Alloy steel is a type of steel alloyed with several elements such as molybdenum, manganese, nickel, chromium, vanadium & silicon. These alloying elements are added to increase strength, hardness, wear resistance, and toughness. The amounts of alloying elements may vary between 1 and 50%.
Properties of alloy steel
Alloy steels can contain a wide variety of elements, each of which can enhance various properties of the material, such as mechanical thermal and corrosion resistance. Elements added in low quantities of less than around 5 wt.% tend to improve mechanical properties, for example increasing hardenability and strength, whereas larger additions of up to 20 wt.% increase corrosion resistance and stability at high or low temperatures
The effects of adding various elements to steel, along with the typical amounts in weight fraction, is summarized in the table below:-
Element |
Symbol |
wt. % |
Function |
Chromium |
Cr |
0.5 2.0 |
Improves hardenability |
|
|
4 18 |
Corrosion resistance |
Copper |
Cu |
0.1 0.4 |
Corrosion resistance |
Manganese |
Mn |
0.25 0.40 |
Prevents brittleness in combination with sulfur |
|
|
>1 |
Increases hardenability |
Molybdenum |
Mo |
0.2 0.5 |
Inhibits grain growth |
Silicon |
Si |
0.2 0.7 |
Increases strength and hardenability |
|
|
2 |
Increases yield strength (spring steel) |
|
|
Higher % |
Increases magnetic properties |
Sulfur |
S |
0.08 0.15 |
Improves machinability (free-machining steel properties) |
Tungsten |
W |
|
Increases hardness at high temperatures |
Vanadium |
V |
0.15 |
Increases strength while maintaining ductility, promotes fine grain structure |
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