Alloy Steel Castings

Alloy steel is steel that is alloyed with a variety of elements in total amounts between 1.0% and 50% by weight to improve its mechanical properties. Alloy steels are broken down into two groups: low-alloy steels and high-alloy steels. Most commonly, the phrase “alloy steel” refers to low-alloy steels.

Common Alloyants In Alloy Steel

Strictly speaking, every steel is an alloy, but not all steels are called “alloy steels”. The simplest steels are iron (Fe) alloyed with carbon (C) (about 0.1% to 1%, depending on type). However, the term “alloy steel” is the standard term referring to steels with other alloying elements added deliberately in addition to the carbon. Common alloyants include manganese (the most common one),nickel, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, silicon, and boron. Less common alloyants include aluminum, cobalt, copper, cerium,niobium, titanium, tungsten, tin, zinc, lead, and zirconium.

Alloying elements are added in alloy steel castings to achieve certain properties in the material. As a guideline, alloying elements are added in lower percentages (less than 5%) to increase strength or hardenability, or in larger percentages (over 5%) to achieve special properties, such as corrosion resistance or extreme temperature stability. Manganese, silicon, or aluminum are added during the steel making process to remove dissolved oxygen, sulfur and phosphorus from the melt.

The following is a range of improved properties in alloy steel castings (as compared to carbon steels): strength, hardness, toughness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, hardenability, and hot hardness. To achieve some of these improved properties the metal may require heat treating.

Some of these find uses in exotic and highly-demanding applications, such as in the turbine blades of jet engines, in spacecraft, and in nuclear reactors. Because of the ferromagnetic properties of iron, some steel alloys find important applications where their responses to magnetism are very important, including in electric motors and in transformers.  The usages and applications for alloy steel castings span a huge variety of industries and types of cast parts.