5 Reasons To Love Mild Steel
At Pulmans, we love mild steel. Some people might think it’s odd to love this low carbon iron alloy, but when you take a look at the world around you and imagine what it would be like without mild steel, it becomes easy to appreciate. Find out more about mild steel properties, the benefits of this material, its many uses, and other mild steel advantages here.
Mild steel is often also called low carbon steel due to its relatively low carbon content. It’s a ferrous metal made from carbon and iron, and it has good magnetic properties due to its higher iron content. This makes it ferromagnetic. The ductility of mild steel also ties in with its name, as it is more malleable than steel.
There are countless reasons why mild steel is such a wonderful metal, but just to give you a glimpse into the benefits of mild steel, here are 5 of them.
While all steel is strong, mild steel’s tensile strength is lower when compared to other more expensive steels. This means it’s more likely to break under tension. However, through carburisation, it can be hardened, and mild steel tensile strength can be increased. Carburisation is a process in which the steel is heated and then quickly cooled by “quenching” in water. This process removes some of the carbon from the surface of the steel whilst the core remains soft and tough. This is an effective and way to improve mild steel tensile strength but still keeps the cost lower than many other types of steel. Even without carburisation, mild steel is remarkably strong, and it’s this strength that makes mild steel ideal for so many uses.
Weldability is huge when it comes to how useful a metal is. Since metals can’t really be glued, welding is one of the best ways of attaching one piece of metal to another. Thanks to its electro-conductivity, mild steel welding is much easier and more effective than other metals, making it well-suited for a much greater range of applications.
Mild steel is the least expensive type of steel. Sure, it doesn’t have the tensile strength of some other steels, but low mild steel cost is a huge advantage, especially in large projects with tight margins. This material is more than strong enough for most applications in many, many industries such as the production of automobiles and machinery, building construction, gates and railings, concrete reinforcement, bridges and much, much more.
One of the best benefits of mild steel (and any other type of steel for that matter) is its recyclability. Steel can be melted and reformed an infinite number of times without affecting its quality, making it the material that just keeps giving. This ensures that mild steel uses are myriad, and it doesn’t just have a single use application.
The ductility of mild steel refers to its pliability. If a material is ductile, it can bend and flex without breaking or being permanently deformed. This is important for absorbing stresses in a multitude of applications. As far as materials go, the ductility of mild steel is pretty impressive, and it can absorb very large forces before reverting back to its original shape.
When you look at the benefits of mild steel, it’s really no surprise that it’s the most commonly used type of steel. If you’re like us and you can see the advantages of mild steel, make sure you’ve got our number saved. We have a comprehensive range of stock available along with sawing, profiling, and machining processes.
