Carbon steel

Carbon steel
Steels and other
ironcarbon alloy phases

Ferrite
Austenite
Cementite
Graphite
Martensite
Microstructures

Spheroidite

Pearlite

Bainite

Ledeburite

Tempered martensite

Widmanstatten structures
Classes

Crucible steel

Carbon steel

Spring steel

Alloy steel

Maraging steel

Stainless steel

Weathering steel

Tool steel
Other iron-based materials

Cast iron

Gray iron

White iron

Ductile iron

Malleable iron

Wrought iron

v
t

e [1]

Carbon steel is steel in which the main interstitial alloying constituent is carbon in the range of 0.122.0%. The
American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) defines carbon steel as the following: "Steel is considered to be carbon steel
when no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, titanium,
tungsten, vanadium or zirconium, or any other element to be added to obtain a desired alloying effect; when the
specified minimum for copper does not exceed 0.40 percent; or when the maximum content specified for any of the
following elements does not exceed the percentages noted: manganese 1.65, silicon 0.60, copper 0.60."
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.
As the carbon percentage content 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.

Carbon steel

Types
See also: SAE steel grades
Carbon steel is broken down into four classes based on carbon content:

Mild and low-carbon steel

Mild steelWikipedia:Please clarify, also known as plain-carbon steel, is the most common form of steel because its
price is relatively low while it provides material properties that are acceptable for many applications, more so than
iron. Low-carbon steel contains approximately 0.050.320% carbon[] making it malleable and ductile. Mild steel has
a relatively low tensile strength, but it is cheap and malleable; surface hardness can be increased through
carburizing.[2]
It is often used when large quantities of steel are needed, for example as structural steel. The density of mild steel is
approximately 7.85g/cm3 (7850kg/m3 or 0.284lb/in3) and the Young's modulus is 210GPa (30,000,000psi).
Low-carbon steels suffer from 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 may
develop Lder bands.[3] Low-carbon steels contain less carbon than other steels and are easier to cold-form, making
them easier to handle.

Higher carbon steels

Carbon steels which can successfully undergo heat-treatment have a carbon content in the range of 0.301.70% by
weight. Trace impurities of various other elements can have a significant effect on the quality of the resulting steel.
Trace amounts of sulfur in particular make the steel red-short, that is, brittle and crumbly at working temperatures.
Low-alloy carbon steel, such as A36 grade, contains about 0.05% sulfur and melts around 1,4261,538C
(2,5992,800F).[4] 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.
Low carbon steel
<0.3% carbon content, see above.
Medium carbon steel
Approximately 0.300.59% carbon content. Balances ductility and strength and has good wear resistance; used for
large parts, forging and automotive components.[5]
High-carbon steel (ASTM 304)
Approximately 0.60.99% carbon content. Very strong, used for springs and high-strength wires.[6]
Ultra-high-carbon steel
Approximately 1.02.0% carbon content. Steels that can be tempered to great hardness. Used for special purposes
like (non-industrial-purpose) knives, axles or punches. Most steels with more than 1.2% carbon content are made
using powder metallurgy. Note that steel with a carbon content above 2.14% is considered cast iron.

Carbon steel

Heat treatment
Main article: Heat treatment
The 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
Iron-carbon phase diagram, showing the
exist. The steel is then quenched (heat drawn out) at a high rate causing
temperature and carbon ranges for certain types
of heat treatments.
cementite to precipitate and finally the remaining pure iron to solidify.
The rate at which the steel is cooled through the eutectoid temperature
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 (until the martensite critical temperature
is reached) 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 -ferrite (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 scattered throughout. The relative amounts of constituents are found using the lever rule. The following is
a list of the types of heat treatments possible:
Spheroidizing: Spheroidite forms when carbon steel is heated to approximately 700 C for over 30 hours.
Spheroidite can form at lower temperatures but the time needed drastically increases, as this is a
diffusion-controlled process. The result is a structure of rods or spheres of cementite within primary structure
(ferrite or pearlite, depending on which side of the eutectoid you are on). The purpose is to soften higher carbon
steels and allow more formability. This is the softest and most ductile form of steel. The image to the right shows
where spheroidizing usually occurs.[7]
Full annealing: Carbon steel is heated to approximately 40C above Ac3 or Ac1 for 1 hour; this ensures all the
ferrite transforms into austenite (although cementite might still exist if the carbon content is greater than the
eutectoid). The steel must then be cooled slowly, in the realm of 20C (36F) per hour. Usually it is just furnace
cooled, where the furnace is turned off with the steel still inside. This results in a coarse pearlitic structure, which
means the "bands" of pearlite are thick. Fully annealed steel is soft and ductile, with no internal stresses, which is
often necessary for cost-effective forming. Only spheroidized steel is softer and more ductile.[8]
Process annealing: A process used to relieve stress in a cold-worked carbon steel with less than 0.3 wt% C. The
steel is usually heated up to 550650C for 1 hour, but sometimes temperatures as high as 700C. The image
rightward shows the area where process annealing occurs.
Isothermal annealing: It is a process in which hypoeutectoid steel is heated above the upper critical temperature
and this temperature is maintained for a time and then the temperature is brought down below lower critical
temperature and is again maintained. Then finally it is cooled at room temperature. This method rids any
temperature gradient.
Normalizing: Carbon steel is heated to approximately 55C above Ac3 or Acm for 1 hour; this ensures the steel
completely transforms to austenite. The steel is then air-cooled, which is a cooling rate of approximately 38C
(100F) per minute. This results in a fine pearlitic structure, and a more-uniform structure. Normalized steel has a
higher strength than annealed steel; it has a relatively high strength and hardness.[9]
Quenching: Carbon steel with at least 0.4 wt% C is heated to normalizing temperatures and then rapidly cooled
(quenched) in water, brine, or oil to the critical temperature. The critical temperature is dependent on the carbon

Carbon steel
content, but as a general rule is lower as the carbon content increases. This results in a martensitic structure; a
form of steel that possesses a super-saturated carbon content in a deformed body-centered cubic (BCC) crystalline
structure, properly termed body-centered tetragonal (BCT), with much internal stress. Thus quenched steel is
extremely hard but brittle, usually too brittle for practical purposes. These internal stresses cause stress cracks on
the surface. Quenched steel is approximately three to four (with more carbon) fold harder than normalized
steel.[10]
Martempering (Marquenching): Martempering is not actually a tempering procedure, hence the term
"marquenching". It is a form of isothermal heat treatment applied after an initial quench of typically in a molten
salt bath at a temperature right above the "martensite start temperature". At this temperature, residual stresses
within the material are relieved and some bainite may be formed from the retained austenite which did not have
time to transform into anything else. In industry, this is a process used to control the ductility and hardness of a
material. With longer marquenching, the ductility increases with a minimal loss in strength; the steel is held in
this solution until the inner and outer temperatures equalize. Then the steel is cooled at a moderate speed to keep
the temperature gradient minimal. Not only does this process reduce internal stresses and stress cracks, but it also
increases the impact resistance.[11]
Quench and tempering: This is the most common heat treatment encountered, because the final properties can
be precisely determined by the temperature and time of the tempering. Tempering involves reheating quenched
steel to a temperature below the eutectoid temperature then cooling. The elevated temperature allows very small
amounts of spheroidite to form, which restores ductility, but reduces hardness. Actual temperatures and times are
carefully chosen for each composition.[12]
Austempering: The austempering process is the same as martempering, except the steel is held in the molten salt
bath through the bainite transformation temperatures, and then moderately cooled. The resulting bainite steel has
a greater ductility, higher impact resistance, and less distortion. The disadvantage of austempering is it can only
be used on a few steels, and it requires a special salt bath.[13]

Case hardening
Main article: Case hardening
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; therefore wide pieces cannot be
through-hardened. Alloy steels have a better hardenability, so they can through-harden 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 tough.

Forging temperature of steel

Carbon steel

Steel Type

Maximum forging temperature (F / C) Burning temperature (F / C)

1.5% carbon

1920 / 1049

2080 / 1138

1.1% carbon

1980 / 1082

2140 / 1171

0.9% carbon

2050 / 1121

2230 / 1221

0.5% carbon

2280 / 1249

2460 / 1349

0.2% carbon

2410 / 1321

2680 / 1471

3.0% nickel steel

2280 / 1249

2500 / 1371

3.0% nickelchromium steel

2280 / 1249

2500 / 1371

5.0% nickel (case-hardening) steel 2320 / 1271

2640 / 1449

Chromiumvanadium steel

2280 / 1249

2460 / 1349

High-speed steel

2370 / 1299

2520 / 1382

Stainless steel

2340 / 1282

2520 / 1382

Austenitic chromiumnickel steel

2370 / 1299

2590 / 1421

Silico-manganese spring steel

2280 / 1249

2460 / 1349

References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]

http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=Template:Steels& action=edit

Engineering fundamentals page on low-carbon steel (http:/ / efunda. com/ materials/ alloys/ alloy_home/ . . / carbon_steels/ low_carbon. cfm)
Degarmo, p. 377.
Ameristeel article on carbon steel (http:/ / www. ameristeel. com/ products/ msds/ docs/ carbon_steel. pdf)
Engineering fundamentals page on medium-carbon steel (http:/ / efunda. com/ materials/ alloys/ alloy_home/ . . / carbon_steels/
medium_carbon. cfm)
[6] Engineering fundamentals page on high-carbon steel (http:/ / efunda. com/ materials/ alloys/ alloy_home/ . . / carbon_steels/ high_carbon.
cfm)
[7] Smith, p. 388
[8] Smith, p. 386
[9] Smith, pp. 386387
[10] Smith, pp. 373377
[11] Smith, pp. 389390
[12] Smith, pp. 387388
[13] Smith, p. 391

Bibliography
Degarmo, E. Paul; Black, J T.; Kohser, Ronald A. (2003), Materials and Processes in Manufacturing (9th ed.),
Wiley, ISBN0-471-65653-4.
Oberg, E.; et al. (1996), Machinery's Handbook (25th ed.), Industrial Press Inc, ISBN0-8311-2599-3.
Smith, William F.; Hashemi, Javad (2006), Foundations of Materials Science and Engineering (4th ed.),
McGraw-Hill, ISBN0-07-295358-6.

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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

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MattiPaavola, WikipediaMaster, Wizard191

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