carbon content
Carbon content is expressed in percentage mass of carbon in steel, is a very important factor that affects the hardness, strength, and ductility of any alloy.
Key Features:
- Effect on Mechanical Properties: An increase in carbon content causes an increase in hardness and strength but a decrease in ductility, hence making it brittle in nature.
- Classification of Steel Based on Carbon Content:
- Low-carbon steel (≤0.3%): Good ductility; welded easily; largely used for construction and automotive components.
- Medium-carbon steel (0.3%–0.6%): Fairly good strength and toughness, very suitable for gears and various parts of machines.
- High-carbon steel (≥0.6%): Very hard and wear-resistant; used for tools and springs.
- Heat Treatment Response: The carbon content determines the heat treatment response of steel, including hardening, tempering, and annealing.
The carbon content is very important for the tailoring of steel for specific applications where, for example, low-carbon steels are widely used for structural framework due to their malleability, while high carbon steels assume an important role in tool-making due to their wear resistance. In the fields of metallurgy, various investigations continue to refine carbon contents that would optimize the properties and sustainability of steel in different industries.
