Mild steel, medium carbon steel, high carbon steel difference

Mild carbon steel, medium carbon steel, high carbon steel difference

Carbon steel is known for its strength, durability and economy and is widely used in many fields. The classification of carbon steel is usually based on its carbon content, divided into mild steel, medium carbon steel, high carbon steel, they are different in hardness, strength, processing and performance.

Mild steel
This steel is characterized by its low carbon content. Typically, its carbon content ranges from 0.05% to 0.32% by weight. Therefore, compared with high carbon steel, mild steel has lower strength and hardness, but it has excellent weldability and ductility. It is widely used in large structures such as Bridges and buildings, as well as wire and automobile bodies. In addition, because of its lower requirements for carbon and other alloying elements, it is usually cheaper than other types of steel and has a good cost effectiveness.

Medium carbon steel
Medium carbon steel contains higher levels of carbon and manganese than mild steel. This results in an increase in strength and hardness, but a decrease in ductility. The carbon content of medium carbon steel is usually about 0.3% to 0.6%. It contains most of the high-quality carbon structural steel and some ordinary carbon structural steel. This type of steel is mainly used in the manufacture of various mechanical parts and for engineering structural components.

High-carbon steel
High carbon steel, also known as tool steel, usually has a carbon content of 0.6 to 1.7 percent. Due to its higher carbon content, this variant of steel is known for its excellent corrosion resistance. It has excellent strength and hardness. However, due to its high carbon content, it tends to be brittle and difficult to weld. High carbon steel is often used in tool manufacturing, such as drills, taps and hammers. Due to its high carbon content, it is more prone to thermal cracking and difficult to weld.

In summary:

Mild steel, medium carbon steel, high carbon steel because of their different carbon content, in hardness, strength, toughness and other properties have a big gap.
Make it suitable for different application areas. Mild steel is widely considered to be the easiest grade of steel to weld due to its relatively high ductility, thus ensuring an adequate level of strength. This makes it ideal for structural parts that need to combine strength and formability in a single material. On the other hand, medium and high carbon steel have higher hardness and strength, but are less formable and ductile than low carbon steel. These characteristics are ideal for applications that require excellent wear resistance, such as tools such as saw blades and cutters, which benefit from abrasive wear protection.