Carbon steel
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Carbon steel (US) or non-alloy steel (Europe) is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states:
- no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, or any other element to be added to obtain a desired alloying effect, or
- the specified minimum for copper does not exceed 0.40%, or
- the maximum content specified for any of the following elements does not exceed the percentages noted: manganese 1.65%, silicon 0.60%, copper 0.60%.
The addition of significant amounts of other metals such as nickel, chromium, vanadium, molybdenum change the materials definition from carbon steel to alloy steel.
As the carbon content percentage rises, steel has the ability to become harder and stronger through heat treating; however, it becomes less ductile. Regardless of the heat treatment, a higher carbon content reduces weldability. In carbon steels, the higher carbon content lowers the melting point.
High-carbon steel has many uses primarily applications where medium strength and low material cost are factors, these include: high strength steel wires, springs, bolts, garden and agricultural tools, wood chisels, axes etc.