What Are The Different Types Of Steel?

Steel is an alloy produced using iron and carbon. There are different grades of steel that have exceptional chemical compositions based on the different amount of carbon and added alloys. While deciding the kind of steel that you need to get, it is important to know that there are four distinct types of steel that are classified on the basis of their chemical structure and physical properties.

Types of Steel
According to the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI), Steel can be categorized into four different types of steel based on the chemical compositions:

1) Carbon Steel
2) Tool Steel
3) Alloy Steel
4) Stainless Steel

1) Carbon Steel
Carbon steel contains trace amount of alloying components and record for 90% of aggregate steel production. It is dull and matte in appearance and is vulnerable to corrosion. Carbon steel can contain other alloys, such as copper, manganese and silicon.

There are three types of carbon steel depending on their carbon content.
a) Low Carbon Steel or Mild Steel – This type of steel is one of the largest group of carbon steel. The carbon content in low carbon steel or mild steel is up to 0.3%. This steel covers an incredible assorted variety of shapes; from Flat Sheet to Structural Beam.

b) Medium Carbon Steel – The carbon content in medium carbon steel is between 0.3% to 0.6% and the manganese content ranging from 0.060% to 1.65%. This type of steel is more stronger than low carbon steel. Medium carbon steel is quite often hardened and tempered using heat treatment.

c) High Carbon Steel – The carbon content in high carbon steel is more than 0.6%. High carbon steel is extremely hard to cut, weld and bend. When it is heat treated it becomes very hard and brittle.

2) Tool Steel
Tool steel are named tool steel as they are widely used to make tools such as hammers, cutting, stamping and mold making tools. Tool steel contains tungsten, cobalt, molybdenum and vanadium in varying quantity to expand heat resistance and durability, making them perfect for drilling and cutting equipment.

3) Alloy Steel
Alloy steel contains the elements of alloy such as manganese, nickel, silicon, copper, chromium, titanium and aluminium. The strength and property of alloy steel depends on the concentration of elements they contain. The application of alloy steel are auto parts, transformers, pipelines, power generators and electric motors.

4) Stainless Steel
Stainless steel are iron alloys with increased corrosion resistance that contains about 10-20% of chromium, nickel and molybdenum.