Chemical Composition

• Carbon Steel: Carbon steel refers to steel with a carbon content ranging from 0.008% to 2.11%. Besides carbon, it contains small amounts of silicon, manganese, phosphorus, sulfur, and other impurities, but lacks other alloying elements.

• Alloy Steel: Alloy steel is based on carbon steel but intentionally incorporates one or more alloying elements (such as chromium, nickel, molybdenum, etc.) to enhance its properties. Alloy steel is categorized by the total amount of alloying elements: low alloy steel (less than 5%), medium alloy steel (5% to 10%), and high alloy steel (more than 10%).

Performance Characteristics

• Carbon Steel: Carbon steel offers good strength and rigidity, making it suitable for applications that require high strength and heavy loads. It has high tensile strength and hardness, excelling in the manufacture of tools and mechanical parts. Additionally, carbon steel has good plasticity and machinability, making it easy to forge and weld. However, its corrosion resistance is relatively poor, making it susceptible to oxidation and corrosion.

• Alloy Steel: Alloy steel alters the properties of carbon steel by adding other metallic elements, which can enhance hardness, corrosion resistance, and wear resistance. Alloy steel typically exhibits higher strength and toughness, maintaining stable performance over a wider temperature range. Furthermore, alloy steel has good corrosion resistance, protecting against oxidation and corrosion. However, the production cost of alloy steel is higher, and it is also more challenging to process.

Application Scenarios

• Carbon Steel: Carbon steel is commonly used in applications with lower strength requirements, such as manufacturing ordinary metal components, mechanical transmission parts, underground water pipes, and exhaust pipes for vehicles. In construction, carbon steel is also utilized in some scenarios, including rebar and steel frames.

• Alloy Steel: Due to its superior properties, alloy steel is typically used in applications that require higher strength, such as in the aerospace industry, shipbuilding, heavy machinery manufacturing, petrochemicals, and nuclear industries. In aerospace manufacturing, many components, such as airplane engines, flight pulleys, and aircraft screws, require alloy steel. In the petrochemical industry, high-pressure pipelines and chemical storage tanks often use alloy steel.