Carbon steel is an iron-carbon alloy with a carbon content of less than 2%. In addition to carbon, carbon steel generally contains small amounts of silicon, manganese, sulfur, and phosphorus.
According to the purpose, carbon steel can be divided into three categories: carbon structural steel, carbon tool steel, and free-cutting structural steel. Carbon structural steel can be divided into two types: building structural steel and machine-made structural steel. According to the carbon content, carbon steel can be divided into low carbon steel (ωc≤0.25%), medium carbon steel (ωc=0.25%-0.6%), and high carbon steel (ωc>0.6%)
According to the phosphorus and sulfur content, carbon steel can be divided into ordinary carbon steel (higher phosphorus and sulfur content), high-quality carbon steel (lower phosphorus and sulfur content), and high-grade high-quality steel (lower phosphorus and sulfur content) Generally, the higher the carbon content in carbon steel, the higher the hardness and strength, but the plasticity decreases.
