Search Results for low-carbon steel strip

This article addresses classifications and designations for carbon and low-alloy steel sheet and strip product forms based on composition, quality descriptors, mechanical properties, and other factors. Carbon steel sheet and strip are available as hot-rolled and as cold-rolled products. Low-alloy steel sheet and strip are used primarily for applications that require the mechanical properties normally obtained by heat treatment. The descriptors of quality used for hot-rolled plain carbon steel sheet and strip and cold-rolled plain carbon steel sheet include structural quality, commercial quality, drawing quality, and drawing quality, special killed. The surface texture of low-carbon cold-rolled steel sheet and strip can be varied between rather wide limits. The modified low-carbon steel grades discussed in the article are designed to provide sheet and strip products having increased strength, formability, and/or corrosion resistance. The article also summarizes the key operations involved in the three alternative direct casting processes: thin slab, thin strip, and spray casting.

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.

Steels may be annealed to facilitate cold working or machining, to improve mechanical or electrical properties, or to promote dimensional stability. This article, using iron-carbon phase diagram, describes the types of annealing processes, namely, subcritical annealing, intercritical annealing, supercritical or full annealing, and process annealing. Spheroidizing is performed for improving the cold formability of steels. The article provides guidelines for annealing and tabulates the critical temperature values for selected carbon and low-alloy steels and recommended temperatures and time cycles for annealing of alloy steels and carbon steel forgings. Different combinations of annealed microstructure and hardness are significant in terms of machinability. Furnaces for annealing are of two basic types, batch furnaces and continuous furnaces. The article concludes with a description of the annealing processes for steel sheets and strips, forgings, bars, rods, wires, and plates.

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.

This article discusses the production of blanks from low-carbon steel sheet and strip in dies in a mechanical or hydraulic press. It describes the cutting operations that are done by dies in presses to produce blanks. The applications of blanking methods are described with examples. The article reviews the characteristics of blanked edges and explains how to calculate the forces and the work involved in blanking. Factors affecting the processing of blanks are discussed. The article provides information on the selection of work metal form, the effect of work metal thickness on the selection of material for dies and related components, as well as the selection of die type and design. The article illustrates the construction and use of short-run dies and conventional dies. It concludes with information on the shaving and deburring methods for blanking.

Pickling is the most common of several processes used to remove scale from steel surfaces. This article provides a discussion on pickling solutions, such as sulfuric and hydrochloric acid, and describes the role of inhibitors in acid pickling. It discusses the equipment and processes involved in the batch, continuous, and electrolytic pickling of carbon steel components. The article describes the effects of process variables on scale removal in sulfuric and hydrochloric acid. It concludes with a description of pickling defects, spent pickle liquor disposal, and safety practices.

This article illustrates the characteristics of pierced holes and summarizes the hole wall quality. Specific guidance in selecting die clearances is provided by considering the types of edges produced with different clearances. The article discusses the effect of tool dulling and the use of small and large clearance. It informs that the force needed to pierce a given material depends on the shear strength of the work metal, the peripheral size of the hole or holes to be pierced, stock thickness, and depth of shear on the punch. The article discusses the presses and tools used in piercing. It illustrates the use of compound dies, progressive dies, and transfer dies; piercing of thick and thin stock and piercing holes at an angle to the surface; special piercing techniques; and shaving of low-carbon steels.

This article begins with an overview of steel wire configurations and sizes followed by a discussion on various wiremaking practices. The wiredrawing operation is discussed, including cleaning, die design, use of lubricants and welds, finishes, coating, and thermal treatments. Metallic coatings can be applied to wire by various methods, including hot dip processes, electrolytic process, and metal cladding by rolling metallic strip over the wire. These wires are normally grouped into broad usage categories. These categories, as well as some items in each category, are described in the article under their quality descriptions or commodity names. These include low-carbon steel wire for general usage, wire for structural applications, wire for packaging and container applications, wire for prestressed concrete, wire for electrical or conductor applications, rope wire, mechanical spring wire for general use, wire for fasteners, mechanical spring wire for special applications, upholstery spring construction wire, and alloy wire.

Magnetically soft materials are characterized by their low coercivity, an essential requirement for irons and steels selected for any application involving electromagnetic induction cycling. This article provides information on ferromagnetic material properties and how they are affected by impurities, alloying additions, heat treatment, residual stress, and grain size. It also describes classification and testing methods for magnetically soft materials such as high-purity iron, low-carbon steels, silicon steels, iron-aluminum alloys, nickel-iron alloys, iron-cobalt alloys, ferrites, and stainless steels. The article also addresses corrosion resistance and provides insights on the selection of alloys for power generation applications, including motors, generators, and transformers. A short note on the design and fabrication of magnetic cores is also included.

High-frequency (HF) welding is a welding process in which the heat source used to melt the joining surfaces is obtained from HF alternating current (ac) resistance heating. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages and applications of HF welding. It describes the equipment used for HF welding and the safety aspects to be considered during welding. The article concludes with a discussion on inspection and quality control.

This article reviews the selection and formability characteristics of steels, with an emphasis on low-carbon steels and some coverage on the forming of high-carbon steels. It describes the key factors that affect the formability of steels in terms of steelmaking practices, surface finishes, metal thicknesses, and alloying. The article explains the bending and forming operations with some examples. It also describes the formation of various shells, including doubly contoured shells, deep recessed shells, and deep circular shells.

This article focuses on the various techniques for removing contaminants in the surface preparation of steel for hot-dip coatings: wet cleaning methods, including alkaline cleaning, electrolytic cleaning, chemical pickling, and electrolytic pickling; flame cleaning and furnace-atmosphere techniques, such as Sendzimir oxidation/reduction method; other specialized methods, namely, fluxes, mechanical cleaning, and ultrasonic methods; or a combination of these.

The use of gases or molten salts as the quenchant for steel parts is commonly limited to the quenching of high-alloy steel or the carbonizing quenching of low-alloy steel. This article reviews the quenching process of steels with molten metals (quenchant) such as molten lead, molten bismuth, and molten sodium. It also contains tables that list the physical properties of lead, bismuth, sodium, and molten sodium.

Roll welding (ROW) is a process in which two or more sheets or plates are stacked together and then passed through the rolls until sufficient deformation has occurred to produce solid-state welds. This article begins with a process description of two modes of roll welding, including pack rolling. It describes a patented roll welding process for fabrication of heat exchangers. The article presents a table showing the typical properties of common roll welded clad laminates. The relative weldability of selected dissimilar metals and alloys roll welded into clad-laminate form are also tabulated. The article concludes with information on cladding of metals by strip roll welding.

This article discusses the operating principles, types, and applications of shearing and slitting of different forms of steel, including plates, flat sheets, bars, coiled sheet and strips. In addition, it provides a detailed account of the cutting methods such as oxyfuel gas cutting, plasma arc cutting, oxygen arc cutting, laser beam cutting, and air carbon arc cutting and gouging, describing their process capabilities, equipment used, operating principles and parameters, and factors affecting their efficiency.

This article describes ironmaking and steelmaking practices (melt or liquid processing, including hot metal desulfurization) and discusses the evolution of these processes and their effects on steel properties. The physical chemistry of steelmaking may appear deceptively simple for integrated steel mill operations where ore from the ground is converted into steel. The various refining steps that occur in steelmaking are reviewed. The article also describes solid processing of steel, with emphasis on hot and cold rolling, thermomechanical processing, and annealing of flat steel products.

This article considers four types of high-strength structural steels: heat-treated low-alloy steels, as-rolled carbon-manganese steels, heat-treated (normalized or quenched and tempered) carbon steels, and as-rolled high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels (which are also known as microalloyed steels). The article places emphasis on HSLA steels, which are an attractive alternative in structural applications because of their competitive price per-yield strength ratios. HSLA steels are primarily hot-rolled into the usual wrought product forms and are furnished in the as-hot-rolled condition. In addition to hot-rolled products, HSLA steels are also furnished as cold-rolled sheet and forgings. This article describes the different categories of HSLA steels and provides a summary of characteristics and intended uses of HSLA steels described in the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications. The article also presents some applications of HSLA steels.