Leaded steels

50xxx, 51xxx, and 52xxx series

61xx series
71xxx, 72xx series
92xx series
xxBxx series
xxLxx series

The boron-containing steels are low-alloy steels with boron added in the
amount of 0.0005-0.003%. Boron is a strong hardenability element. The
leaded steels contain 0.150.35% lead for improved machinability
(however, lead is no longer favored as an alloying addition because of
health concerns).
Other Low-Alloy Steels
There are a number of important steels that do not fit into the
SAE/AISI classification system described above. Such classes are the
microalloyed steels also called HSLA steels, dual-phase steels, trip steels,
and high-performance steels.
a. Microalloyed (High-Strength, Low-Alloy) Steels. Microalloying is
a term applied to steels that contain small additions of
alloying elements that retard austenite recrystallization and
pin austenite grain boundary movement by the formation of
small carbide and/ or nitride precipitates.
b. Dual-Phase Steels. A relatively recent development, dualphase steels are produced by rapidly cooling a mediumcarbon steel, containing vanadium or molybdenum, from the
two-phase ferrite plus austenite region.

c. Trip Steels. Similar to dual-phase steels, trip steels have

emerged as an energy-absorbing high-strength steel for the
automobile. The term trip is derived from the mechanism of
transformation induced plasticity. These steels contain a high
percentage of retained austenite (1015%).
d. High-Performance Steels. There are a number of highperformance steels that are used in critical applications. These
low-alloy steels, such as HY80 and HY100, are used in
applications requiring high strength and excellent toughness.
The 80 and 100 in the codes represent the minimum
yield strength in ksi units. Another family of low-alloy steels is
used in heat exchangers, high-temperature piping, and boiler
applications.
Higher Alloy Steels
There is a distinction between the low-alloy steels described above
and the higher alloy steels (usually containing over 8% alloying elements).
The higher alloy steels include stainless steels, tool steels, heat-resistant
steels, wear-resistant steels, and ultrahigh-strength steels.
a. Stainless Steels. Stainless steels are corrosion-resistant steels
that contain at least 10.5% chromium. Chromium is unique in
that it forms a passive layer on the steel surface that provides
protection from corrosion.
b. Tool Steels. Tool steels are alloy steels that are used to cut or
machine other materials. Tool steels contain various levels of
Cr, Ni, Mo, W, V, and Co.
c. Heat-Resistant Steels. The upper temperature limit for use of
carbon steels is about 370C because of excessive oxidation
and loss of strength. However, there are a number of alloy
steels, called heat-resistant steels, which can be used at
temperatures of 540650C.
d. Wear-Resistant Steels (Austenitic Manganese Steels). An
important series of alloy steels are the austenitic manganese

steels that contain 1.2% carbon and a minimum of 11%

manganese.
e. Ultrahigh-Strength Steel. Have two types: MARAGING STEEL &
MUSIC WIRE
i. Maraging Steel. Another important series of
alloy steels are the maraging steels. They are
considered ultrahigh-strength steels because they
can be heat treated to yield strength levels as
high as 2.5 GPa. They also have excellent ductility
ii.

and toughness.
Music Wire. One of the strongest steel products
commercially available is music wire. These wires
can achieve levels of tensile strength approaching
5 GPa. The steel is basically SAE/AISI 1080.

Selection of Alloy Steels

The physical properties of most grades do not vary significantly from
those of carbon steels; thus the selection procedure can be reduced to
weighing mechanical properties and hardening characteristics. If an alloy
steel is to be used for a load-bearing member, the properties of prime
importance may be yield strength and toughness.

I. Effects of Alloying Elements

Alloys are added to carbon steel to enable it to do things that
a plain carbon steel cannot do. These extra requirements may
be grouped as follows:
1. To secure greater wear resistance for cutting or
abrasion
2. To secure greater toughness or strength
3. To secure hardening accuracy and safety and
increase hardenability
4. To give the steel red hardness (the ability to do its
work when heated so hot that a plain carbon steel
would soften)
The effect of each element will usually be as follows:

II. Selection of Alloy Steels

Keeping these things in mind, let us categorize alloy steels
into through-hardening and carburizing grades and discuss the
relative merits of some of the more common grades.
i.
Through Hardening
Through-hardening grades which are heat
treated by quenching and tempering are used
when maximum hardness and strength must extend
deep within a part. They are those with a carbon
content

greater

than

about

0.3%

(xx30).

The

mechanical properties of all the alloy steels depend

on

the

condition

of

heat

treat

(the

tempered

hardness)
ii.

Carburizing Grades
Carburizing grades are used where a tough
core and relatively shallow, hard surface are needed.
Similar

to

ASTM/SAE

through-hardening

grades,

about 20 grades of alloy steels are intended for

carburizing. They all will do the same thing. They
have better hardenability than low-carbon steels, so
it is easier to get high-hardness deep cases. In
addition, they offer better mechanical properties in
the core than are possible with low- carbon steels.

iii.

H Steels
Most of the power transmission components in
automobiles are made of alloy steels. These steels
are moderate in cost and can be hardened to provide
the strength and wear resistance needed for shafts,
gears, and similar components. H steels are available
in most of the standard grades, such as 4140, 4340,
and 1340, but the composition ranges are adjusted to
provide the desired hardenability. The H steels are
identified by an H suffix on the standard designation:
4140H = UNS H41400. These steels should be used
over the standard alloy steel grades when repeatable
hardening characteristics are essential on highproduction parts.

iv.

B Steels
Boron and nitrogen are next to carbon in the
periodic table and, as we might expect, they behave
like carbon as hardening agents in steel. There is a
family of about ten SAE steels that contain small
amounts of boron (0.0005% to 0.003%) as an
alloying element. They are identified by the standard
SAE designation, but with a B in the center of the
alloy number: 50B44 is an AISI 5044 steel with boron
added. The UNS designation for boron steels has G
prefix, and a 1 after the SAE number. SAE 50B60 =
UNS G50601
The incentive for producing boron steels is that
with low- to medium-carbon contents an extremely
small amount of boron can conceivably provide the
same hardenability improvement as adding, for
example, 1% of an expensive alloying element such

as molybdenum or chromium. This can provide a

significant cost reduction on high-production parts.
There are many metallurgical considerations
associated with the use of boron. Boron lowers
hardenability when added to high-carbon steels; too
much boron can cause formation of Fe2B compounds,
which lower toughness; nitrogen must be kept low or
it will combine with boron to form boron nitride
compounds. Thus boron strengthening is not widely
used because of these factors; but for suitable
applications it can provide a hardenable steel with
good formability, machinability, and heat-treating
characteristics at a significantly lower material cost
compared to standard grades.

Reference:

Poweleit, D. & Monroe, R. (2006). Steel Alloys [pdf]. Retrieved

from http://www.afsinc.org/files/images/steel%20alloys.pdf
Morales, E. (2011). Alloy Steel Properties and Use [PDF].
Retrieved

from

http://www.issp.ac.ru/ebooks/books/open/Alloy_Steel_

_Properties_and_Use.pdf
Somers, B. (-none-). Introduction to the Selection of Carbon
and

Alloy

Steels

[PDF].

Retrieved

from

http://eagar.mit.edu/3.37/h-3371-15.pdf
Unknown (2013). Alloy Steel (literature) [Blog Post]. Retrieved
from

http://www.steelforge.com/literature/ferrousnon-ferrous-

materials-textbook/ferrous-metals/alloy-steel/

Unknown (2011). Classification of Carbon and Low-Alloy Steels

[Article].

Retrieved

from

http://www.totalmateria.com/articles/Art62.htm
B.L. Bramfitt, CARBON AND ALLOY STEELS,
Engineers

Handbook:

Materials

and

Volume 1, Third Edition, (2006) 3-37.

Mechanical

Mechanical

Design,