Carbon steel

Carbon steel is steel in which the main interstitial It is often used when large quantities of steel are
alloying constituent is carbon in the range of 0.122.0%. needed, for example as structural steel. The density of
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) denes that: mild steel is approximately 7.85 g/cm3 (7850 kg/m3 or
0.284 lb/in3 )[4] and the Youngs modulus is 210 GPa
(30,000,000 psi).[5]
Steel is considered to be carbon steel
Low-carbon steels suer from yield-point runout where
the material has two yield points. The rst 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.[6] Low-carbon steels contain less carbon than other steels and are easier to cold-form, making
them easier to handle.[7]

when no minimum content is specied 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 eect;
when the specied minimum
for copper does not exceed 0.40
percent;
or when the maximum content
specied for any of the following
elements does not exceed the
percentages noted:
manganese
1.65, silicon 0.60, copper 0.60.[1]

1.2 Higher-carbon steels

Carbon steels which can successfully undergo heattreatment have a carbon content in the range of 0.30
1.70% by weight. Trace impurities of various other
elements can have a signicant eect 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
1,4261,538 C (2,5992,800 F).[8] Manganese is often
added to improve the hardenability of low-carbon steels.
These additions turn the material into a low-alloy steel
by some denitions, but AISI's denition of carbon steel
allows up to 1.65% manganese by weight.

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.[2]

2 Types

Type

See also: SAE steel grades

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

1.1

Mild and low-carbon steel

2.1 Low-carbon steel

Mild steel, also known as plain-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. Low-carbon steel contains approximately 0.050.15% 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 through carburizing.[3]

0.105-0.30% carbon content.[9]

2.2 Medium-carbon steel

Approximately 0.30.6% carbon content.[1] Balances ductility and strength and has good wear resis1

HEAT TREATMENT

tance; used for large parts, forging and automotive and forms cementite. Generally speaking, cooling swiftly
components.[10][11]
will leave iron carbide nely dispersed and produce a ne
grained pearlite (until the martensite critical temperature
is reached) and cooling slowly will give a coarser pearlite.
2.3 High-carbon steel (ASTM A304)
Cooling a hypoeutectoid steel (less than 0.77 wt% C) results in a lamellar-pearlitic structure of iron carbide layers
Approximately 0.92.5% carbon content.[1] Very strong, with -ferrite (pure iron) between. If it is hypereutectoid
used for springs and high-strength wires.[12]
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
2.4 Ultra-high-carbon steel
of constituents are found using the lever rule. The following is a list of the types of heat treatments possible:
Approximately 2.53.0% carbon content.[1] Steels that
can be tempered to great hardness. Used for special
Spheroidizing: Spheroidite forms when carbon
purposes like (non-industrial-purpose) knives, axles or
steel is heated to approximately 700 C for over 30
punches. Most steels with more than 2.5% carbon conhours. Spheroidite can form at lower temperatures
tent are made using powder metallurgy.
but the time needed drastically increases, as this is
a diusion-controlled process. The result is a structure of rods or spheres of cementite within primary
3 Heat treatment
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.[13]

Iron-carbon phase diagram, showing the temperature and carbon ranges for certain types of heat treatments.

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,
Youngs modulus (elasticity) is unaected. 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 high rate causing cementite to precipitate and nally
the remaining pure iron to solidify. The rate at which
the steel is cooled through the eutectoid temperature affects the rate at which carbon diuses out of austenite

Full annealing: Carbon steel is heated to approximately 40 C 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 o with the steel still inside.
This results in a coarse pearlitic structure, which
means the bands of pearlite are thick.[14] Fully
annealed steel is soft and ductile, with no internal
stresses, which is often necessary for cost-eective
forming. Only spheroidized steel is softer and more
ductile.[15]
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 550650 C for 1
hour, but sometimes temperatures as high as 700 C.
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 nally it is cooled at room temperature.
This method rids any temperature gradient.
Normalizing: Carbon steel is heated to approximately 55 C 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

3
rate of approximately 38 C (100 F) per minute.
This results in a ne pearlitic structure, and a moreuniform structure. Normalized steel has a higher
strength than annealed steel; it has a relatively high
strength and hardness.[16]
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 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.[17]
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.[18]
Quench and tempering: This is the most common heat treatment encountered, because the nal
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.[19]

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.[20]

4 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 thick 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 benecial, because it gives the surface good wear characteristics
but leaves the core tough.

5 Forging temperature of steel

[21]

6 See also
Cold working
Hot working
Welding
Forging

7 References
[1] Classication of Carbon and Low-Alloy Steels
[2] Knowles, Peter Reginald (1987), Design of structural
steelwork (2nd ed.), Taylor & Francis, p. 1, ISBN 9780-903384-59-9.
[3] Engineering fundamentals page on low-carbon steel
[4] Elert, Glenn, Density of Steel, retrieved 23 April 2009.
[5] Modulus of Elasticity, Strength Properties of Metals Iron
and Steel, retrieved 23 April 2009.
[6] Degarmo, p. 377.

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

[7] Low-carbon steels. efunda. Retrieved 2012-05-25.

[8] Ameristeel article on carbon steel
[9] http://www.totalmateria.com/articles/Art62.htm

8 BIBLIOGRAPHY

[10] Nishimura, Naoya; Murase, Katsuhiko; Ito, Toshihiro;

Watanabe, Takeru; Nowak, Roman. Ultrasonic detection of spall damage induced by low-velocity repeated impact. Central European Journal of Engineering 2 (4):
650655. doi:10.2478/s13531-012-0013-5.
[11] Engineering fundamentals page on medium-carbon steel
[12] Engineering fundamentals page on high-carbon steel
[13] Smith, p. 388
[14] Alvarenga HD, Van de Putte T, Van Steenberge N, Sietsma J, Terryn H (Apr 2009). Inuence of Carbide
Morphology and Microstructure on the Kinetics of Supercial Decarburization of C-Mn Steels. Metal Mater
Trans A. doi:10.1007/s11661-014-2600-y.
[15] Smith, p. 386
[16] Smith, pp. 386387
[17] Smith, pp. 373377
[18] Smith, pp. 389390
[19] Smith, pp. 387388
[20] Smith, p. 391
[21] Brady, George S.; Clauser, Henry R.; Vaccari A., John
(1997). Materials Handbook (14th ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-007084-9.

Bibliography
Degarmo, E. Paul; Black, J T.; Kohser, Ronald A.
(2003), Materials and Processes in Manufacturing
(9th ed.), Wiley, ISBN 0-471-65653-4.
Oberg, E. et al. (1996), Machinerys Handbook
(25th ed.), Industrial Press Inc, ISBN 0-8311-25993.
Smith, William F.; Hashemi, Javad (2006), Foundations of Materials Science and Engineering (4th ed.),
McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-295358-6.

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