Effects of each chemical elements on steel

1. Effect of Carbon (C) in steel

What is Carbon (C) effect to steel material?

Carbon is the most important elements found in steel material.Steel material mechanical strength is directly connected with carbon content.

When the carbon element content increased, yield point and tensile strength increased, but the plasticity and impact reduced.

In case carbon content more than 0.23%, steel welding performance will get worse.

So in the low alloy steel structural, to get better welding performances, the carbon content usually less than 0.2%.

Meanwhile, high carbon content also reduces the air corrosion resistance of steel, and the high carbon steel in the open field is easy to rush.

In addition, carbon will increase the cold brittleness and aging sensitivity of steel.

ASTM A106 GR B Steel Pipes

2.Effect of Phosphorus (P) on steel

Effect of phosphorus on steel made various effects in steel pipe and steel plate,in case on different concentrations.

Generally speaking,phosphorus is a harmful element in steel,it will increases the cold brittleness.It makes welding, pending performances get worse,and reduce the plasticity.

Therefore,the content of phosphorus in steel material is usually less than 0.045%,in high-quality steel material grade it is lower.

In higher steel grade,P content is 0.03 to 0.05, if P exceed 0.10 in low alloy high strength steels,it will increase the strength as well as improve the corrosive resistant performances.But the bad part is even the strength increased through P,it becomes brittle,ductility and toughness will reduce.

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3.Effect of Sulfur (S) in steel pipe

As we know,sulfur is a harmful element.It increase hot brittleness,reduce the ductility and toughness,cause cracks in forging and rolling.

Secondly,Sulfur is bad for welding performance,reduce the corrosion resistance.So it usually requires the sulfur content is less than 0.055%.

For the high-quality of steel,it requires S should be less than 0.04%.By adding 0.08-0.2% sulfur could improve cutting performance,which often called easy cutting steel.

So even S is a harmful element,if content less than 0.05%,it would be accept in general applications.

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