This article presents in-depth metallurgical information about the response of carbon and low-alloy steels to welding conditions and micro-structural evolution in the weld heat-affected zone. It discusses the fabrication weldability and service weldability of carbon and low-alloy steels. The article describes six general classes of the metal: low-carbon steels, high-strength low-alloy steels, quenched-and-tempered steels, heat-treatable low-alloy steels, thermal-mechanical-controlled processing steels, and chromium-molybdenum steels. It concludes with an illustration of steels' susceptibility to hydrogen-assisted cold cracking relative to carbon content and carbon equivalent.

This article briefly describes the welding of various stainless steels to dissimilar steels. The stainless steels include austenitic stainless steels, ferritic stainless steels, and martensitic stainless steels. The dissimilar steels include carbon and low-alloy steels. In addition, the article provides information on the cladding of austenitic stainless steel to carbon or low-alloy steels.

Steel castings produced from carbon and alloy steels in any of the various types of molds and wrought steel of equivalent chemical composition respond similarly to heat treatment. They have the same weldability, and similar physical, mechanical, and corrosion properties. This article lists the specification requirements given in ASTM standards and in SAE J435c. Steel castings are classified according to their carbon or alloy composition into four general groups. Carbon steel castings account for three of these groups: low-carbon steel castings with less than 0.20″ carbon, medium-carbon castings with 0.20 to 0.50″ carbon, and high-carbon castings with more than 0.50″ carbon. The fourth group, low-alloy steel castings, is generally limited to grades with a total alloy content of less than 8″. The article presents graphical representations of the mechanical properties of cast carbon steels as a function of carbon content for different heat treatments.

Steel castings can be made from any of the many types of carbon and alloy steel produced in wrought form. They are divided into four general groups according to composition. Carbon and low-alloy steel castings can meet a wide range of application requirements because composition and heat treatment can be selected to achieve specific combinations of properties, including hardness, strength, ductility, fatigue, and toughness. This article discusses physical, mechanical, and engineering properties as well as fatigue properties and the effects of section size and heat treatment. Highly stressed steel castings for aircraft and for high-pressure or high-temperature service must pass rigid nondestructive inspection.

Surface hardening improves the wear resistance of steel parts. This article focuses exclusively on the methods that involve surface and subsurface modification without any intentional buildup or increase in part dimensions. These include diffusion methods, such as carburizing, nitriding, carbonitriding, and austenitic and ferritic nitrocarburizing, as well as selective-hardening methods, such as laser transformation hardening, electron beam hardening, ion implantation, selective carburizing, and surface hardening with arc lamps. The article also discusses the factors affecting the choice of these surface-hardening methods.

This article describes the influence of steel chemical compositions and microstructure on machining processes. It discusses the various microstructural phases of standard carbon and alloy steels, which influence machinability. The article reviews the expected response of several traditional machining operations, such as turning, drilling, milling, shaping, thread cutting, and grinding, to the microstructure of standard steel grades. It also explains the technologies in non-traditional machining processes, such as abrasive waterjet cutting, electrical chemical grinding, and laser drilling.

Pack cementation is the most widely employed method of diffusion coating. This article briefly reviews pack cementation processes of aluminizing, chromizing, and siliconizing. It contains tables that list typical characteristics of pack cementation processes and commercial applications of pack cementation aluminizing, which is used to improve the performance of steels in high-temperature corrosive environments.

This article is a compilation of tables summarizing the fusion welding process. Included in the article is a table that presents the various fusion welding and cutting processes and their applications. Information on the general characteristics of arc welding processes is tabulated. The article also contains a list of the various criteria for selecting the suitable welding process for carbon steels.

This article describes the effects of furnace atmospheric elements on steels. These elements are air, water vapor, molecular nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. The article provides useful information on six groups of commercially important prepared atmospheres classified by the American Gas Association on the basis of method of preparation or on the original constituents employed. These groups are designated and defined as follows: Class 100, exothermic base; Class 200, prepared nitrogen base; Class 300, endothermic base; Class 400, charcoal base; Class 500, exothermic-endothermic base; and Class 600, ammonia base. These are subclassified and numerically designated to indicate variations in the method by which they are prepared. The article also contains a table that lists significant furnace atmospheres and their typical applications.

This article aims to survey the factors controlling the weldability of carbon and low-alloy steels in arc welding. It discusses the influence of operational parameters, thermal cycles, and metallurgical factors on weld metal transformations and the susceptibility to hot and cold cracking. The article addresses the basic principles that affect the weldability of carbon and low-alloy steels. It outlines the characteristic features of welds and the metallurgical factors that affect weldability. It describes the common tests to determine steel weldability. There are various types of tests for determining the susceptibility of the weld joint to different types of cracking during fabrication, including restraint tests, externally loaded tests, underbead cracking tests, and lamellar tearing tests. Weldability tests are conducted to provide information on the service and performance of welds. The major tests that are discussed in this article are weld tension test, bend test, the drop-weight test, the Charpy V-notch test, the crack tip opening displacement test, and stress-corrosion cracking test.

This article describes microstructures and microstructure-property relationships in steels. It emphasizes the correlation of microstructure and properties as a function of carbon content and processing in low-alloy steels. The article discusses the iron-carbon phase diagram and the phase transformations that change the structure and properties at varying levels of carbon content. Microstructures described include pearlite, bainite, proeutectoid ferrite and cementite, ferrite-pearlite, and martensite. The article depicts some of the primary processing steps that result in ferrite-pearlite microstructures. It shows the range of hardness levels which may be obtained by tempering at various temperatures as a function of the carbon content of the steel. To reduce the number of processing steps associated with producing quenched and tempered microstructures, new alloying approaches have been developed to produce high-strength microstructures directly during cooling after forging.

Low-carbon steel sheet and strip are used primarily in consumer goods. This article discusses quality descriptors and mechanical properties of low-carbon steel sheet and strip and carbon and low-alloy steel plate. Alloy steel sheet and strip are used primarily for those special applications that require the mechanical properties normally obtained by heat treatment. Steel sheet is coated in coil form before fabrication either by the steel mills or by specialists called coil coaters. Porcelain enamels are glass coatings applied primarily to products or parts made of sheet steel, cast iron, or aluminum to improve appearance and to protect the metal surface.

This article describes the process features, advantages, limitations, and applications of the flux cored arc welding (FCAW) as well as the equipment used in the process. Base metals, namely, carbon and low-alloy steels, stainless steels, and nickel-base alloys, welded by the FCAW process are reviewed. The article illustrates the manufacturing process for the electrodes used in FCAW and outlines the classification of carbon and low-alloy steel, stainless steel, and nickel-base electrodes.

This article describes the types of steels, including high-strength structural carbon steels and high-strength low-alloy steels (HSLA), available in all standard wrought forms such as sheet, strip, plate, structural shapes, bars, bar-size shapes. It discusses the special sections that are characterized by higher yield strengths than those of plain carbon structural steels. The article tabulates the typical chemical compositions, tensile properties, heat treatment, product sizes, plate thickness and intended uses of high-strength steels. Further, it presents a short note on heat treated structural low-alloy grades.

Steel sheet is widely used for industrial and consumer products, partly because it is relatively strong, easily joined, and readily available at moderate cost. This article discusses the mechanical properties and formability of steel sheet, the use of circle grid analysis to identify the properties of complicated shapes, and various simulative forming tests. The mechanical properties of steel sheet that influence its forming characteristics, either directly or indirectly, can be measured by uniaxial tension testing. The article covers the effects of steel composition, steelmaking practices, and metallic coatings, as well as the correlation between microstructure and formability. A guide to the selection of steel sheet is also included. The formability of steel sheet is related to various microstructural features of the sheet. The article describes some of the forming characteristics of the more commonly used formable grades. It also lists the typical mechanical properties for common grades of hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel sheets.

In the flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) process, the heat for welding is produced by an electric arc between a continuous filler metal electrode and a workpiece. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages and applications of the FCAW process. It schematically illustrates the semiautomatic FCAW equipment used in the gas-shielded FCAW process. The article discusses the manufacture of flux-cored electrodes and the classification of electrodes, such as carbon and low-alloy steel electrodes, stainless steel electrodes, and nickel-base electrodes. The functions of common core ingredients in FCAW electrodes are listed in a table.

Wire rod is a semifinished product rolled from billet on a rod mill and is used primarily for the manufacture of wire. Steel wire rod is usually cold drawn into wire suitable for further drawing; for cold rolling, cold heading, cold upsetting, cold extrusion, or cold forging; or for hot forging. The article explains these operations, along with the several recognized quality and commodity classifications applicable to steel wire rods. The heat treatments commonly applied to steel wire rod, either before or during processing into wire, include annealing, spheroidize annealing, patenting, and controlled cooling. When the end product must be heat treated, the heat treatment and mechanical properties should be clearly defined. Carbon steel rods are produced in various grades or compositions: low-carbon, medium-low-carbon, medium-high-carbon, and high-carbon steel wire rods. Rod for the manufacture of carbon steel wire is produced with manufacturing controls and inspection procedures intended to ensure the degree of soundness and freedom from injurious surface imperfections necessary for specific applications. This article also describes the various quality descriptors applicable to the rods as well as standard qualities and commodities available in alloy steel wire rod.

This article is a pictorial representation of commonly observed microstructures in iron-base alloys (carbon and alloy steels, cast irons, tool steels, and stainless steels) that occur as a result of variations in chemical analysis and processing. It reviews a wide range of common and complex mixtures of constituents (single or combination of two phases) that are encountered in iron-base alloys and the complex structure that is observed in these microstructures. The single-phase constituents discussed in the article include austenite, ferrite, delta ferrite, cementite, various alloy carbides, graphite, martensite, and a variety of intermetallic phases, nitrides, and nonmetallic inclusions. The article further describes the two-phase constituents including, tempered martensite, pearlite, and bainite and nonmetallic inclusions in steel that consist of two or more phases.

This article describes the microstructure and metallographic practices used for medium- to high-carbon steels as well as for low-alloy steels. It explains the microstructural constituents of plain carbon and low-alloy steels, including ferrite, pearlite, and cementite. The article provides information on how to reveal the various constituents using proven metallographic procedures for both macrostructural and microstructural examination. Emphasis is placed on the specimen preparation procedures such as sectioning, mounting, grinding, and polishing. The article illustrates the use of proven etching techniques for plain carbon and low-alloy steels.

This article reviews various phases and constituents found in the microstructures of low-carbon and coated steels. It provides information on the criteria for selecting proper metallographic procedures. Techniques used to prepare metallographic specimens of low-carbon steels and coated steels, such as sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, and etching, are discussed. The article also reviews the simple and proven manual sample preparation techniques of coated steel specimens.