Characteristics and applications of medium carbon steel tubes

What is medium carbon steel?

The carbon content of medium carbon steel is 0.25% to 0.60%, which includes most high-quality carbon structural steels and some ordinary carbon structural steels. This moderate carbon content makes medium carbon steel have both certain strength and toughness, and is suitable for a variety of application scenarios. The application areas of medium carbon steel tubes mainly include machinery manufacturing, engineering structures and general engineering applications.

Performance characteristics:

Medium carbon steel has good hot processing and cutting performance, but poor welding performance. The strength and hardness are higher than those of low carbon steel, while the plasticity and toughness are lower than those of low carbon steel. Cold rolled and cold drawn materials can be used directly without heat treatment, or after heat treatment. Medium carbon steel after quenching and tempering has good comprehensive mechanical properties. The highest hardness that can be achieved is about HRC55 (HB538), and σb is 600-1100MPa. Therefore, medium carbon steel is most widely used in various uses with medium strength levels. In addition to being used as a building material, it is also widely used in the manufacture of various mechanical parts.

Medium carbon steel belongs to hypoeutectoid steel, and its annealing structure is pearlite and ferrite. As the carbon content in steel increases, the amount of pearlite in the structure increases, while the amount of ferrite decreases.

Application areas of medium carbon steel tubes:

Medium carbon steel is mainly used to manufacture high-strength moving parts, such as pistons of air compressors and pumps, impellers of steam turbines, shafts, worms, gears, etc. of heavy machinery, wear-resistant parts on the surface, crankshafts, machine tool spindles, rollers, bench tools, etc.

Specific application areas:

‌1. Mechanical manufacturing‌
Medium carbon steel has a wide range of applications in the field of mechanical manufacturing, and is often used to manufacture mechanical parts, bearings, gears, rails, etc. Its easy processing and heat treatment characteristics make medium carbon steel perform well in these fields‌.

‌2. Engineering structures‌
Medium carbon steel is also commonly used to manufacture engineering structural parts, such as bridges, building components, etc. Its good mechanical properties and machinability make it widely used in these fields‌.
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3. General engineering applications‌
In addition, medium carbon steel is also used to manufacture some parts and components with higher requirements, such as automotive parts, machine tool beds, tool molds, etc. Its comprehensive performance gives it an advantage in these fields‌.

Carbon steel can be divided into the following according to its carbon content:

① Low carbon steel, with a carbon content of less than 0.25%;
② Medium carbon steel, with a carbon content of 0.25%-0.60%;
③ High carbon steel, with a carbon content of more than 0.6%;

The strength and toughness of medium carbon steel pipes have achieved a good balance, with both certain strength and good toughness. Its easy processing and heat treatment characteristics, as well as good wear resistance and durability, make medium carbon steel shine in many industrial fields‌.

Through heat treatment and tempering, the strength and toughness of medium carbon steel can be further improved, and it is suitable for manufacturing various basic parts such as shafts, rods, sleeves, pins, bolts and nuts.

Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of medium carbon steel:

With its excellent strength and hardness, medium carbon steel performs well in applications requiring high strength. Its good machinability and weldability also bring it great convenience. However, it is worth noting that the toughness and plasticity of medium carbon steel are relatively weak, so it is easy to crack and deform during processing. In addition, due to its high carbon content, medium carbon steel also has a certain risk of intergranular corrosion and brittle fracture, so appropriate protective measures must be taken when using it.

When welding medium carbon steel, basic low-hydrogen type electrodes should be preferred because they have high resistance to cold cracking and hot cracking. In some specific cases, by strictly controlling the preheating temperature and reducing the penetration depth of the base material to reduce the carbon content in the weld, the use of ferrocalcium type electrodes may also obtain satisfactory results.

Read more: Mild Steel Seamless Pipe or Schedule 80 carbon steel pipe