Papers - Low-carbon Steel (With Discussion)

One of the most common basic open-hearth furnace products is a simple carbon steel with a carbon range from 0.05 to 0.15 per cent. The material is widely used for sheets, tubes, bars, wire and the innumerable special objects of secondary fabrication. The properties of the material vary over wide ranges, depending on the more exact composition and details of manufacture or treatment that affect its structure. The present paper is a review of those properties and structures that have been found by studying this steel as used in the cap screw industry. At first glance this might be thought a narrow application of the steel, but, since the industry uses the material in the cold-worked, annealed and heat-treated conditions, the title of the paper may be excused for its comprehensiveness. Yet, in studying the wide ranges of properties and structures that preclude a more specific title, there can be no suggestion of completeness or finality. Even a summary of a few years' work is no more than a preliminary survey of a field that will be fertile in scientific data and industrial products for many years to come. An outline of the structures will be given first, then a list of the previous contributions that are at hand and finally some details of the work and related problems, especially concerning this low-carbon steel in the surface-hardened condition. Wire Used in Manufacture of Cap Screws The wire that is used for making cold-upset and roll-threaded cap screws has been cold-drawn from hot-rolled rods that were pickled and limed. The common sizes used in the industry range from 0.185 to 0.750 in. dia., the exact diameters depending on the plant practice and having the usual tolerances of 0.002 in. for the smaller sizes and 0.003 in. for the larger sizes. The carbon range, by pit analysis, is usually between 0.07 and 0.12 per cent. Manganese should be within the usual 0.30 to 0.50 per cent. range. Sulfur rarely exceeds 0.045 per cent. and phosphorus seldom exceeds 0.030 per cent. Silicon is usually below 0.03 per cent. but in the silicon-killed steels may be in the customary 0.10 to 0.25 per cent. range. Rimmed steel is not considered most suitable for cap screws that are cold-headed or for parts that are to be surface-hardened.