Steel

:See Steel (disambiguation) for other uses.

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Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. Carbon acts as a hardening agent, preventing iron atoms, which are naturally arranged in a lattice, from sliding past one another. Varying the amount of carbon and its distribution in the alloy controls qualities such as the hardness, elasticity, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. Steel with increased carbon content can be made harder and stronger than iron, but is also more brittle. One classical definition is that steels are iron-carbon alloys with up to 1.5 percent carbon by weight; ironically, alloys with higher carbon content than this are known as cast iron.

Related Topics:
Metal - Alloy - Iron - Carbon - Lattice - Hardness - Elasticity - Ductility - Tensile strength - Brittle - Cast iron

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Currently there are several classes of steels in which carbon is replaced with other alloying materials, and carbon, if present, is undesired. A more recent definition is that steels are iron-based alloys that can be plastically formed (pounded, rolled, etc.).

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