Mild Steel 

Steel can be categorized on the basis of its coating, amount of Carbon, application, etc. But mostly, they are categorized based on the amount of Carbon in the steel and Mild Steel is one of them, which is named for the low carbon use in the alloy.

Mild steel is extremely tough but not readily tempered and they contain 0.20%-0.25% of Carbon in it. That’s why Mild steel cheaper than most of the carbon types available on the market. Besides, the low amount of carbon makes it ductile and malleable. But they have a low tensile strength, which is why mild steel is easy to form.

For industries that use steel by re-shaping according to their need, mild steel is a good pick for its low tensile strength. But that doesn’t mean mild steel products aren’t tough. Once it is shaped, surface hardness can be increased by Carburizing the mild steel so that the manufactured products are tough.

At FMB Trading And Engineering, these materials are likely to be treated and process by laser cutting, metal bending, metal rolling and metal fabrication methods with relations to mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium. 

 

Application of Mild Steel

Mild steel is perhaps the most used steel in the world because of the cheaper price and ease of reshaping. That’s why its application is virtually infinite. Here are some of the most important sector that use a significant amount of Mild Steel every year.

Construction Building Frames

Due to its incredible strength, Mild steel is a perfect candidate for building construction. A selling bar of Mild Steel can hold 20,000 kg, equivalent to one and a half double-decker buses. Apart from its high strength, Mild steel can meet strict wind and seismic requirements. They can’t be damaged by insect or any hazardous fire. Another important thing to consider for construction material is they need to be cost-efficient as well. This is where Mild steel comes in.

For all this reason and others, mild steel is the perfect choice for construction purposes.

Aesthetic Metal Fence, gate, window, etc.

The demand for visually aesthetic gates and structures is increasing as we speak. People are becoming more and more art loving and that’s why art can be found everywhere. From the paper, art reached to the windows, gates, fence, and walls too.

But making them visible on hard surfaces is not easy. And high carbon steels are comparatively harder and difficult to make designs than low carbon steel. That’s why, mild steel is used in making visually appealing gates, windows, fence, and design for walls and selling.

Besides, they are not fragile like cast iron and that’s why it’s easier to craft the designs on them. Another advantage of Mild Steel is paint stays on them longer than any other surface. But most importantly, they can be galvanized easily spending with a low maintenance cost.  Once they are galvanized, mild steel becomes corrosion proof like stainless steel. So mild steel is indeed a great choice for aesthetic designs in gates, fence, and windows for art loving people.

Machinery Parts

Steel is basically a combination of Iron and Carbon with few other elements in a small amount. That’s why they are mixed in different proportion to make them suitable for some specific use and application. Mild steel also has some useful characteristics that is suitable for some specific purpose and easy formation is one of them.

Machinery parts need to be crafted with precise measurement and need a perfect finish. That’s why Mild Steel is a suitable material for producing machinery parts and gears.

Pipelines

Mild steels have superior ductility when galvanized and that’s what makes them a popular choice for pipes and poles for industrial use. This type of steel is easily melded in place and setting them up requires less time. Even after the welding, pipes can flex a bit, avoiding breaking and cracking under immense pressure. In cold weather, the structural integrity.

Automobile

Car body, bicycle rim, etc. are made of mild steel and automobile industry has a great demand for it. They are used because of low cost and easy wielding properties of mild steel.

Metal Chains & Wire Rope

Metal chains for ship and electrical poles are made from low carbon steel. As low carbon steel or mild steel is easier to produce and cheap, metal shackle manufacturers use mild steel as raw material.

Hanging bridges use steel rope to hold the bridge in air. These bridges use mild steel for the wires and shackles that hold together the bridge.

Electrodes

Mild steel is also used to make electrodes because they are cheap and easy to get access to.

These electrodes are efficient and that’s why, scientific labs, power grids, commercial batteries use it.

 

Types of grade of Mild Steel

Mild Steel is a specific type of low carbon steel that has only 0.2-0.25% carbon in it. The average density of different grades of Mild Steel is 7.85 g/cm³ or 0.284 lb/in³. And the average Young’s Modulus is 29,000 ksi or 200 GPa.

But the values differ for each grade and type of Mild steel. Here are some of the most used and known grades and types of mild steel.

 

ASTM A36 Mild Steel

A36 is one the most (if not the most) used mild & hot rolled carbon steel. It is used in riveted, welded or bolted construction of buildings, oils rigs, and bridges. Besides, A36 is used to make bins, tanks, gears, stakes, automotive, frames, agricultural equipment, machinery parts and even boat landing ramps.

Chemical Composition of ASTM A36 Mild Steel

Element	Quantity (%)
Iron	99
Manganese	0.75
Copper	0.2
Carbon	0.26
Phosphorus	0.4
Sulphur	0.5

 

Physical Properties of ASTM A36 Mild Steel

Properties	Imperial
Tensile Strength	58,000 – 79,800 psi
Yield Strength	36,300 psi

 

 

 

ASTM A653 Mild Steel

When galvannealed, A653 becomes extremely corrosion resistant and can be welded easily for a low labor cost. A653 sheets can make up automobile body and air conditioning covers too. In ships, A653 builds the cabinets and partitions.

Chemical Composition of ASTM A653 Mild Steel

Element	Quantity (%)
Iron	99
Manganese	0.75
Copper	0.2
Carbon	0.26
Phosphorus	0.04
Sulphur	0.05

 

Physical Properties of ASTM A653 Mild Steel

Properties	Imperial
Tensile Strength	58,000 – 79,800 psi
Yield Strength	36,300 psi

 

 

 

ASTM A513 Mild Steel

This grade of mild steel is mostly used to make tubes and pipes for industrial purpose. With proper thickness, the pipes can take a lot of pressure without breaking itself.

Chemical Composition of ASTM A513 Mild Steel

Element	Quantity (%)
Iron	99.8 – 99.53
Manganese	0.3 – 0.6
Copper	0.2
Carbon	0.18 – 0.23
Phosphorus	0.04
Sulphur	0.05

 

Physical Properties of ASTM A513 Mild Steel

Properties	Imperial
Tensile Strength	87,000 psi
Yield Strength	72,000 psi

 

 

 

A283C or S235 Mild Steel

Compared to S275 and S355, S235 has the least tensile strength. But that doesn’t mean it is completely useless. It has its fair share of contribution in industries like automotive, aircraft and well-decorative places like shopping malls, office, etc.

Chemical Composition of S235 Mild Steel

Element	Quantity (%)
Iron	Balance
Manganese	1.6
Carbon	0.22
Sulphur	0.05
Silicon	0.05
Phosphorus	0.05

 

Physical Properties of S235 Mild Steel

Properties	Metric
Tensile Strength	235 MPa
Yield Strength	360 – 510 MPa

 

 

A570Gr40 or S275 Mild Steel

S275 is suitable for structural and engineering applications because of they can be served in flat bar, round bar or even in plain sheet form. Besides, S275 has a good machinability and it can be welded with ease. S275 is used in houses, factories and sometimes in aircraft flaps.

Chemical Composition of S247 Mild Steel

Element	Quantity (%)
Iron	Balance
Manganese	1.6
Carbon	0.25
Sulphur	0.05
Silicon	0.05
Phosphorus	0.04

 

Physical Properties of S275 Mild Steel

Properties	Metric
Tensile Strength	370 – 530 MPa
Yield Strength	275 MPa

 

 

 

A572Gr50 or S355 Mild Steel

S355 has higher tensile strength than S235 and S275 and that’s why it is much more efficient in taking heavy loads than S275. For this reason, S355 is used for bridge, train tracks, road barriers, and Skyscrapers.

Chemical Composition of S355 Mild Steel

Element	Quantity (%)
Iron	Balance
Manganese	1.6
Carbon	0.23
Sulphur	0.05
Silicon	0.05
Phosphorus	0.05

 

Physical Properties of S355 Mild Steel

Properties	Metric
Tensile Strength	790 – 830 MPa
Yield Strength	470 – 630 MPa

 

Advantages of Mild Steel

 

-         Stiff and Strong. Mild steel can hold heavy loads if they are used in proper place with proper density. In newer buildings, mild steel is used for basic structure like the selling and columns.

-         Cost Effective. The secret behind mild steel’s low cost is the small amount of carbon. This explains why the unlimited supply of mild steel and why people use it. Besides, they can be produced in masses when needed.

Using mild steel instead of high carbon steel saves developer and real-estate managers a huge cut from the total cost.

-         Easy to Weld. Unlike most of carbon steel types, especially high carbon steel, mild steel can be coalesced with great ease. For some specific properties of mild steel, electric current goes through it without distorting the structural integrity completely.

The ease of welding saves both time and labor making the production of any product or construction site more productive.

-         Ductile. Ductility refers to the measure of plastically deformation of the metal by elongating, without leaving any fracture. Metals that are strong and stiff, can go more than 15 percent before their structural integrity is compromised.

Low carbon steel shares some good company like, copper & thermoplastics, which stretches and bends when facing a massive force before deforming entirely. That’s why they are easy to weld, shape, and reform.

-         Can be carburized. One of the major problems with mild steel is they have a low tensile strength which is why they’ll break quicker than other steel when immense force is applied. But there is a good solution for this.

To make them harder after reshaping or reforming, carburizing is a good solution. It is a heat treatment which leads to heating the iron or steel, with Carbon liberated as it decomposes. After that, they are cooled via quenching and they are now hard, whilst core of the steel remains soft. It also enhances strength and fatigue strength of the metal.

-         Recyclable. Like most of the metals we use, mild steel is easily recyclable.

-         Shows Ferromagnetism. They exhibit ferromagnetism characteristics.

Disadvantages of Mild Steel

-         Poor Corrosion Resistance. Mild Steel does not have a good corrosion resistance like stainless steel. They can rust if not galvanized or painted.

-         Can’t be heat treated. Heat treatment affects the carbon content of steel to alter the characteristics, especially to make it harder. But the amount of carbon in Low Carbon steel or Mild steel is usually less than 0.25% and less, which is why heat treatment doesn’t help mild steel that much.

-         Not as strong as other types of Carbon Steel. Mild steel is easy re-shaped or re-formed. But they are not as strong as high carbon steel. That’s why, for extreme use, mild steel is not the best candidate.

 

When and Why should you use Mild Steel?

As we mentioned earlier, mild steel is not much corrosion resistant compared to stainless steel. They need galvanization or a layer of paint over the surface to make it rust proof.  So if you need steel but not want somebody to see its surface, mild steel is a good pick.

If the surface is not important to be seen, why spend more money on stainless steel when you can get the job done with regular low carbon steel. That why for structures in buildings and in any place where the steel won’t be visible, mild steel can save cut from the cost.

Sometimes many industries need reshaping and reforming steel. For them, mils steel is the best choice because it can be welded easily and reshaped efficiently without spending much time, and labor.

Besides, in applications where a large cross-section is used to minimize the deflection, failure by yield isn’t a risk and that’s why mild steel is a good choice.

Examples of Products made of Mild Steel

 

Architectural Structures for Construction and Real-Estate

 

 

Machinery Parts

 

Industrial Poles and Pipes

 

Industrial Grade Gate, Fence, etc.

 

Chains

 

 

Steel Wire

 

 

Electrode