Steel Alloys

David Poweleit & Raymond Monroe, Steel Founders Society of America, Crystal Lake, Illinois

S teel castings have a variety

of end-use applications that
require a heavy-duty compo-
Table 1. Effects of Common Alloying Elements on Steel Properties

Element Effect on Steel Properties

of mechanical properties. A
steel with high hardenabil-
ity will have more uniform
Carbon (C) Increases strength but decreases toughness and weldability
nent. These castings are used in (most common and important) hardness in thicker sections
parts for railroad cars, pumps Manganese (Mn) Similar, though lesser, effect as carbon than a steel with low hard-
and valves, heavy trucks, con- Silicon (Si) Similar to carbon but with a lesser effect than manganese enability.
struction and mining equip- (important for castability) In general, adding alloy-
ment and power generation Nickel (Ni) Improves toughness ing elements improves some
equipment. A good steel cast- Chromium (Cr) Improves oxidation resistance properties but increases
ing application can provide Molybdenum (Mo) Improves hardenability and high temperature strength cost and may reduce other
strength while utilizing a flexible properties. However, most
Vanadium (V) Improves high temperature strength
geometry inherent with the met- elements will increase the
Tungsten (W) Improves high temperature strength
alcasting process. Steel castings hardenability of steel.
Aluminum (Al) Reduces the oxygen or nitrogen in the molten steel
offer high mechanical properties Carbon should be kept as
over a wide range of operating Titanium (Ti) Reduces the oxygen or nitrogen in the molten steel low as possible to maximize
temperatures. Further, cast steel Zirconium (Zi) Reduces the oxygen or nitrogen in the molten steel weldability. Minimizing al-
offers the mechanical proper- Oxygen (O) Negative effect by forming gas porosity loying elements to safely
ties of wrought steel and can be Nitrogen (N) Negative effect by forming gas porosity meet the performance re-
welded to produce multi-piece Hydrogen (H) In high quantities, results in poor ductility quirements of the item will
parts as well as large structures. Phosphorus (P) Can increase strength but drastically reduces reduce cost. Here, metalcast-
toughness and ductility ing firms can provide assis-
Design Influence Sulfur (S) Reduces toughness and ductility tance with material selection
The metalcasting process to ensure that the appropri-
offers freedom of geometry al- ate properties are purchased.
lowing casting design to play a key role and large radii. Draft should be added to The effects of common alloying elements
in mechanical performance. Sections of the design dimensions, but metal thickness on steel properties are given in Table 1.
a cast part subject to higher stress can be must be maintained. The amount of draft
enhanced while low-stress regions can recommended under normal conditions is Performance Conditions
be reduced. This flexibility can help cast 1.5 degrees. Further, reducing undercuts Design requirements are typically
a part with optimum performance and and internal geometry help minimize cost. determined in terms of strength or maxi-
reduced weight, both of which minimize The metalcasting facility and customer mum stress. The design is commonly con-
cost. It is feasible to cast any geometry, also should agree upon tolerances because strained by modulus, fatigue, toughness or
but this may increase cost. specifying as-cast tolerances is important ductility. Increasing the strength of steel
When in the preliminary design stages, in minimizing cost. Other post-processing normally reduces the ductility, toughness
it can be advantageous to work with a details, such as machining and how the and weldability. Therefore, it often is more
metalcasting facility. Metalcasters have the part will be held in a fixture, also influence desirable in steel casting design to use a
technical expertise to assist with the cast- the final cost of the part. low-strength grade and increase the sec-
ing design and material selection. tion size or modify the shape. The design
To develop a good casting, first reduce Material Influence freedom makes castings an attractive way
the number of isolated heavy sections be- When selecting a steel, it is important to obtain the best material performance
cause junctions within a casting should be first to know the required properties. The as well as the needed component stiffness
designed not to add mass. When working chemical composition and microstructure and strength. When designing a part, it is
with metalcasters, datum points should be of a steel casting determine its mechani- important to understand the limits of the
stated, and machine stock should be added cal properties. Heat treatment can change design so the proper material selection can
to required locations. Section thickness microstructure and provide a wide range be made. Stress, strain, fatigue, impact,
in a casting should be changed through wear, creep and corrosion all are common
smooth, easy transitions, which can be conditions that can impose design limits
achieved by adding taper on steel castings.

This NASA component for the space shuttle crawler transporters produced with modified 4320 steel alloy via V-process casting met reduced
surface hardness requirements while maintaining high material strength when compared to its previous design.

24 ENGINEERED CASTING SOLUTIONS 2006 CASTING SOURCE DIRECTORY

Stress can be utilized as long as the design is mediate treatment to allow some grades
Stress results from a mechanical load thoroughly evaluated. to be machined. Cooling in still air is
carried by a component. The strength of The strength of steel depends on the called normalizing and is the most com-
a steel casting is the measure of its load- composition and heat treatment. Steel is mon treatment, providing good strength
carrying ability. Loads can be applied and iron-based and alloyed mainly with car- and ductility. Rapidly cooling in water
removed without deformation if they bon. Other alloying elements add strength or oil is known as quenching. Although
are small enough (elasticity). When a and are important in determining how steel must be reheated or tempered after
large enough load is applied, the mate- effectively the steel grade will respond quenching to improve ductility, quenching
rial will stretch and deform permanently to heat treatment, which rearranges and tempering gives the highest strength
(plasticity). Plastic deformation starts to the crystal structure of the iron and the available from any grade. A wide range of
occur when the yield strength is exceeded. distribution of carbon. During the cool- final strength levels with quenched and
The maximum load that can be applied ing process, slow cooling rates produce tempered grades can be achieved by vary-
before the material fractures is the ulti- coarse microstructures, which have lower ing tempering time and temperature.
mate tensile strength. Designers need to strength. There are several cooling pro-
make certain that the part will not break cesses or means to cool
or permanently deform, so designing a part processes. Cooling
casting for stress levels below the yield slowly in the furnace is
strength or in the elastic region of the part called annealing and is
is important. Typically one-half the yield not commonly used,
strength is used for safety, but two-thirds except as an inter-

This 1080 steel alloy tire mold segment was produced using a ceramic
casting process and achieved an as-cast surface finish of 63 RMS or
better, improving surface integrity.

Fig. 1. This graph displays cast low-alloy steel properties at room

temperature including yield strength, elongation percentage and
ultimate tensile strength. NT denotes Normalize and Temper. Fig. 2. Typically, fatigue will gradually increase during stress cycles
QT denotes Quench and Temper. for either wrought or cast steel, as shown here.

2006 CASTING SOURCE DIRECTORY ENGINEERED CASTING SOLUTIONS 25

Strain treating or welding.
Strain is the amount The the ratio of stress
of stretching in a loaded to strain is the elastic
component. Steel can be modulus, and the data is
bent, twisted or stretched derived from a tensile test.
without breaking, and The modulus of elastic-
this ability to absorb ity is based solely on the
strain without fracturing material; heat treatment
is critical to safety and does not affect modulus.
reliability. Strain is mea- Steels have a modulus of
sured by determining the approximately 30 x 106
amount of permanent psi, which is the highest
stretch (plastic defor- modulus of elasticity of
mation) in the tensile commonly used cast or
bar test. The increase wrought materials. The
in length is elongation, larger the modulus, the
and the change in area smaller the deflection of
at the point of fracture a part. Therefore, steel
of the bar is reduction provides good stiffness.
of area. The ability to
stretch without cracking Fatigue
is called ductility. Fatigue is the failure
Although many de- Fig. 3. Although the strength of the material tends to increase by adding carbon, of a component when it
signers think in terms of the overall toughness and ductility will decline. is repeatedly loaded, even
the materials strength, at levels well below the
most steel production is in the lower strength strength and ductility, as shown in Fig. 1. yield strength of the steel. It is measured
grades, which have good ductility. Carbon Carbon contents typically are kept well below by repeated loadings of several bars at
content and heat treatment also influence 0.3% to avoid problems with cracks in heat different stress levels and determining

Fig. 4. Design engineers may be aided by this chart depicting available materials for five major design applications.

26 ENGINEERED CASTING SOLUTIONS 2006 CASTING SOURCE DIRECTORY

the number of cycles until failure. A Investment cast with
310 stainless steel alloy,
typical result of the stress versus cycles this exhaust line assem-
is shown in Fig. 2. Low-cycle fatigue is bly was converted from
an 11-piece, stamped/
below 100,000 loadings where ductil- welded sheet metal fab-
ity is needed. High-cycle fatigue is nor- rication to a one-piece
mally above 1 million loadings, and high casting.
strength is required.
perature, pH, oxygen,
Impact chlorine and other variables, must
Impact affects the steels ability to resist be taken into account when selecting the
fracture or cracking during use. The steels proper cast materials.
ability to resist cracking at low tempera-
tures or during impact loading is known Alloy Selection
as toughness, which is measured by the There is a structural-direction differ-
amount of energy required to break the ence between cast and wrought material. and the alloy
material at a certain temperature. A com- The structure of sections of rolled steel is and heat treat-
mon test that measures this is the Charpy elongated in the direction of rolling. The ment can be tai-
impact test. Like ductility, toughness tends strength and ductility is improved in that lored for specific
to decline as the strength of the material direction, but they are reduced across the conditions.
increases. The reduction in toughness at rolling direction. The cold rolling of steel There are a number of applications for
higher carbon contents for two heat treat- also can strengthen the steel but reduces steel castings, but following are descrip-
ments is shown in Fig. 3. ductility and toughness. Contrarily, the lack tions of the common uses.
of a rolling direction in steel castings gives
Wear them uniform properties in all directions. Structural Applications
Wear occurs when materials rub against Cast steel grades achieve the same tradeoff Structures apply to general applications
each other under load and material is lost by alloying and heat treating. Therefore, controlled by strength, deflection and
from the contacted surface. There is no stan- casting grades with similar mechanical fatigue. Strength and ductility still are the
dard test for wear-resistant materials. Goug- properties to wrought are designated with main properties used to designate avail-
ing, abrasion, impact and corrosion must be a different name (ASTM A216 grade WCB able steel grades. Increasing the strength
considered in different types of applications. is the cast counterpart to wrought 1020). of steel is easily achieved through more
Typically, harder materials resist wear more ASTM A915 and A958 use grade names severe heat treatments or increases in the
effectively. Because hardness increases with similar to their wrought counterparts. alloy content. The addition of alloying
strength (due to higher carbon content) When selecting a steel alloy, the de- elements not only increases the strength
higher strength steels are commonly used. sign limit first should be understood. It that an alloy can achieve but also increases
Retaining adequate toughness at the high is essential to know how and where fail- the section size of the part, which can be
hardness levels to avoid cracking and pre- ures may occur, and selecting a material effectively heat treated.
mature failures is important. can help address the design limit. Alloy- The grades in Table 2 are common alloys
ing elements can be added to improve of steel available for casting ASTM A915 or
Creep performance, thus, the best practice is A958. The first column is the alloy designa-
Creep occurs at elevated temperatures starting with a carbon steel and building tion, the second is the minimum require-
when the material permanently stretches from there. A material selection guide ments for the lowest strength grade com-
at loads below the yield strength. Creep for five major design applications is monly available from that alloy, the third
resistance requires complex alloys with shown in Fig. 4. This chart is meant to column is the minimum requirements for
relatively high carbon contents. Often, as provide some initial guidance, but it also the highest strength grade, and the last col-
the temperature or load increases, higher is important to consult with a metalcast- umn is the calculated largest section, which
alloy contents are required for the cast- ing facility to select the right material for can be effectively heat treated through the
ing to perform efficiently. Creep rate is each application. This is especially true section. It is apparent that higher-strength
the rate of stretching at a particular load of higher-alloyed materials (outer rings alloys have lower ductility but can be heat
and temperature, and stress rupture is in the figure). Other alloys may be better, treated more effectively in larger sections.
the time to failure under a given load at
a particular temperature. When selecting Table 2. Common Steel Alloys for Casting ASTM A915 or A958
a creep-resistant material, oxidation or
ASTM A915 Minimum Low Strength Minimum High Strength Median
other high-temperature corrosion must (Grade) Tensile (ksi) Tensile (ksi) Composition
be considered because they might limit Yield (ksi) Yield (ksi) Ideal Critical
the service life of the component. Elongation (%) Elongation (%) Diameter (inches)
SC1020 65-35-24 70-36-22 0.4
Corrosion SC1030 65-35-24 80-50-22 0.7
Corrosion is a chemical attack that re- SC1040 70-36-22 90-60-20 0.9
moves material from the exposed surface. SC8620 80-50-22 115-95-14 2.0
It can be a general loss of material or a SC8630 80-50-22 150-135-7 3.5
localized condition like pitting, cracking or SC4130 80-50-22 150-135-7 3.0
selective attack. There are standard tests for
SC4140 90-60-20 165-150-5 5.5
corrosion, but these rarely replicate service
SC4330 90-60-20 210-180-4 6.0
conditions or the nature of the environ-
SC4340 90-60-20 210-180-4 8.0
ment. Corrosive conditions, such as tem-

2006 CASTING SOURCE DIRECTORY ENGINEERED CASTING SOLUTIONS 27

However, higher strength alloys also require strength, is required to carry loads at el-
more extensive weld procedures and may evated temperatures. As the temperature
crack in heat treatment, especially at high increases, the alloy content required also
carbon contents. increases. Commonly, chromium and
Resistance to fatigue depends on molybdenum are added to the steel to
the strength, ductility, service condi- improve elevated temperature proper-
tions, corrosion, residual stresses in ties. Higher carbon content also helps.
the component, design (particularly The preferred heat treatment of carbon
in high-stress areas), surface finish and and low alloy steels is normalizing and
required service life of the component. tempering. These steels are found in
Fatigue analysis is difficult, but compo- ASTM A216 and A217. When the
nent testing is not unusual to verify the service temperatures exceed 1,200F
design and part durability. Properties, (649C), the alloyed steels are no
such as strain-controlled cyclical longer adequate, and the cast heat-
properties, crack growth rates, inte- Steel is ideal for high-integrity applications
resistant grades containing high levels
gration of inspection standards and life like this 24,500-lb. carbon steel steam cas- of chromium and nickel are used. Such
prediction, improve designs by reducing ing for the power generation market. alloys are ASTM A297 and A351.
the traditional requirements for factor
of safety and allow for a more aggres- A487, A352, A389 and A757. Wear-Resistant Applications
sive use of material. Analytical tools Wear applies to mechanical wear and
like computer modeling of service loads, Impact-Resistant Applications chemical corrosion. Severe wear or cor-
along with the development of useful Impact resistance, or toughness, is rosion environments require high alloy
materials properties, reduce the number required when a part is subject to low steels. Wear resistance is usually improved
of necessary design iterations. Castings temperatures, performs a safety-critical through using high hardness materials.
allow the geometry to be tailored to the function or is impact loaded in service. It Strength and hardness are related, so the
service requirements. Steels for structural can be improved through careful control high-strength materials are commonly
applications can be found in ASTM A27, of composition and heat treatment. Add- used when wear is a problem. Increas-
A148, A747, A915 and A958. ing nickel is the common way to improve ing carbon content also increases wear
toughness. The toughness of all grades can resistance. Special materials like austenitic
Pressure-Containing be improved by lowering carbon, sulfur manganese alloys or high-chromium irons
Applications and phosphorus and using a quench and are used to give better wear resistance.
These applications have similar char- temper heat treatment. Further, toughness Toughness must be adequate to avoid
acteristics to structural applications. tests should be required when necessary. premature catastrophic failure. High-
Specifications for pressure-containing These steels can be ordered in ASTM A352 chromium irons offer good wear resistance
applications have been developed to and A743 for stainless. in abrasion or even in corrosive environ-
meet ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel ments. When impact loading is a part
code. These steels can be or- Temperature-Resistant of the wear environment, austenitic
dered in ASTM A217, Applications manganese alloys work-harden,
High temperature re- allowing them to resist wear
sistance, or creep

The REX 77 requires some assembly to make

it dive-ready, but the stainless steel casting
combines a shell and locking mechanism
that were cast separately on its bronze
predecessor.

28 ENGINEERED CASTING SOLUTIONS 2006 CASTING SOURCE DIRECTORY

while maintaining high toughness. Severe tant, and material should be designated tions, modify the heat treatment and then
environments, such as salt water and chem- with a specification and grade (i.e. ASTM add alloying elements to improve proper-
ical processing, require high-alloy stainless A 27/A 27M 95 Grade 60-30 Class 1). ties. Finally, engineers should know the
steels or nickel-based alloys. Generally, Requirements should call out both the test design limit for an application and work
higher contents of chromium and mo- method and acceptance criteria specifica- with a metalcasting facility to design the
lybdenum are needed as the environment tions. Mechanical properties are typically part and select a material. ECS
becomes more severe. Corrosion-resistant obtained from separately cast test bars. For more information, consult: Steel Cast-
materials heavily depend upon the end-use There are three keys to selecting the right ing Handbook, Malcolm Blair and Tom
environment for selecting the correct alloy; steel casting alloy for optimized perfor- Stevens, 6th edition, 1995; Specifying Steel
thus, a metallurgist should be consulted. mance and cost. One, utilize the geometry CastingsKeeping Alloy Composition in
Mind, J. Carpenter and B. Hanquist, ECS
Wear materials are found in ASTM of the steel casting to uniformly Fall 2001, p. 41-44; and the Steel Founders
A128, A351, A532, A743, A744, carry the loading. Secondly, start Society of America web site at:
A890 and A494. Carbon or alloy with carbon steel for most applica- www.sfsa.org.
steels may be used in less severe
environments.

Keys to Steel Use

Cast steel alloys provide a wide range
of options. With cast steel, engineers can
design components to increase differ-
ent performance characteristics, such as
corrosion resistance and wear resistance
through alloying and heat treatment. Me-
chanical properties, such as strength and
elongation, also can be adjusted. When
purchasing parts, supplying a part design The flexibility of steel casting design applications allowed for the high-volume production
with material and requirements is impor- of this stainless steel 8.1 L engine manifold for heavy duty trucks.

2006 CASTING SOURCE DIRECTORY ENGINEERED CASTING SOLUTIONS 29