Classifications Of Steel
: COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES OF STEEL: The Working Of Steel
Among makers and sellers, carbon tool-steels are classed by grade
and temper. The word grade is qualified by many adjectives of
more or less cryptic meaning, but in general they aim to denote
the process and care with which the steel is made.
Temper of a steel refers to the carbon content. This should preferably
be noted by points, as just explained; but unfortunately, a 53-point
steel (containing 0.53 pe
like No. 3 temper.
A widely used method of classifying steels was originated by the
Society of Automotive Engineers. Each specification is represented
by a number of 4 digits, the first figure indicating the class, the
second figure the approximate percentage of predominant alloying
element, and the last two the average carbon content in points.
Plain carbon steels are class 1, nickel steels are class 2,
nickel-chromium steels are class 3, chromium steels are class 5,
chromium-vanadium steels are class 6, and silico-manganese steels
are class 9. Thus by this system, steel 2340 would be a 3 per cent
nickel steel with 0.40 per cent carbon; or steel 1025 would be a
0.25 plain carbon steel.
Steel makers have no uniform classification for the various kinds
of steel or steels used for different purposes. The following list
shows the names used by some of the well-known makers:
Air-hardening steel Chrome-vanadium steel
Alloy steel Circular saw plates
Automobile steel Coal auger steel
Awl steel Coal mining pick or cutter steel
Axe and hatchet steel Coal wedge steel
Band knife steel Cone steel
Band saw steel Crucible cast steel
Butcher saw steel Crucible machinery steel
Chisel steel Cutlery steel
Chrome-nickel steel Drawing die steel (Wortle)
Drill rod steel Patent, bush or hammer steel
Facing and welding steel Pick steel
Fork steel Pivot steel
Gin saw steel Plane bit steel
Granite wedge steel Quarry steel
Gun barrel steel Razor steel
Hack saw steel Roll turning steel
High-speed tool steel Saw steel
Hot-rolled sheet steel Scythe steel
Lathe spindle steel Shear knife steel
Lawn mower knife steel Silico-manganese steel
Machine knife steel Spindle steel
Magnet steel Spring steel
Mining drill steel Tool holder steel
Nail die shapes Vanadium tool steel
Nickel-chrome steel Vanadium-chrome steel
Paper knife steel Wortle steel
Passing to the tonnage specifications, the following table from
Tiemann's excellent pocket book on Iron and Steel, will give
an approximate idea of the ordinary designations now in use:
Approximate
Grades carbon range Common uses
Extra soft 0.08-0.18 Pipe, chain and other welding purposes;
(dead soft) case-hardening purposes; rivets; pressing
and stamping purposes.
Structural (soft) 0.15-0.25 Structural plates, shapes and bars for
(medium) bridges, buildings, cars, locomotives;
boiler (flange) steel; drop forgings; bolts.
Medium 0.20-0.35 Structural purposes (ships); shafting;
automobile parts; drop forgings.
Medium hard 0.35-0.60 Locomotive and similar large forgings; car
axles; rails.
Hard 0.60-0.85 Wrought steel wheels for steam and electric
railway service; locomotive tires; rails;
tools, such as sledges, hammers, pick points,
crowbars, etc.
Spring 0.85-1.05 Automobile and other vehicle springs; tools,
such as hot and cold chisels, rock drills
and shear blades.
Spring 0.90-1.15 Railway springs; general machine shop tools.
More
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A Chromium-cobalt Steel
The Latrobe Steel Company make a high-speed steel without tungsten, its red-hardness properties depending on chromium and cobalt instead of tungsten. It is known as P. R. K-33 steel. It does not require the high temperature of the tungsten steels, h... A Satisfactory Luting Mixture
A mixture of fireclay and sand will be found very satisfactory for closing up the boxes, and by observing the appearance of the work when taken out we can gage the suitability of the methods employed, for unless the boxes are carefully sealed the wo... Affinity Of Nickel Steel For Carbon
The carbon- and nickel-steel gears are carburized separately owing to the difference in time necessary for their carburization. Practically all printed information on the subject is to the effect that nickel steel takes longer to carburize than pla... Air-hardening Steels
These steels are recommended for boring, turning and planing where the cost of high-speed seems excessive. They are also recommended for hard wood knives, for roughing and finishing bronze and brass, and for hot bolt forging dies. This steel cannot... Alloying Elements
Commercial steels of even the simplest types are therefore primarily alloys of iron and carbon. Impurities and their remedies are always present: sulphur, phosphorus, silicon and manganese--to say nothing of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon oxide gases,... An Automatic Temperature Control Pyrometer
Automatic temperature control instruments are similar to the Brown indicating high resistance pyrometer with the exception that the pointer is depressed at intervals of every 10 sec. upon contact-making devices. No current passes through the pointer... Annealing
ANNEALING can be done by heating to temperatures ranging from 1,290 to 1,380 deg.F. and cooling in air or quenching in water or oil. After this treatment the forgings will have a hardness of about 200 Brinell and a tensile strength of 100,000 to 112... Annealing
There is no mystery or secret about the proper annealing of different steels, but in order to secure the best results it is absolutely necessary for the operator to know the kind of steel which is to be annealed. The annealing of steel is primarily ... Annealing Alloy Steel
The term alloy steel, from the steel maker's point of view, refers largely to nickel and chromium steel or a combination of both. These steels are manufactured very largely by the open-hearth process, although chromium steels are also a crucible pro... Annealing In Bone
Steel and cast iron may both be annealed in granulated bone. Pack the work the same as for case-hardening except that it is not necessary to keep the pieces away from each other. Pack with bone that has been used until it is nearly white. Heat as ho... Annealing Method
Forgings which are too hard to machine are put in pots with a little charcoal to cause a reducing atmosphere and to prevent scale. The covers are then luted on and the pots placed in the furnace. Carbon steel from 15 to 25 points is annealed at 1,6... Annealing Of High-speed Steel
For annealing high-speed steel, some makers recommend using ground mica, charcoal, lime, fine dry ashes or lake sand as a packing in the annealing boxes. Mixtures of one part charcoal, one part lime and three parts of sand are also suggested, or two... Annealing Of Rifle Components At Springfield Armory
In general, all forgings of the components of the arms manufactured at the Armory and all forgings for other ordnance establishments are packed in charcoal, lime or suitable material and annealed before being transferred from the forge shop. Exce... Annealing To Relieve Internal Stresses
Work quenched from a high temperature and not afterward tempered will, if complex in shape, contain many internal stresses which may later cause it to break. They may be eased off by slight heating without materially lessening the hardness of the pi... Annealing Work
With the exception of several of the higher types of alloy steels, where the percentages of special elements run quite high, which causes a slight air-hardening action, the carburizing steels are soft enough for machining when air cooled from any t... Application Of Liberty Engine Materials To The Automotive Industry
The success of the Liberty engine program was an engineering achievement in which the science of metallurgy played an important part. The reasons for the use of certain materials and certain treatments for each part are given with recommendation... Application To The Automotive Industry
The information given on the various parts of the Liberty engine applies with equal force to the corresponding parts in the construction of an automobile, truck or tractor. We recommend as first choice for carbon-steel screw-machine parts material p... Bessemer Process
The bessemer process consists of charging molten pig iron into a huge, brick-lined pot called the bessemer converter, and then in blowing a current of air through holes in the bottom of the vessel into the liquid metal. The air blast burns the wh... Blending The Compound
Essentially, this consists of the sturdy, power-driven separator and fanning mill which separates the foreign matter from the compound and elevates it into a large settling basin which is formed by the top of the steel housing that incloses the appa... Brown Automatic Signaling Pyrometer
In large heat-treating plants it has been customary to maintain an operator at a central pyrometer, and by colored electric lights at the furnaces, signal whether the temperatures are correct or not. It is common practice to locate three lights abov... Calibration Of Pyrometer With Common Salt
An easy and convenient method for standardization and one which does not necessitate the use of an expensive laboratory equipment is that based upon determining the melting point of common table salt (sodium chloride). While theoretically salt that ... Carbon In Tool Steel
Carbon tool steel, or tool steel as it is commonly called, usually contains from 80 to 125 points (or from 0.80 to 1.25 per cent) of carbon, and none of the alloys which go to make up the high speed steels. This was formerly known also as crucible o... Carbon Steels For Different Tools
All users of tool steels should carefully study the different qualities of the steels they handle. Different uses requires different kinds of steel for best results, and for the purpose of designating different steels some makers have adopted the tw... Carbon Tool Steel
Heat to a bright red, about 1,500 to 1,550 deg.F. Do not hammer steel when it cools down to a dark cherry red, or just below its hardening point, as this creates surface cracks. ... Carbon-steel Forgings
Low-stressed, carbon-steel forgings include such parts as carbureter control levers, etc. The important criterion for parts of this type is ease of fabrication and freedom from over-heated and burned forgings. The material used for such parts was S.... Carburizing By Gas
The process of carburizing by gas, briefly mentioned on page 88, consists of having a slowly revolving, properly heated, cylindrical retort into which illuminating gas (a mixture of various hydrocarbons) is continuously injected under pressure. The ... Carburizing Low-carbon Sleeves
Low-carbon sleeves are carburized and pushed on malleable-iron differential-case hubs. Formerly, these sleeves were given two treatments after carburization in order to refine the case and the core, and then sent to the grinding department, where t... Carburizing Material
The simplest carburizing substance is charcoal. It is also the slowest, but is often used mixed with something that will evolve large volumes of carbon monoxide or hydrocarbon gas on being heated. A great variety of materials is used, a few of them ... Care In Annealing
Not only will benefits in machining be found by careful annealing of forgings but the subsequent troubles in the hardening plant will be greatly reduced. The advantages in the hardening start with the carburizing operation, as a steel of uniform an... Case-hardening Treatments For Various Steels
Plain water, salt water and linseed oil are the three most common quenching materials for case-hardening. Water is used for ordinary work, salt water for work which must be extremely hard on the surface, and oil for work in which toughness is the ma... Chrome-nickel Steel
Forging heat of chrome-nickel steel depends very largely on the percentage of each element contained in the steel. Steel containing from 1/2 to 1 per cent chromium and from 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 per cent nickel, with a carbon content equal to the chromium... Chromium
Chromium when alloyed with steel, has the characteristic function of opposing the disintegration and reconstruction of cementite. This is demonstrated by the changes in the critical ranges of this alloy steel taking place slowly; in other words, it ... Classifications Of Steel
Among makers and sellers, carbon tool-steels are classed by grade and temper. The word grade is qualified by many adjectives of more or less cryptic meaning, but in general they aim to denote the process and care with which the steel is made. Tem... Compensating Leads
By the use of compensating leads, formed of the same material as the thermo-couple, the cold junction can be removed from the head of the thermo-couple to a point 10, 20 or 50 ft. distant from the furnace, where the temperature is reasonably consta... Complete Calibration Of Pyrometers
For the complete calibration of a thermo-couple of unknown electromotive force, the new couple may be checked against a standard instrument, placing the two bare couples side by side in a suitable tube and taking frequent readings over the range of... Composition And Properties Of Steel
It is a remarkable fact that one can look through a dozen text books on metallurgy and not find a definition of the word steel. Some of them describe the properties of many other irons and then allow you to guess that everything else is steel. If it... Composition Of Transmission-gear Steel
If the nickel content of this steel is eliminated, and the percentage of chromium raised slightly, an ideal transmission-gear material is obtained. This would, therefore, be of the following composition: Carbon, 0.470 to 0.520 per cent; manganese, 0... Conclusions
Martien was probably never a serious contender for the honor of discovering the atmospheric process of making steel. In the present state of the record, it is not an unreasonable assumption that his patent was never seriously exploited and that the ... Connecting Rods
The material used for all connecting rods on the Liberty engine was selected at the option of the manufacturer from one of two standard S. A. E. steels, the composition of which are given in Table 13. TABLE 13.--COMPOSITION OF STEELS NOS. X-3,335... Correction By Zero Adjustment
Many pyrometers are supplied with a zero adjuster, by means of which the pointer can be set to any actual cold-junction temperature. If the cold junction of the thermo-couple is in a temperature of 100 deg.F., the pointer can be set to this point o... Correction For Cold-junction Errors
The voltage generated by a thermo-couple of an electric pyrometer is dependent on the difference in temperature between its hot junction, inside the furnace, and the cold junction, or opposite end of the thermo-couple to which the copper wires are c... Corrosion
This steel like any other steel when distorted by cold working is more sensitive to corrosion and will rust. Rough cut surfaces will rust. Surfaces finished with a fine cut are less liable to rust. Ground and polished surfaces are practically immune... Crankshaft
The crankshaft was the most highly stressed part of the entire Liberty engine, and, therefore, every metallurgical precaution was taken to guarantee the quality of this part. The material used for the greater portion of the Liberty crankshafts produ... Critical Points
One of the most important means of investigating the properties of pure metals and their alloys is by an examination of their heating and cooling curves. Such curves are constructed by taking a small piece and observing and recording the temperature... Crucible Steel
Crucible steel is still made by melting material in a clay or graphite crucible. Each crucible contains about 40 lb. of best puddled iron, 40 lb. of clean mill scrap--ends trimmed from tool steel bars--and sufficient rich alloys and charcoal to make... Cutting-off Steel From Bar
To cut a piece from an annealed bar, cut off with a hack saw, milling cutter or circular saw. Cut clear through the bar; do not nick or break. To cut a piece from an unannealed bar, cut right off with an abrasive saw; do not nick or break. If of lar... Cyanide Bath For Tool Steels
All high-carbon tool steels are heated in a cyanide bath. With this bath, the heat can be controlled within 3 deg. The steel is evenly heated without exposure to the air, resulting in work which is not warped and on which there is no scale. The cya... Detrimental Elements
Sulphur and phosphorus are two elements known to be detrimental to all steels. Sulphur causes red-shortness and phosphorus causes cold-shortness. The detrimental effects of these two elements counteract each other to some extent but the content sho... Double Annealing
Water annealing consists in heating the piece, allowing it to cool in air until it loses its red heat and becomes black and then immediately quenching it in water. This plan works well for very low-carbon steel; but for high-carbon steel what is kno... Drop Forging Dies
The kind of steel used in the die of course influences the heat treatment it is to receive, but this also depends on the kind of work the die is to perform. If the die is for a forging which is machined all over and does not have to be especially cl... Ebbw Vale And The Bessemer Process
After his British Association address in August 1856, Bessemer had received applications from several ironmasters for licenses, which were issued in return for a down payment and a nominal royalty of 25 pence per ton. Among those who started negotia... Effect Of A Small Amount Of Copper In Medium-carbon Steel
This shows the result of tests by C. R. Hayward and A. B. Johnston on two types of steel: one containing 0.30 per cent carbon, 0.012 per cent phosphorus, and 0.860 per cent copper, and the other 0.365 per cent carbon, 0.053 per cent phosphorus, and ... Effect Of Different Carburizing Material
[Illustrations: FIGS. 33 to 37.] Each of these different packing materials has a different effect upon the work in which it is heated. Charcoal by itself will give a rather light case. Mixed with raw bone it will carburize more rapidly, and still... Effects Of Proper Annealing
Proper annealing of low-carbon steels causes a complete solution or combination to take place between the ferrite and pearlite, producing a homogeneous mass of small grains of each, the grains of the pearlite being surrounded by grains of ferrite. ... Fatigue Tests
It has been known for fifty years that a beam or rod would fail at a relatively low stress if only repeated often enough. It has been found, however, that each material possesses a limiting stress, or endurance limit, within which it is safe, no mat... Flange Shields For Furnaces
Such portable flame shields as the one illustrated in Fig. 106 may prove serviceable before furnaces required for plate work, where the doors are often only opened for a moment at a time. This shield can be placed far enough in front of the furnace... For Milling Cutters And Formed Tools
FORGING.--Forge as before.--ANNEALING.--Place the steel in a pipe, box or muffle. Arrange the steel so as to allow at least 1 in. of packing, consisting of dry powder ashes, powdered charcoal, mica, etc., between the pieces and the walls of the box ... Forging High-speed Steel
Heat very slowly and carefully to from 1,800 to 2,000 deg.F. and forge thoroughly and uniformly. If the forging operation is prolonged do not continue forging the tool when the steel begins to stiffen under the hammer. Do not forge below 1,700 deg.F... Furnace Data
In order to give definite information concerning furnaces, fuels etc., the following data is quoted from a paper by Seth A. Moulton and W. H. Lyman before the Steel Heat Treaters Society in September, 1920. This considers a factory producing 30,0... Gas Consumption For Carburizing
Although the advantages offered by the gas-fired furnace for carburizing have been generally recognized in the past from points of view as close temperature regulation, decreased attendance, and greater convenience, very little information has been ... Gears
The material used for all gears on the Liberty engine was selected at the option of the manufacturer from the following standard S. A. E. steels, the composition of which are given in Table 12, TABLE 12.--COMPOSITION OF STEELS NOS. X-3,340 AND 6,1... Hardening
The forgings can be hardened by cooling in still air or quenching in oil or water from a temperature between 1,650 and 1,750 deg.F. The physical properties do not vary greatly when the carbon is within the range of composition given, or when the ... Hardening
Steel is hardened by quenching from above the upper critical. Apparently the quick cooling prevents the normal change back to definite and sizeable crystals of ferrite and cementite. Hardness is associated with this suppressed change. If the change ... Hardening Carbon Steel For Tools
For years the toolmaker had full sway in regard to make of steel wanted for shop tools, he generally made his own designs, hardened, tempered, ground and usually set up the machine where it was to be used and tested it. Most of us remember the to... Hardening High-speed Steel
In forging use coke for fuel in the forge. Heat steel slowly and thoroughly to a lemon heat. Do not forge at a lower heat. Do not let the steel cool below a bright cherry red while forging. After the tool is dressed, reheat to forging heat to remove... Hardening High-speed Steels
We will now take up the matter of hardening high-speed steels. The most ordinary tools used are for lathes and planers. The forging should be done at carbon-steel heat. Rough-grind while still hot and preheat to about carbon-steel hardening heat, th... Hardening Operation
Hardening a gear is accomplished as follows: The gear is taken from the furnace by the furnaceman and placed in the lower die, surrounding the centering jaws, as shown at H in Fig. 62 and C in Fig. 63. Air is then turned into the cylinder D, and th... Hardness Testing
The word hardness is used to express various properties of metals, and is measured in as many different ways. Scratch hardness is used by the geologist, who has constructed Moh's scale as follows: Talc has a hardness of 1 Rock Salt h...