A Guide to Mechanical Properties

of Cast Carbon and Low Alloy Steels

Alloy steels are considered to be those steels to which elements, other than carbon, are added
deliberately so as to improve mechanical properties, physical properties and/or corrosion
resistance. (Plastically deforming or breaking the material measures mechanical properties.
Physical properties are those, the measurement of which does not require that the metal be
plastically deformed). The American Iron and Steel Institute has defined alloy steels as containing
one, or more, of the following elements in quantities as follows:

Manganese

above 1.65%

Silicon

above 0.60%

Copper

above 0.60%

Aluminum

up to 3.99%

Chromium

up to 3.99%

and cobalt, columbium, molybdenum, nickel, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, and any
other element added to obtain a desired alloying effect.
The effectiveness of any alloying element is greatest when it is completely soluble in the steel. If
a particular element forms, or tends to form, a compound with iron or another element present in
the steel, the effectiveness of both elements is decreased. For example, if chromium is added to
a carbon steel to increase hardenability, the austenitizing heat treatment must be at a
temperature high enough to dissolve the chromium carbides, otherwise the presence of
chromium carbides diminishes the effect of both chromium and carbon on increasing harden
ability.
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
For all alloy systems, the mechanical properties are controlled by the chemical composition and
the microstructure of the alloy. With respect to the carbon and alloy steels, the influence of
microstructure is so great as to overshadow that of chemical composition and, for cast steels, the
only practical method for changing the microstructure is by heat treatment. With few exceptions,
the mechanical properties of the cast carbon and low alloy steels are controlled by heat
treatment. Among the exceptions are the effect of carbon on increasing hardness, the effect of
nickel on increasing toughness, and the effect of combinations of chromium, molybdenum,
vanadium, and tungsten on increasing elevated temperature strength.
Harden ability-The major reason for using alloying elements in steels, wrought as well as cast, is
to make the role of heat treatment on increasing strength effective over a wide range of metal
thicknesses. This effectiveness is termed harden ability, i.e., a steel with low harden ability can

only be strengthened by heat treatment in thin sections whereas a steel with high harden ability
can be strengthened in thick sections.
Harden ability is the retarding of the austenite formation during cooling and is increased by all of
the alloying elements, except cobalt. Harden ability, or austenite retention, should not be
confused with austenite formation, which is the expansion of the austenite field at high
temperature. Only a few elements increase the austenite field; these are carbon, cobalt, copper,
manganese, nickel and nitrogen.
A large number of elements, particularly those that have a tendency to form carbides, delay the
softening of steel that occurs during the tempering operation. The carbide-forming tendency need
not be strong. For example, silicon, not a particularly strong carbide former, will delay the
softening during tempering, but its effect is not as strong as that of chromium; likewise, the effect
of chromium is not as strong as that of vanadium, etc. In addition to retarding softening, some
carbide forming elements will, during tempering, cause an increase in hardness due to the
precipitation of the alloy carbides (precipitation hardening).
The role of the alloying elements on increasing harden ability and retarding softening during
tempering was the subject of an extensive, international research effort during the first half of the
20th Century. Another result is the ability to estimate the harden ability of a given steel from
calculations based upon the chemical composition of the steel. Multiplying factors for each
element as published by the American Iron and Steel Institute are shown in Fig. 1.
Although these values were developed for wrought steels, they probably can be used for cast
steels with some minor corrections. This figure does not illustrate the effect of carbon, which is
quite large, nor the effect of boron, which is high for low carbon steels and is negative for high
carbon steels (about 0.9% C) because it forms carbides.
In addition to alloying elements, the grain size of the austenite before quenching affects harden
ability. Steel having a fine austenitic grain size has lower harden ability than a steel having a
coarse austenitic grain size.
Although a steel having a coarse austenitic grain size has higher harden ability, a fine grain steel
has better toughness, less distortion on heat treatment, lower tendency to develop quench
cracks, and, probably, lower internal stresses. Of these characteristics, the improved toughness
is the most important and, for structural applications, the steel should be of the fine-austeniticgrain type. A word of caution: The term aluminum-killed fine-grain steel often is misinterpreted.
The term describes the grain size of the austenite at the heat treating temperature before
quenching, not the grain size of the ferrite, tempered martensite, or martensite at room
temperature. Methods for determining and measuring the austenitic grain size are described in
ASTM Specification E112.
When heat treating aluminum-killed (aluminum deoxidized) steels, caution must be taken to avoid
the use of austenitizing temperatures above about 1800F (982C), otherwise the aluminum
nitrides will dissolve and a very coarse austenite grain size will result.
Hardness and Strength-All elements dissolved in steel increase its hardness and strength;
however, as compared with the increase obtained by heat treatment, this effect is small. An
exception is carbon, the effect of which is large, although not as large as the effect of heat
treatment.

Referring to the ASTM specification, A732/A732M, the effect of carbon on increasing the strength
of annealed carbon steels is:

Type of Steel

Average
Carbon
Content

Minimum
Tensile Strength.
ksi

MPa

IC 1020

0.20%

60

414

IC 1030

0.30%

65

448

IC 1040

0.40%

75

517

IC 1050

0.50%

90

621

The carbon effect on the strength of quenched and tempered martensite in low alloy steel is more
dramatic:

Type of Steel

Average
Carbon
Content

Minimum
Tensile Strength.
ksi

MPa

IC 4130

0.30%

150

1030

IC 4330

0.30%

150

1030

IC 18630

0.30%

150

1030

IC 4140

0.40%

180

1241

IC 4340

0.40%

180

1241

With respect to elements other than carbon, IC 4130 has about 1.2% total alloying elements; IC
4330 has about 3.0% total alloying elements; and IC 8630 has about 1.3 % total alloying
elements, yet all have the same minimum tensile strength. This negligible effect of alloying
elements on strength further emphasizes the previous statement that the most important role of
the alloying elements in steel is their effect on harden ability.
Because of the close relationship between hardness and tensile strength of alloy steels, there
could be a tendency to use carbon, an inexpensive element, to achieve a high strength steel. This
tendency has some validity but entails some penalties. For example, at a given strength level, the
toughness (resistance to brittle fracture) of a steel decreases with increasing carbon.

Consequently, a preferred plan is to select a steel having a combination of the lowest possible
carbon content and the required amount of alloying elements to achieve, in a tempered
martensite microstructure, the desired strength. Of course, the alloy content selected must be that
required to achieve the harden ability needed for the section size (thickness) being considered.
Toughness-Toughness, the ability of a steel to resist brittle, rapid fracture, is an essential
property for structural components subject to high loading rates. All of the test methods used to
measure toughness involve the use of a sample containing a sharp notch or a crack. The reason
for employing such samples is that for every service failure caused by brittle fracture, the source
of the fracture has been found to be a discontinuity in the metal, and every engineering structure
will contain some sort of one or more discontinuities (notches). Consequently, the test procedures
used for toughness evaluations are aimed at determining the resistance of the metal to the rapid
propagation of a discontinuity.
For structural carbon and low alloy cast steels, the following specifications either contain a
toughness requirement or provide for a toughness test in the supplementary requirement:
A148/A148M
A352/A352M
A487/A487M
A703/A703M
A757/A757M
A781/A781M
For those specifications not mentioned, namely A216, A217, A389, and A487, the toughness
(impact test) requirement of A703 may be used based upon agreement between the producer
and the user.
Fatigue Strength (Endurance Limit)-For cast steels, the fatigue strength, or endurance limit, as
determined by tests on smooth bars is generally in the range of 40-50% of the tensile strength. In
non-percentage terms, this relationship is expressed as 0.40 to 0.50 and is termed the endurance
ratio. As illustrated by Table 1 the endurance ratio is largely independent of the tensile strength,
chemical composition and heat treatment of the steel. Under conditions of rough surfaces, i.e., as
cast, machined (not polished), notches, and cracks, both the endurance limit and the endurance
ratio decreases. Fatigue strength values are affected by the mass effect in a manner similar to
tensile strength. (See Alloy and Heat Treatment Influence on Section Size Effects.)
Section Size, Mass Effects-Mass effects are common to steels, whether rolled, forged or cast,
because the cooling rate during the heat-treating operation varies with section size, and because
the microstructure components, grain size, and nonmetallic inclusions increase in size from
surface to center.
The section size, or mass effect, is of particular importance to steel castings because the
mechanical properties are typically assessed from test bars machined from standardized
coupons, which have fixed dimensions and are cast separately from or attached to the castings.
To remove test bars from the casting is impractical because removal of material for testing would
destroy the usefulness of the component or require costly weld repairs to replace the material for
testing purposes.
It cannot be routinely expected that test specimens r
emoved from a casting will exhibit the same properties as test specimens machined from the
standard test coupon designs for which minimum properties are established in specifications. The
mass effect discussed above, i.e., the differences in cooling rate between that of test coupons
and of the part being produced, is the fundamental reason for this situation. Several specifications
provide for the mass effect by permitting the testing of coupons, which are larger than the basic
keel block.

Temper Embrittlement-When many alloy steels are heated in or slowly cooled through the range
800- 1100F (427- 593C), a significant loss in ductility and toughness occurs. This loss in
toughness is believed to be caused by a grain boundary precipitation of iron compounds rich in
phosphorous, arsenic, antimony, and tin; manganese and silicon enhance the action of these
elements, and molybdenum retards the effect. Obviously, the use of melting practices to achieve
low phosphorous (the practice to lower phosphorous also will lower arsenic, antimony and tin) is
desirable, and such practices have been developed via ladle treatments. However, such practices
are expensive, and for most applications the use of molybdenum and/or avoiding heating-in or
slow cooling through the critical range 800- 1100F (475- 593C) is sufficient. When these practices
are impractical, the use of the special melting-refining should be considered.
Hydrogen Effects-Hydrogen is an undesirable element in steel; none of the effects of hydrogen
are good. Amongst the sources of hydrogen in steel, the most important are the raw materials
used in the melting and refining process and traces of moisture in the molds used for casting.
Care should be taken to dry all steelmaking and refining additions as well as molds.
When present in amounts as low as 3 parts per million, hydrogen in steel significantly reduces
toughness and ductility. The hydrogen can be removed by heating the steel at about 400F
(204C). However, the removal from heavy sections, e.g., above 8-in. (203.2mm), requires a very
long heating time at 400F (204C), and because resistance to crack propagation decreases as the
section size increases, hydrogen removal from heavy castings intended for severe structural
applications is essential.
Fortunately, the attainment of the low amounts (less than 3 ppm) of hydrogen in steel can be
achieved by the use of ladle vacuum treatments. Of course, the benefit of achieving a low
hydrogen content must be sufficient to justify the high cost of the vacuum treatment.
Also, hydrogen can enter solid steel as a result of a corrosion reaction at the surface of the steel.
When this occurs in steels having a hardness above 23 HRC, cracking may occur and the
susceptibility of a steel to cracking increases rapidly as the hardness increases above 23 HRC.
For this reason, the petroleum industry has imposed a maximum hardness restriction of Rc 23 on
steels intended for service where corrosion will generate hydrogen absorption in the steel. One
example is in sour crude wells.
Another form of hydrogen cracking of steel occurs when the steel is exposed to hydrogen at high
pressure and high temperature. The steel does not need to have high values of hardness or
strength. The physical mechanism at work, is that hydrogen, at the high pressure and
temperature, diffuses into the steel and reacts with the carbides to form methane gases, the
pressure of which becomes high enough to rupture the steel. The solution to the problem is to
add alloying elements that form stable carbides, which will not react with the hydrogen. The
elements most commonly used are chromium, molybdenum, and, occasionally, vanadium.

Corrosion Resistance-The cast carbon and low alloy steels are not considered to be corrosion
resistant materials. As is true for the wrought steels, minor additions of nickel, chromium,
phosphorous, copper and silicon will increase resistance of cast steels to atmospheric corrosion
to the extent that for some applications no protection such as paint is required. At elevated
temperatures increasing amounts of chromium increase resistance to oxidation and, as already
stated, low alloy steels for elevated temperature service contain chromium. Additions of aluminum
and/or silicon are at least as effective as those of chromium; however, the amount of either of
these elements required to impart the necessary oxidation resistance may cause a serious loss in
ductility and toughness.

The role of the alloying elements in cast steel may be summarized as follows:

All elements, except cobalt, increase harden ability.

All carbide-forming elements retard softening during tempering.
Nickel improves toughness.
Chromium improves oxidation resistance.
Molybdenum retards temper embrittlement and increases elevated temperature strength.
Vanadium and tungsten improve elevated temperature strength.
Manganese plus sulfur improve machinability.
Sulfur causes hot cracks.
Carbon increases strength but decreases toughness.
Phosphorous, arsenic, antimony, and tin accelerate temper embrittlement.

Structural carbon and low alloy cast steels enjoy a wide application for load bearing applications.
The optimum utilization of these steels can be obtained best from a thorough understanding of
the specifications covering these steels, and the metallurgical characteristics of the steel.

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