Chapter 6

Classification of Steels
Steels are classified by a variety of different systems depending on the
following parameters:
l The composition, such as carbon, low alloy, or stainless steel
l The manufacturing methods, such as open hearth, basic oxygen process, or
electric furnace methods
l The finishing method, such as hot rolling or cold rolling
l The product form, such as bar plate, sheet, strip, tubing, or structural shape
l The deoxidation practice, such as killed, semi-killed, capped, or rimmed steel
l The microstructure, such as ferritic, pearlitic, or martensitic
l The required strength level, for example, as specified in various industry
standards such as the American Pipeline Institute (API) or American Society
for Testing Materials (ASTM)/American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME)
l The heat treatment, such as annealing, quenching and tempering, and
thermomechanical processing
l Quality descriptors, such as forging quality and commercial quality
(Figure 1-6-1)

CARBON STEELS
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) defines carbon steel as the steel
that has no minimum specified content or requirements for chromium, cobalt,
niobium, molybdenum, nickel, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, or zirconium or
specified requirement for any other element to be added specifically to obtain a
desired alloying effect. In such steel, the specified copper should be within
0.40% and 0.60%, and the maximum limit for manganese shall not exceed
1.65%, and the maximum limit for silicon shall not exceed 0.60%.
Carbon steel is classified, according to deoxidation practices, as rimmed
steel, capped steel, killed steel, or semi-killed steel. These types of steel are
discussed in Chapter 5.
Steels are also classified based on their carbon content. Carbon steels
containing up to 2% total alloying elements are further divided into low-
carbon steels, medium-carbon steels, high-carbon steels, and ultrahigh-
carbon steels; each of these classification is discussed in this chapter.

Applied Welding Engineering. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804176-5.00006-2

Copyright 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 57
58 SECTION j 1 Introduction to Basic Metallurgy

AISI-SAE Designation Type of Steel with Typical Grades Nominal Alloy Content (%)
Carbon Steels
10xx Plain carbon steel: 1005, 1010, Manganese up to 1% max
1016, 1030 etc.
11xx Resulfurized: 1110, 1117, 1137
etc.
12xx Resulfurized and
Rephosphorized: 1211, 1212,
1213, 1215, 12L14 (this grade
include up to 0.35% lead)
15xx Plain carbon steel: 1513, 1522, Manganese range from 1% to
1526, 1548,1561 and 1566 etc. 1.65%
Manganese Steels
13xx Manganese 1.75%
Nickel Steels
23xx Nickel 3.5
Nickel 5
Nickel Chromium Steels
31xx Nickel 1.25, Cr 0.65 and 0.80
32xx Nickel 1.75, Cr 1.07
33xx Nickel 3.50, Cr 1.5 and 1.57
34xx Nickel 3.00, Cr 0.77
Molybdenum Steels
40xx 4023, 4024, 4027, 4028 etc. Mo 0.20 and 0.25
44xx Mo 0.40 and 0.52
Chromium Molybdenum Steels
41xx Cr Mo
4118 0.50 0.12
4130, 4137, 4140, 0.80 0.20
4142, 4145, 4147, 4150 0.95 0.25
4161 0.70-0.90 0.30

Nickel Chromium Molybdenum Steels

43xx 4320 Ni Cr Mo
1.65 to 0.40 to 0.20 to
2.00 0.60 0.30
4340 1.65 to 0.70 to 0.20 to
2.00 0.90 0.30
47xx 4720 0.90 to 0.35 to 0.15 to
1.20 0.55 0.25
81xx 0.30 0.40 0.12
86xx 0.55 0.50 0.20
87xx 0.55 0.50 0.25
88xx 0.55 0.50 0.35
93xx 3.25 1.20 0.12
94xx 0.45 0.40 0.12
97xx 0.55 0.20 0.20
98xx 1.00 0.80 0.25
Nickel Molybdenum Steels
46xx Ni Mo
0.85 0.20
1.82 0.25
48xx 3.50 0.25
Chromium Steels
50xx Cr 0.27, 0.40, 0.50, 0.65
51xx Cr 0.80, 0.87, 0.92, 1.00, 1.05
52xx Cr 0.50, Carbon 1.00

FIGURE 1-6-1 Classification of steel.

 Classification of Steels Chapter j 6 59

Chromium Vanadium Steels

61xx Cr V
0.60, 0.80, 0.95 0.10, 0.15
Chromium Tungsten Steels
72xx Cr 0.75; W 1.75
Silicon Manganese Steels
92xx Si: 1.40, 2.00; Mn 0.65, 0.82,
0.85; Cr 0.65
High-Strength Low-Alloy (HSLA) Steels
9xx Various SAE grades
xxBxx B indicates added Boron
xxLxx L indicates Lead addition
XX indicates steel designation for carbon steel and low alloys.
Stainless Steels
AISI designation SAE designation
2xx 302xx Chromium Manganese and

FIGURE 1-6-1 contd

LOW-CARBON STEELS
Low-carbon steels contain up to 0.30% carbon. The majority of this class of
steel is flat-rolled products such as sheet or strip; usually they are in the cold-
rolled and annealed condition. These steels have high formability because they
contain very low carbon, usually less than 0.10% C, with up to 0.4% Mn.
For rolled steel structural plates and sections, the carbon content is often
increased to approximately 0.30%, and the manganese content is increased to
1.5%. These materials are useful for stampings, forgings, seamless tubes, and
as boilerplates.

MEDIUM-CARBON STEELS
Medium-carbon steels are similar to low-carbon steels except that they contain
carbon from 0.30% to 0.60% and manganese from 0.60% to 1.65%. Increasing
the carbon content to approximately 0.5% with an accompanying increase in
manganese allows medium-carbon steels to be used in the quenched and
tempered condition. These steels are mainly used for making shafts, axles,
gears, crankshafts, couplings, and forgings. Steels with carbon ranging from
0.40% to 0.60% are used for rails, railway wheels, and rail axles.

HIGH-CARBON STEELS
High-carbon steels contain carbon from 0.60% to 1.00%; the manganese
content ranges from 0.30% to 0.90%. High-carbon steels are used for some
hand tools, spring materials, and high-strength wires.

ULTRAHIGH-CARBON STEELS
These steels are often experimental alloys containing 1.25% to 2.0% C. These
steels are often thermomechanically processed to produce consistent and
60 SECTION j 1 Introduction to Basic Metallurgy

ultra-fine microstructures that are equiaxed grains of spherical, discontinuous

proeutectoid carbide particles.

HIGH-STRENGTH LOW-ALLOY STEELS

High-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels are micro-alloyed steels; they are
designed to provide better mechanical properties and may also have greater
resistance to atmospheric corrosion compared with conventional carbon steels.
The HSLA steels have low carbon contents (0.05%e0.25%) to produce
adequate formability and weldability, and they have manganese contents up to
2.0%. Small quantities of chromium, nickel, molybdenum, copper, nitrogen,
vanadium, niobium, titanium and zirconium are added in various combinations
to impart specific properties.

CLASSIFICATION OF HIGH-STRENGTH LOW-ALLOY STEELS

Weathering steels are designated to exhibit superior atmospheric corrosion
resistance.
Control-rolled steels are hot rolled in accordance with a predetermined
rolling schedule. These steels are designed to develop a highly deformed
austenite structure that on cooling transforms to a very fine equiaxed ferrite
structure.
Pearlite-reduced steels are strengthened by very fine-grain ferrite and
precipitation hardening but with low carbon content and therefore little or no
pearlite in the microstructure.
Micro-alloyed steels have very small additions of such elements as
niobium, vanadium, and titanium for refinement of grain size or precipitation
hardening. Often apart from the individual amount of these elements, the
combined total of these alloys is also limited.
Acicular ferrite steel have very low carbon content and develop sufficient
hardenability on cooling to transform to a very fine high-strength acicular
ferrite structure rather than the usual polygonal ferrite structure.
High-strength low-alloy steels may also have small additions of calcium,
rare earth elements, or zirconium for sulfide inclusion shape control.
Although not specifically classified as HSLA steel, another class of ma-
terial that have emerged and are used in the design and construction of oil and
gas pipelines can be treated as HSLA to a degree. The common points in the
HSLA steel as described and the high-strength steels used for making line
pipes as it is called in API 5L/International Standards Organization (ISO) 3183
is that these steels have low alloying elements and exhibit very high yield
strength. The special difference is that the line pipe steels have some very fine
alloying practices called micro-alloying. This includes the use of the mass
fraction carbon is often limited to 0.18% for seamless pipes and 0.12% for
welded pipes. The alloying elements are controlled to obtain weldability of the
steel during construction. The main micro-alloying elements are the titanium,
 Classification of Steels Chapter j 6 61

vanadium, and niobium. These elements are added to obtain specific properties
in the steel; however, their combined total is also restricted to maximum
0.15% of the total mass fraction.
The practice of micro-allowing combined with special rolling practices
gives the steel the special strength and toughness properties to meet the design
requirements. These high-strength steels commonly display yield strength of
greater than 60 ksi and tensile strength of greater than 110 to 166 ksi. Of
course, such a varied range is grouped into different grades based on the steels
yield strength. These grades range from X-60, X-65, X-70, X-80, X-90, X-100,
and X-120; the prefix X in these cases indicates that the number succeeding
the letter if multiplied by 1000 will give the specified minimum yield strength
(SMYS) of the particular grade of steel.
For example:
Grade X-60 means that the steel has SMYS of 60  1000 60; 000 psi:
There are lots of other grades and information relating to various re-
quirements of line pipe materials. For more information and details, interested
readers should obtain a copy of the latest edition of API 5L/ISO 3183.

LOW-ALLOY STEELS
Low-alloy steels constitute a category of ferrous materials that exhibit me-
chanical properties superior to plain carbon steels because of the addition of
alloying elements such as nickel, chromium, and molybdenum. Total alloy
content can range from 2.07% up to levels just below that of stainless steels,
which contain a minimum of 10% chromium.
For many low-alloy steels, the primary function of the alloying elements
is to increase hardenability in order to optimize mechanical properties and
toughness after heat treatment. In some cases, however, alloy additions are done
to reduce environmental degradation under certain specified service conditions.
As with steels in general, low-alloy steels can be classified according to their
chemical composition, such as nickel steels, nickelechromium steels,
molybdenum steels, and chromiumemolybdenum steels.
They are also classified based on heat treatment, such as quenched and
tempered, normalized and tempered, and annealed.
Because of the wide variety of chemical compositions that is possible and
the fact that some steels are used in more than one heat-treated, condition,
some overlap exists among the alloy steel classifications. Four major groups of
alloy steels are identified and discussed here.

Low-Carbon Quenched and Tempered Steels

Theses steels combine high yield strength, ranging from 50 to 150 ksi
(350e1035 MPa) and good notch toughness ductility, corrosion resistance, or
weldability. There are different combinations of these steels with varying
characteristics based on their intended applications.
62 SECTION j 1 Introduction to Basic Metallurgy

Medium-Carbon Ultrahigh-Strength Steels

These are structural steels with yield strengths that can exceed 200 ksi (1380
MPa). Many of these steels are covered by Society of Automotive Engineers
(SAE)/American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) designations or are proprietary
compositions. Product forms include billet, bar, rod, forgings, sheet, tubing,
and welding wire.

Bearing Steels
Bearing steels, as the name suggests, are used for ball and roller bearing ap-
plications. They contain low carbon (z0.10%e0.20%); these steels are case
hardened. Many of these steels are covered by SAE/AISI designations.

ChromiumeMolybdenum Heat-Resistant Steels

Chromiumemolybdenum heat-resistant steels contain 0.5% to 9% chromium
and 0.5% to 1.0% molybdenum. The carbon content is usually below 0.2%.
The chromium provides improved oxidation and corrosion resistance, and the
molybdenum increases strength at elevated temperatures. They are generally
supplied in the normalized and tempered, quenched and tempered, or annealed
condition. Chromiumemolybdenum steels are widely used in the oil and gas
industries and in fossil fuel and nuclear power plants.
As stated earlier, steels may be classified by method of manufacture, their
use, or chemical composition. Manufacturing method categories include
Bessemer steel, open-hearth steel, electric-furnace steel, crucible steel, and so
on. Some steel specifications specify the particular method required to comply
with a standard. Classification based on use include machine steel, spring
steel, boiler steel, structural steel, and tool steel. Classification by chemical
composition is the most common method. Steel specifications systems are
generated by AISI and SAE in the United States; they use elaborate numbering
system to indicate the approximate alloying content.
Sometimes letter prefixes are included to designate the steelmaking process
(B acid Bessemer, C basic open-hearth, E basic electric furnace). The
last two numbers indicate the carbon content, for example the AISI 1020 steel
has 0.20% carbon. The following is a list of some AISI steels and their general
descriptions. For more detailed information about any of these steels, AISI
publications must be referred.

AISI SERIES
l 10xx: Basic open-hearth and acid Bessemer carbon steels
l 11xx: Basic open-hearth and acid Bessemer carbon steels, high sulfur, low
phosphorous
l 12xx: Basic open-hearth carbon steels, high sulfur, high phosphorous
l 13xx: Manganese 1.75%
l 40xx: Molybdenum 0.20% or 0.25%
 Classification of Steels Chapter j 6 63

l 41xx: Chromium 0.50%, 0.80%, or 0.95%; molybdenum 0.12%, 0.20%,

or 0.30%
l 43xx: Nickel 1.83%, chromium 0.50% or 0.80%, molybdenum 0.25%
l 46xx: Nickel 0.85% or 1.83%, molybdenum 0.20% or 0.25%
l 47xx: Nickel 1.05%, chromium 0.45%, molybdenum 0.20% or 0.35%
l 48xx: Nickel 3.5%, molybdenum 0.25%
l 51xx: Chromium 0.80%, 0.88%, 0.93%, 0.95%, or 1.00%
l 5xxxx: Carbon 1.4%, chromium 1.03% or 1.45%
l 61xx: Chromium 0.60% or 0.95%, vanadium 0.13% or 0.15%
l 86xx: Nickel 0.55%, chromium 0.50%, molybdenum 0.20%
l 87xx: Nickel 0.55%, chromium 0.50%, molybdenum 0.25%
l 88xx: Nickel 0.55%, chromium 0.50%, molybdenum 0.35%
l 92xx: Silicon 2.00%

MATERIAL CLASSIFICATION THROUGH THE PROCESSING

METHODS
The material produced though the processes discussed earlier can be further
divided on the basis of secondary processing methods. These secondary processes
often play a very important role in the materials weldability; thus, these are
important factors to be aware of when planning a welding procedure for specific
steel. These properties of steel cannot be ignored by a welding engineer when
setting up a welding procedure, cold or hot forming, and necessary heat treatments.
The term secondary processing here is used to distinguish it from sec-
ondary steelmaking, which is also referred as ladle metallurgy. Ladle metal-
lurgy is a process associated with the clean steelmaking process, wherein the
process follows after the steel from converter or electric arc furnace, which
may involve deoxidation, decarburization, and fine chemical adjustment of
fine alloying elements or even the gases in the steel.
Thus, the secondary processing of steel is the mechanical processing of
steel to meet the final properties. This process is often after the initial steel is
produced, and no more molten stage of steel is achieved. Rolling, coiling,
thermomechanical processing (TMCP), cold rolled steel, interstitial-free
steels, HSLA, and ultralow plain carbon steels are a few such names to know.

RECRYSTALLIZATION ROLLING
The rolling itself can be of various types to achieve different steel properties.
The process involves recrystallization of austenite at a successively low
temperature. The recrystallization controlled rolling, at relatively low tem-
perature of 750 to 900 C refines the austenitic grain size to as low as 8 to
10 mm. The addition of vanadium to steel (at the steelmaking stage) is ad-
vantageous because the carbide of vanadium readily dissolves at rolling
temperature and unavailable for suppressing recrystallization process.
64 SECTION j 1 Introduction to Basic Metallurgy

Compared with the vanadium steels, the niobium steels can undergo
recrystallization controlled rolling at higher temperatures with forming of
Nb(C, N) precipitates. This formation of niobium carbonitridedNb(C, N)dis
instrumental in restricting the austenite grain growth. This restrictive ability of
Nb (C, N) eliminates the use of titanium addition in niobium alloyed steels.

DYNAMIC RECRYSTALLIZATION CONTROLLED ROLLING

The dynamic recrystallization controlled steels are those that are given very
little time between successive rolling processes to achieve an austenite grain
size of 10 mm or smaller. The restriction of time between the rolling processes
initiates the recrystallization process; because of heavy reduction in section -
up to 100% reduction is carried out. Because the process is carried out at a low
temperature, fine ferrite (as low as 3e6 mm) grains are the result.
These low-temperature gain controls and refining with micro-alloying
result in very complex metallurgy of steel, which demands special attention
form welding engineers when planning welding and fabrication of these steels.
The weldability of these steels is critical and requires specific knowledge to
develop suitable welding procedures.
For example, heating of TMCP steel to above 580 C (1075 F) after
steelmaking can reduce the yield strength of the steel. This requires that the
next process, such as making induction bends or other fitting out of pipes, is
carried out below 850 C, a suitable heat treatment is devised to restore ma-
terials strength, or the initial material selected should be of higher strength to
compensate for the loss of strength after the work is completed.
Because of their complex metallurgy, including the alloying elements and
related complex processing the resulting grain structure presents specific
welding challenge. The welding challenges of some of the other steels such as
HSLA and low-alloy steels (9-Cr steel for boiler tubes) are is discussed in case
studies included with the book. The weldability of some other steel and alloys
is discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book.