Low Carbon Steel

Low carbon steels consist primarily of ferrite, which is a solid solution phase of
carbon dissolved in alpha-iron, a body centered cubic crystal.

From: Metalworking Fluids (MWFs) for Cutting and Grinding, 2012

Related terms:

Microstructure, Austenite, Ferrite, Tensile Strength

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Corrosion Prevention and Control of

Chemical Processing Equipment
William Stephen Tait, in Handbook of Environmental Degradation of Materials
(Second Edition), 2012

28.4.1 Low Carbon Steels

Low carbon steels are suitable for use with anhydrous liquids, such as hydrocarbon
solvents, or chemical streams that have a low amount of water (e.g., on the order
of 1 ppm or less). Low carbon steels are typically unsuitable for use with aqueous
chemical streams unless a corrosion inhibitor is incorporated in the stream. There
are also situations where suitable service lifetimes are obtained with low carbon
steels in aqueous streams by increasing the equipment wall thickness (not this
author’s first choice, however).

Consulting a table of corrosion resistances2 or conducting corrosion testing is always

recommended when considering the use of low carbon steels with a chemical stream
that contains, or could be contaminated with, water.

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Controlling Corrosion of Chemical
Processing Equipment
William S. Tait, in Handbook of Environmental Degradation of Materials (Third
Edition), 2018

27.5.1 Low-carbon Steels

Low-carbon steels are suitable for use with anhydrous liquids, such as hydrocarbon
solvents, or chemical streams that have a low amount of water (e.g., on the order
of 1 ppm or less). Low-carbon steels are typically unsuitable for use with aqueous
chemical streams unless a corrosion inhibitor is incorporated in the stream. There
are also situations where suitable service lifetimes are obtained with low-carbon
steels in aqueous streams by increasing the equipment wall thickness.

Consulting a table of corrosion resistances (Corrosion Data Survey-Metals Section,

1985) or conducting corrosion testing is always recommended when considering
the use of low-carbon steels with a chemical stream that contains, or could be
contaminated with, water.

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Selection and testing of metalworking

fluids
R. Evans, in Metalworking Fluids (MWFs) for Cutting and Grinding, 2012

Carbon steel
Low carbon steels consist primarily of ferrite, which is a solid solution phase of
carbon dissolved in alpha-iron, a body centered cubic crystal. Ferrite is the softest
phase of steel which is largely responsible for the higher machinability of low carbon
steel relative to other carbon and alloyed steels. As the carbon content increases in
the steel, an increasing amount of pearlite is formed in the microstructure of the
metal. Pearlite is a microconstituent consisting of alternate layers of ferrite and iron
carbide (cementite). Fortius reason, the machinability of medium carbon steels will
be lower than that of low carbon steels. High carbon steels with greater than 0.8%
carbon have a pearlitic matrix within a cementite network. The machinability of high
carbon steels is low primarily due to the high pearlite content and the hard and
brittle cementite network.
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Volume II
Michael E. McHenry, David E. Laughlin, in Physical Metallurgy (Fifth Edition), 2014

19.3.1.6 Phase Diagram and Physical Properties of Low-C Steels

Low-carbon steels are FeC alloys for which the C concentration is kept to less than
0.1 wt% so that the maximum C content lies close to or within the single-phase
-ferrite (ferromagnetic, bcc) phase field at the eutectoid temperature (Figure 27(c)).
ASTM A848 is an example of an ultra-low-carbon steel (C <  0.02 wt%), where C
content allows the eutectoid transformation to be completely avoided. Thus, the
characteristic pearlite and bainite obtained in medium- and high-carbon steels are
not typically observed in low-carbon steels used for magnetic applications. This
choice minimizes the second phase, which is important from the standpoint of
both induction- and structure-sensitive properties such as permeability and coercive
force.

Alloying and impurity elements in low-carbon steels have a variety of effects on

the overall performance of the material. From the standpoint of technical magnetic
properties, the nonmetallic elements which are present interstitially such as C, O,
S, and N have the largest effect. Removal of such impurity atoms can result in
higher permeabilities and reduced coercive force and several strategies for purifying
the iron exist (Chin and Wernick, 1986). The allowable degree of purity is dictated
primarily by the material requirements of the intended application. Compositional
additives that can be used for controlling the magnetic aging behavior can be found
in the discussion on magnetic aging below. Although impurity elements typically
degrade the technical magnetic properties of freshly prepared (before magnetic
aging) magnetic iron alloys, such impurities may be desirable in order to tailor the
features of the microstructure for other design purposes. In particular, impurities or
alloying elements such as Cr, Mo, and Mn can help to achieve a refined grain size
due to a solute drag effect. The presence of P can result in improved machinability.

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Classification of steels
Ramesh Singh, in Applied Welding Engineering (Third Edition), 2020
Low-carbon
Low-carbon steels contain up to 0.30% carbon. A majority of this class of steel is
flat-rolled products like sheet or strip; usually they are in a cold-rolled and annealed
condition. These steels have high formability as they contain very low carbon, usually
less than 0.10% C, with up to 0.4% Mn.

For rolled steel structural plates and sections, the carbon content is often increased
to approximately 0.30% and manganese content increased to 1.5%. These materials
are useful for stampings, forgings, seamless tubes, and boilerplates.

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Magnetic Losses
G. Bertotti, in Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology, 2001

2.1 Iron and Low-carbon Steels

Low-carbon steels, with a typical carbon content from 0.005 to 0.1 wt.%, are used as
low-grade, low-cost materials for magnetic cores where magnetic losses are not the
major concern and acceptable performance at low price is the main goal. This is re-
flected in the fact that these materials are usually produced as fairly thick laminations
(typical thickness ranges from 0.5 to 0.85 mm) which causes substantial classical
losses. The presence of carbon yields important aging effects, i.e., a progressive
increase of the hysteresis loss over time. This is due to the formation of cementite
precipitates, which act as additional domain wall pinning centers. Materials with
improved loss properties are obtained by purification processes, which reduce the
carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur content, or by the introduction of some silicon (up to
1 wt.%). When no particular purification processes are carried out and the silicon
content is negligible, total losses take values of the order of 15 Wkg−1 at 1.5 T and
60 Hz in laminations 0.5 mm thick. The addition of about 1 wt.% Si accompanied
by better composition control can lower the loss to less than 8 Wkg−1. Very clean
ultra-low-carbon steels can reach loss figures as low as 4 W kg−1 at 1.5 T and 50 Hz
in 0.5 mm laminations.

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Welding
In Smithells Metals Reference Book (Eighth Edition), 2004
STEELS
Low carbon steels may be readily resistance welded by all processes, clean deep
drawing steel being commonly regarded as excellent in this respect (Table 33.2).A
guide to the maximum carbon content which can be tolerated in spot and projection
welding without excessive hardening is given by the formula

Table 33.2. THE RESISTANCE WELDING OF METALS AND ALLOYS—SUITABILITY

OF PROCESSES

Process

Material Spot Projection Resistance butt Flash butt

Low carbon steel S S S S
P P S S
Austenitic stainless S S N S
steel
Aluminium and P N S S
low-strength alloys
Medium and S N P S
high-strength alu-
minium alloys
Copper N N S S
Beryllium–copper S — S S
Gilding metals N N S N
70/30 and 60/40 S — S N
brass
Tin bronze S S S S
Aluminium bronze P P P P
Silicon bronze S — S —
Cupronickel S — S —
Nickel–silver S — S —
Magnesium alloys P N N S
Nickel and its al- S S N S
loys
Titanium S P N S
Zirconium S S N S
Tantalum S — — —
Niobium S — — —
Molybdenum P — N S
Tungsten P — N S

S = Suitable. N = Not recommended. P = Possible under certain conditions. — =

Information not available.

where t = thickness in millimetres of the thinnest sheet in the combination.

Spot and projection welds in medium carbon and low alloy steels may be made, and
it is desirable that a high electrode force be applied after the welding current pulse
to prevent cracking followed by a tempering treatment which is most conveniently
carried out in the welding machine. The electrode force may be maintained at a
high level during tempering or reduced to its original value. Hardening is not such
a serious problem in resistance butt or flash welding, since cooling rates are lower;
however, butt welding is usually confined to steels that do not form refractory oxides.

Austenitic stainless steels require somewhat lower currents and higher electrode
forces in spot and projection welding. In flash butt welding these materials require
similar currents to mild steel, but with higher open-circuit voltages and upset forces.

Relative conditions for spot welding mild steel and other materials are summarised
in Table 33.3.

Table 33.3. RELATIVE CONDITIONS FOR SPOT WELDING MILD STEEL AND OTH-
ER MATERIALS

Material Electrode force Weld time Welding current Remarks

Mild steel A-70 MPa on tip Short B High C
area
Low alloy steels A×1 B×1 C×1 Post-heating
needed
18/8 stainless A×3 B×1 Surface oxides may
steels cause
Nimonic alloys A×4 B×1 trouble in rare cases
Nickel A × 2.5 B×1 C × 1.5
Monel, Inconel A×4 B×1 C × 0.9
Aluminium alloys A×2 B × 0.5 C×4 Surface oxide must
be removed
Cupronickel, sili- A × 0.8 B × 0.8 C × 1.2–2.0 Current depends
con bronze, 70/30 on conductivity of
brass, nickel–silver, alloy
etc.
Titanium and its A×2 B×1 C×1 Avoid excessive
alloys penetration

Taken from ‘Resistance Welding’, published by the former British Welding Research
Association.

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High Formability Steel

Toshiaki Urabe, in Encyclopedia of Materials: Metals and Alloys, 2022
Introduction
Low-carbon steel sheet is available for use in both the hot-rolled condition and,
after subsequent cold-rolling, annealing, and possibly coating. Modern processing
provides a high degree of control of both chemistry and processing to enable a
wide range of grades with different combinations of strength and formability to be
produced. Close control of gauge, width, shape, and flatness is also achieved. It is
the ability of low carbon steel, however, to be formed economically and satisfactorily
into a wide range of complicated shapes without splitting, necking, or wrinkling that
is ensuring its continued use as a major engineering material. Other advantages
include low cost, high elastic modulus, and good energy absorbing characteristics.
Sheet steels are supplied in two main categories: low-strength or mild steels for
which the main requirement is a satisfactory minimum level of formability; and
high-strength steels with, as expected, a minimum level of strength. Formability
itself has two important aspects drawability and stretchability.

Drawability is usually characterized by the mean Lankford value (often known as

the r-value) (Lankford et al., 1950). r-value is the ratio of the plastic strain in
the width to that in the thickness direction of specimen in tensile test (Hosford
and Caddell, 2007). It depends mainly on developing a suitable crystallographic
orientation texture containing a high proportion of {111}-oriented grains and a
low proportion of {100}-oriented grains, where {hkl}-oriented grains means that
<hkl> axis of grain is parallel to the normal direction (ND) to sheet surface (Held,
1965). Specific crystallographic orientation of grain in sheet steels is characterized
as {hkl}<uvw>, where {hkl} is the plane of which the <hkl> direction is parallel to
normal direction, ND, and <uvw> is parallel to rolling direction, RD. Therefore,
{111}-oriented grains can be also described as {111}<uvw> or <111>//ND.

Stretchability, usually characterized by the elongation value in a tensile test or the

work hardening coefficient n corresponding to uniform elongation, is mainly
influenced by the strength of the steel and the strengthening mechanisms used to
develop the strength. The relationships between tensile strength and yield strength,
elongation in a tensile test, mean r-value and hole expansion ratio for different types
of steel are illustrated in Fig. 1. These figures show that there is a general reduction
in formability with increasing strength and that steels strengthened by different
mechanisms are able to develop various ranges of strength to provide different
combinations of strength and formability.

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High-energy density processes

John Norrish, in Advanced Welding Processes, 2006

Low-carbon steel
Low-carbon steel is readily joined with a range of common welding processes, in-
cluding GMAW and GTAW. The primary reasons for using high-capital-cost process-
es such as lasers is to increase productivity and to improve quality. There are no
specific problems with the laser welding of uncoated plain carbon steels and both
CO2 and Nd:YAG systems have been used successfully as the following applications
confirm.

In thin-section sheet material, laser welding has been used for fabrication of
high-precision pressings [166] to fabricate beams for the carriages for a CNC punch
press. A 5 kW CO2 laser was used and the main objective was to limit distortion and
weld finishing operations.

Lasers are being adopted for many carbon steel welding applications in the automo-
tive industry, [167] including the welding of floor panels and engine support frames.
In most cases, robotic automation is involved and integrated beam delivery systems
have been developed. The use of 1 kW Nd:YAG lasers with optical fibre delivery
systems have also been applied to robotic welding.

Coated steels, particularly zinc-coated or galvanized materials, are difficult to weld

and, even if satisfactory parameters are developed, they are prone to batch variation.
Some success has, however, been reported using a Nd:YAG laser with a multiple
laser (Multilase) system. [144, 168]

Laser welding has also been evaluated for fabrication of thicker section, high-
er-strength steels such as ASTM A36 (0.29% C, 0.8−1.2% Mn, 0.15− 0.40% Si) [169]
and it was found that welding speeds of up to 1 m min−1 could be achieved in 19 mm
thick plate using a 15 kW CO2 laser. A cost analysis indicated a three-year payback
period for the laser system in this application.

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Classification and Application of Plain

Carbon Steels
Tariq Islam, Hossain M.M.A. Rashed, in Reference Module in Materials Science and
Materials Engineering, 2019

6.1 Low Carbon Steel

Low carbon steels have numerous applications. For wear resistance products with
low or inferior mechanical properties; this type of steel can be used upon carburizing
(e.g., small shafts, plunges, or highly loaded gearing). Improved toughness can be
obtained in rolled structural steel (e.g., plates and sections) containing ~0.25% C,
with up to 1.5% Mn and Al; although Al addition is forbidden for making stampings,
forgings, seamless tubes, and boilerplate.

They have also usability as strip steels and structural steels. Strip steels are used in
body shell of a car, frame of a steel-framed building etc. In automotive industries,
car body, structural and repair parts are made from strip steels as they have good
formability, high modulus of elasticity and ease of welding associated with low
cost. They constitute 50%–60% weight of the vehicles. Moreover, they have been
greatly used in weight reduction and lessened the fuel consumption in automotive
industries over years maintaining the structural performance and safety issues. The
construction and building sector itself is also a major consumer of strip steels as
the growth of this sector is greatly dependent on it. Applications include steel frame
housing, cladding and steel lintels etc. Steel frame housing has minimized labor
cost as well as construction time. It is also weatherproof, easily usable, free from
shrinkage or warping, load bearing, and fire resistant. Steel claddings are also used
in the construction of industrialized buildings. Also, lightweight steel lintels have
replaced reinforced concrete lintels in domestic housing. Other applications for strip
steels include domestic appliances, steel drums, sound deadened steel and vitreous
enameled products etc [16,18].

Low carbon structural steels are usually C-Mn steels with ferrite-pearlite microstruc-
ture. They are severely used in chemical and civil engineering fields. These steels
are produced in plates and sections, sometimes up to several inches thick. Also,
their yield strength can go up to about 500 N/mm2. However, there are other
applications, including buildings, bridges, pressure vessels, ships and off-highway
vehicles. Structural steels are also used extensively in demanding applications like
offshore oil plants, gas platforms and in pipelines which can operate in extremely
cold and chemically aggressive environments. These low carbon structural steels
are being used to make the hull of a ship for achieving a high level of toughness,
higher strength, reduced construction cost with higher operating efficiency.
On the other hand, different offshore structures have been constructed with these
types of steel in order to have a good foundation, long-term settlement and tilting
against natural forces and detrimental environments. Thus, those structures became
symbols of achievement in terms of design, materials, and construction. Now, going
with the trend to use high strength materials with greater fabrication characteristic,
reinforcing bars are used in buildings, bridges and marine structures [18].

Other typical applications include wire products, structural shapes (I-beams, channel
and angle iron), and sheets used in pipelines, buildings, and tin cans. An important
 type of this category is the Low-carbon free-cutting steels. These are quite special
as they contain up to 0.15% C and up to 1.2% Mn, a minimum of Si and up to
0.35% S with or without 0.30% Pb. These steels are suited for use in automotive
mass production manufacturing methods (e.g., body panels) [3,13].

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