Alloy steel is made by combining carbon steel with one or several alloying elements. Alloying elements include manganese, silicon, nickel, titanium, copper, chromium and aluminum. Adding these metals can produce specific properties that conventional carbon steel does not have.
These elements are added in different proportions or combinations to make the material have different effects, such as increasing the hardness, increasing the corrosion resistance, increasing the strength, improving the formability. In addition, the weldability will also change.
The most important and ideal changes of alloy steel are:
*Enhanced hardenability.
* Enhanced corrosion resistance.
* Maintain hardness and strength.
*Almost all alloy steels need heat treatment in order to exert their best performance.
Alloying elements and their functions:
Chromium: increase hardness, increase toughness and wear resistance.
Manganese: improve surface hardness, improve resistance to strain, hammer and impact.
Molybdenum: enhance strength, improve impact resistance and heat resistance.
Nickel: improve strength, toughness, and corrosion resistance.
Tungsten: increases hardness and improves grain structure, providing improved heat resistance.
Vanadium: improve strength, toughness and impact resistance, and improve corrosion resistance.
Chromium vanadium: greatly improve the tensile strength, it is strong, but easy to bend and cut.
