Steel is a versatile metal that can be utilized for a variety of uses. In fact, it is estimated that more than 55 percent of the average car is composed of steel. The alloy used to make it determines its flexibility, as they impact the material’s strength, durability and performance. The method in which metal is cooled has a major impact on its microstructure and consequently, its overall properties. It is possible to manipulate it to obtain specific properties such as machinability, yielding strength, and corrosion resistance.
Steel is iron that has other elements alloyed to it to enhance its physical properties and make it suitable for particular uses. The proportions of these additional alloying elements determine which steel category it belongs to, and thus its overall performance in various applications.
For example, stainless is made up of a minimum of 11% of chromium. This makes it impervious against corrosion. This makes it ideal for a variety of purposes, such as cutting boards and kitchen utensils. Tool steel is a preferred material because of its hardness and resistance to abrasion. It is also used to hand tools and machine dies. Furthermore, the high weldability and ductility of carbon steels makes them ideal for a wide range of applications. Electrical steel is a steel grade that has silicon (typically at least 3%) This enhances the magnetic properties and reduces eddy current losses making it ideal for transformer cores and electric motor laminations.