Overview of Major Steels
There is an overwhelmingly large variety of steels out there, and no way to give a systematic overview in less than several hundred pages. It doesn't help much either that one kind of steel carries different names or classifications in different countries, or in one country at different times. What follows is therefore my subjective selection of some kinds of steels I found interesting, in particular because they illustrate some of the general points made in the hyperscript.
I also must tell you right away that the information you can find about one kind of steel, or certain classes of steel, always agrees on the essentials but often not on details. In order to make reading easy I will not discuss conflicting views but give only my point of view - and that might be wrong; I'm not a steel expert after all.
What is accessible from this link hub is:
  1. Classifying Steels
    A few essentials about the general classification of steels. This will be done in a qualitative way, and not in one of the more or less incomprehensible formal systems. You only need to know about those if you really make, buy or use steel.
  2. Some Common Steels
    The steels all of us encounter every day (usually without noticing).
  3. Some Special Steels
    Steels with some special structures / properties.
  4. Scientific Steels
    Steel that were not "designed" by tinkering around, based on some gut feeling, the accumulated experience in the field plus plenty of trial and error but by all of that plus some scientific insights that helped to get there.
  If you're not happy with the choices and designations I have made in this super-module: Tough luck. Go write your own book.
     

With frame With frame as PDF

go to Glossary

go to Sword Types

go to Overview of Major Steels: Scientific Steels

go to 7.1.1 Finding Your Way in the Iron Carbon Phase Diagram

go to 9.1.1 Things are Complicated

go to 9.2.2 Designing Low Alloy Steels

go to 9.5.2 Kinds of Cast Iron

go to Science of Alloying

go to Ductile to Brittle Transition or Cold Shortness

go to Bainite

go to Overview of Major Steels: Scientific Steels

go to Maraging Steel

go to 6.1.1 It Takes Two to Tango

go to Overview of Major Steels: 1. Classifying Steels

go to 9.2.1 A Closer Look at Low Alloy Steels

go to Overview of Major Steels

go to Charpy Impact Test: Example

go to Yield Strength and Hardness

go to Categorizing Steel

go to 8.2.1 Strategies for Winning

© H. Föll (Iron, Steel and Swords script)