The two elements that are most prevalent in steel are iron and carbon. Steel's tremendous strength is mostly due to the types of carbon steel because pure iron is not especially hard or strong on its own. Steel is made from crude iron, which contains a significant amount of carbon. The maximum amount of carbon that a material can have and yet be referred to as steel is 2.1%, which is the composition of the steel. To lessen carbon, iron can be treated further. The characteristics of the material are changed by this carbon modification, including:

Strength: A material's capacity to support a load as determined by its yield point and tensile strength. Tensile strength is the amount of stress required to actually break a material, while yield point is the point at which a material deforms but does not break. The degree to which a material may be stretched without breaking is known as ductility. Elongation, or the percentage by which a material's length rises before it breaks, is the indicator of ductility.

 

Hardness: The material's machinability and wear resistance. On the Brinell Hardness scale or the Rockwell Hardness scale, this is typically measured. Low (or mild), medium, and high carbon steel are the three primary kinds of carbon steel, depending on how much carbon is normally removed from the steel. The chart below illustrates the various levels of carbon present in each of these groups.


TYPE OF CARBON STEEL

CARBON COMPOSITION

LOW CARBON/MILD

0.05-0.25%

MEDIUM CARBON

0.26-0.60%

HIGH CARBON

0.61-1.50%


This article will look at the characteristics, uses, and typical steel plate grades that are available from vendors Steel in the various carbon steel categories.

Low carbon steel, also referred to as mild steel, is weaker than steel with higher carbon content. The sort of carbon steel that is most ductile, or Machin-able, is low carbon steel.

Low carbon steel can also have chemical alloys added to it to improve desirable characteristics without adding to the material's weight. For instance, manganese can be added to low carbon steel to increase hardness without increasing weight if more hardness is required for the application. High strength, low alloy (HSLA) steel is the usual name for low carbon steel that has added alloys.