Why increasing carbon content increases hardenability?
Answers
Explanation:
Generally, carbon is the most important commercial steel alloy. Increasing carbon content increases hardness and strength and improves hardenability. But carbon also increases brittleness and reduces weldability because of its tendency to form martensite. This means carbon content can be both a blessing and a curse when it comes to commercial steel.
And while there are steels that have up to 2 percent carbon content, they are the exception. Most steel contains less than 0.35 percent carbon. To put this in perspective, keep in mind that's 35/100 of 1 percent.
Now, any steel in the 0.35 to 1.86 percent carbon content range can be hardened using a heat-quench-temper cycle. Most commercial steels are classified into one of three groups:
Plain carbon steels
Low-alloy steels
High-alloy steels
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