Advantages of low carbon steel

1. The annealed structure of low carbon steel is ferrite and a small amount of pearlite, its strength and hardness are lower, and its plasticity and toughness are better. Therefore, its cold formability is good and can be cold-formed by methods such as crimping, bending, and stamping. This steel has good weldability. Low carbon steel with very low carbon content has low hardness and poor machinability. Normalizing treatment can improve its machinability.

2. Low-carbon steel has a greater tendency to aging, both quenching aging tendency and deformation aging tendency. When the steel is cooled quickly from a high temperature, the carbon and nitrogen in the ferrite are in a supersaturated state. It can also slowly form iron carbon and nitrogen at room temperature, so the strength and hardness of the steel increase, while the plasticity and toughness decrease. This phenomenon is called quenching aging. Low carbon steel will produce aging even if it is not quenched and air-cooled.