Knowra Carbon steel Carbon steel Carbon steel is steel whose properties are shaped chiefly by its carbon content, alongside iron and smaller amounts of other elements. Its strength, hardness, ductility, and weldability vary with composition and heat treatment.
Iron–carbon phase diagram : A map of stable phases in iron–carbon alloys across temperature and composition. It shows how carbon percentage and cooling conditions determine the phases carbon steel can contain.
Heat treatment : Controlled heating and cooling used to alter a material’s structure and properties. Carbon steel properties can be deliberately changed through carefully selected heating and cooling cycles.
Low-carbon steel : Carbon steel with relatively little carbon, generally valued for ductility, formability, and weldability. Its easy forming and joining make it common in sheet, tubing, and general structural products.
Stainless steel : Steel containing enough chromium to develop a protective, corrosion-resistant surface film. Unlike ordinary carbon steel, stainless steel is defined by chromium-based corrosion resistance.
Basic oxygen steelmaking : A steelmaking process that refines molten iron by blowing oxygen through it to reduce carbon and impurities. It produces much of the steel used for carbon-steel products at industrial scale.
Ferrite : A soft, ductile iron phase with a body-centered cubic crystal structure and limited carbon solubility. Low-carbon steels contain substantial ferrite, which contributes softness and formability.
Austenitizing : Heating steel until its structure transforms substantially into austenite. It creates the starting structure for quenching and many other steel heat treatments.
Medium-carbon steel : Carbon steel with an intermediate carbon content, offering greater strength and hardenability than low-carbon grades. It serves components such as shafts and gears that need strength with some toughness.
Alloy steel : Steel whose properties are intentionally modified by significant additions of elements beyond carbon. The distinction highlights carbon steel’s comparatively limited alloying, though exact classification conventions vary.
Electric arc furnace : A furnace that melts metal, often steel scrap, using electric arcs. It offers an alternative production route whose emissions depend strongly on electricity and feedstock.
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