Properties and Uses of Carbon Steel

Properties and Uses of Carbon Steels:

Mild Steel

1. Mild Steel: Carbon content between 0,1% and 0,3%.

Properties: Less ductile but harder and tougher than iron, grey colour, corrodes easily.

Uses: Girders or beams, screws, nut and bolts, nails, scaffolding, car bodies, storage units, oil drums.

2. Medium Carbon Steel: Contains between 0,3% and 0,7% carbon.

Properties: Harder and fewer ductile than low-carbon steel , tough and have a high lastingness .

Use: It's used for the manufacture of products which have to be tough and hard wearing like gears, tools, keys, etc.

3. High Carbon Steel: Contains between 0,7% and 1,3% carbon.

Properties: Very hard and brittle material.

Uses: It's used for cutting tools and products which have to withstand wear such as guillotine, springs, etc.

4. Stainless steel: are iron and chromium alloys. A wide range of steels are available with chromium content between 13% and 27%.

Properties: Chromium prevents rusting with an oxide film. Ductility, hardness and tensile strength. It's also a shiny attractive metal.

Uses: Cutlery, sinks, pipes, car pieces, etc.

Other chemical elements are often added to steel, to enhance or achieve certain properties. Here you are some examples:

i. Silicon makes the alloy magnetic and improves elasticity.

ii. Manganese makes the alloy harder and heat-resistant. It's used to make stainless steel.

iii. Nickel improves strength and prevents corrosion.

iv. Tungsten makes the steel harder, more heat-resistant and prevents corrosion.

v. Chromium makes the alloy harder and tougher and more rustproof.