Spring steel: description, characteristics, brand and reviews

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Spring steels are characterized by a fairly high modulus of elasticity. This indicator is possessed by carbon and alloyed metal grades.

Alloyed and carbon materials

This type of material is used for the production of rigid (power) elastic elements. The reason for this particular application was that the high modulus of elasticity of this steel greatly limits the elastic deformation of the part, which will be made from spring steel. It is also important to note that this type of product is high-tech and at the same time quite affordable. In addition to being used in auto and tractor construction, this type of material is also widely used for the manufacture of power elements in various devices. Most often, parts that are made from this steel are called by one common name - general purpose spring steels.

In order to ensure the necessary performance of power elastic elements, it is necessary that the spring steel has a high limit of not only elasticity, but also endurance, as well as relaxation resistance.

Properties

Toto satisfy such requirements as endurance, elasticity and relaxation resistance, materials with a high carbon content are used. The percentage of this substance in the product used should be in the range from 0.5 to 0.7%. It is also important to subject this type of steel to quenching and tempering. It is necessary to carry out these procedures at a temperature of 420 to 520 degrees Celsius.

It is worth noting that the spring steel, hardened to martensite, has a low coefficient of elasticity. It increases significantly only during tempering, when the troosite structure is formed. The process guarantees an increase in the ductility of the steel, as well as its fracture toughness. These two factors are important in order to reduce the sensitivity to stress concentrators as well as increase the endurance limit of the product. It can be added that isometric hardening for lower bainite is also characterized by positive qualities.

Knives

Knife spring steel has been the most common material for some time, especially among car owners. The manufacture of sharp objects was indeed carried out from old springs that had become unusable for use in a vehicle. The use of knives made of such an unusual material was carried out both for various household needs and for the usual cutting of food in the kitchen. The choice of this detail fell not by chance. There were several reasons why spring steel became the main material for making good knives at home.

The first reason isthe fact that, due to the poor quality of the roads, such a detail as a spring often and quickly fell into disrepair. Because of this, many car owners had an abundance of these nodes. Parts just lay in the garages. Accessibility was the first reason.

The second reason is the design of the spring, which included several sheets of carbon steel. It was from these elements that it was possible to make a pair of solid knives.

The third reason is the high elasticity of the spring steel, which makes it possible to process the material with only a minimal set of tools.

Features of knives

A significant reason why this type of steel has become widely used for the production of knives is the composition of the product itself. In production, this composition was called spring steel 65G. As the name suggests, this material is widely used for the production of leaf springs, springs, washers, and some other parts. The cost of this particular steel grade is considered one of the lowest among carbon materials. But at the same time, its characteristics, that is, strength, flexibility and toughness, are at their best. In addition, the hardness of the steel itself also increased. All these features of carbon metal also played a decisive role in the choice of material for creating knives.

65G steel

Spring steel 65G is a structural high-carbon steel, which is supplied in accordance with GOST 14959. This grade belongs to the group of spring steels. twoThe most important requirements for this type of steel are high surface strength, as well as increased elasticity. In order to achieve the required strength, up to 1% manganese is added to the metal composition. In addition, in order to achieve all the required indicators, it is necessary to conduct proper heat treatment of parts made from this grade.

The wide and effective use of this type of steel is due to the fact that it belongs to the class of economically alloyed, that is, cheap. The main ingredients of this product are components such as:

• carbon, the content of which is from 0.62 to 0.7%;
• manganese, the content of which does not exceed from 0.9 to 1.2%;
• chromium and nickel content in composition from 0.25 to 0.3%.

Other components that are part of steel - sulfur, copper, phosphorus, etc. These are impurities, the percentage of which is regulated by the state standard.

Heat treatment

There are several modes of heat treatment for this type of steel. Any of them is selected in accordance with the production requirements that apply to the finished product. The most commonly used are two heat treatment methods that guarantee the desired properties from a chemical and physical point of view. These methods include normalization and hardening followed by tempering.

When carrying out heat treatment, it is necessary to correctlyselect the temperature parameters, as well as the time required for the operation. To choose these characteristics correctly, you should start from which steel grade is used. Since the material of grade 65G belongs to the hypoeutectide type, this product contains austenite, presented in the form of a solid mechanical mixture with a small amount of ferrite. Austenite is a harder material in terms of structure than ferrite. Therefore, for heat treatment of steel 65G, it is necessary to create a lower range of hardening temperatures. Given this fact, such indicators for this type of metal range from 800 to 830 degrees Celsius.

Tempering mode

How to harden spring steel? It is necessary to create the desired temperature regime, choose the right time, and also correctly calculate the time and temperature of the holiday. In order to give the steel all the necessary characteristics, which are set by the future technical conditions for the operation of the part, it is worth carrying out the necessary hardening. To select the appropriate mode for conducting this procedure, they rely on the following characteristics:

• Not only is the method of quenching important, but also the equipment used to heat the steel.
• Select the required tempering temperature.
• Choose a suitable time period for steel hardening.
• Select the right medium for the hardening process.
• It is also important to choose the right technology for cooling the part after the hardening process.

Spring grades

The supply of steel for the manufacture of springs is carried out in the form of strips. After that, blanks are cut from it, hardened, released and assembled in the form of packages. Spring steel grades, such as 65, 70, 75, 80, etc., are characterized by the fact that their relaxation resistance is low, this disadvantage is especially noticeable when the part is heated. These steel grades cannot be used in environments that exceed 100 degrees Celsius.

There are cheap silicon grades 55C2, 60C2, 70C3A. They are used to make springs or springs, the thickness of which will not exceed 18 mm.

To better grades of steel can be attributed 50HFA, 50HGFA. When compared with silicon-manganese and silicon materials, then during tempering the temperature is much higher - about 520 degrees. Due to this processing procedure, these steel grades are characterized by high heat resistance as well as low notch sensitivity.