{"id":5631,"date":"2020-01-24T16:56:29","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T13:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fractory.com\/?p=5631"},"modified":"2024-01-29T17:11:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T15:11:07","slug":"what-is-mild-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fractory.com\/what-is-mild-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"Mild Steel – All You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Due to its excellent properties, mild steel has become an in-demand material in steel fabrication<\/a>. It has unparalleled weldability and machinability, which has led to an exponential increase in its usage.<\/p>\n

In this article, we will discuss the importance of mild steel, its uses and how it’s made.<\/p>\n

What Is Mild Steel?<\/h2>\n

Mild steel is a type of carbon steel with a low amount of carbon, <\/strong>thus the terms low-carbon steel and mild steel are generally used interchangeably. Carbon steels are metals that contain a small percentage of carbon (max 2.1%) which enhances the properties of pure iron. The carbon content varies depending on the requirements for the steel. Low-carbon steels contain carbon in the range of 0.05 to 0.25%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There are different grades of mild steel. But they all have carbon content within the above-mentioned limits. Other elements are added to improve useful properties like corrosion resistance, wear resistance and tensile strength.<\/p>\n

How Is Low Carbon Steel Made?<\/h2>\n

Carbon content is uniformly increased by heat treating<\/a> steel. As carbon content increases, steel develops hardness but loses ductility. This means that the metal becomes brittle and may fracture instead of bending when applying an excess load.<\/p>\n

The manufacturing processes for mild steel are similar to other carbon steels. Higher carbon steels just contain more carbon, resulting in different properties like high strength and hardness values compared to mild steel.<\/p>\n

These processes have developed over time and are now much more cost-effective than before. In modern manufacturing, three<\/span> steps are involved in manufacturing mild steel out of pure iron.<\/p>\n

Primary Steelmaking<\/h3>\n

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In this leg of the steelmaking process, the iron ore is mixed with coal and lime and heated in a blast furnace having a 100 to 400-ton capacity. Lime acts as a flux and forms a protective layer on top of this hot molten metal.<\/p>\n

Modern primary steelmaking uses Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOS) or Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) processes. These are both based on the original Bessemer process<\/a> for steelmaking.<\/p>\n

In the basic oxygen furnace process, oxygen is blown through the molten iron while scrap steel is added to the converter. This reduces the carbon content to a maximum of 1.5%.<\/p>\n

In developed countries, the electric arc furnace is used to feed scrap steel through extremely high-powered electric arcs. This results in impressive quality steel.<\/p>\n

Secondary Steelmaking<\/h3>\n

The second step in the process of making mild steel includes further reducing its carbon contents and adding alloying elements.<\/p>\n

Manipulating the furnace conditions (temperature, cooling rate, etc.) also aids this process. Ultimately, the type of steel desired will decide the secondary steelmaking process. One may choose from the following processes:<\/p>\n