What is carbon steel?
Carbon steel is one of the main materials for steel castings in the world. Carbon steel can be divided into the following categories according to the carbon content:
Mild Steel (< 0.20% C): Heat treated to provide a range of tensile properties and can be hardened to provide high surface hardness, wear resistance and good core ductility.
Medium Carbon Steel (0.20 to 0.50% C): This composition makes it more durable, flexible, and stronger. Has good ductility and impact resistance, can be easily processed in the softened state, and has a range of tensile strengths.
High carbon steel (> 0.50% C): High strength and good shape memory make it a particularly useful choice for spring manufacturers. This alloy steel for high strength applications is subject to wear and tear and is also suitable for heavy duty applications.
Like alloy steel castings, carbon steel castings can be produced by two different casting processes: water glass casting and silica sol casting.
Water Glass Casting: This casting process can produce carbon steel castings with CT7-CT8 tolerances. Carbon steel castings are mostly made of water glass casting process, which is low in cost. In China, about 70% of foundries are water glass foundry manufacturers.
Silica Sol Casting: Another lost wax casting method for carbon steel casting. This casting process can control carbon steel castings within tolerance CT5-6. The surface finish will also be much better. The only consideration in choosing this process is its high production cost. We recommend this process if you have high demands on carbon steel castings.
Benefits of Carbon Steel Castings
Carbon steel is a very popular steel casting material choice because of its wide range of applications in several different industries. Due to the low material cost and various material grades, carbon steel castings are generally used, and their strength, ductility and other properties can be improved by heat treatment for industrial applications. Due to its ferromagnetic properties, this material is particularly suitable for use in motors and appliances. Carbon steel is safe, durable, and has a high degree of structural integrity, characteristics that have increased its popularity, making it one of the most-created alloys in the world.
