HSLA steel (high strength low alloy steel) is a type of steel alloy that provides many benefits over regular steel alloys. In general, HSLA alloys are much stronger and tougher than ordinary plain carbon steels. They are used in cars, trucks, cranes, bridges and other structures that are designed to handle a lot of stress, often at very low temperatures. The old steel cable of a colliery winding tower Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. ... An alloy is a combination, either in solution or compound, of two or more elements, at least one of which is a metal, and where the resulting material has metallic properties. ... Carbon steel is a metal alloy, a combination of two elements, iron and carbon, where other elements are present in quantities too small to affect the properties. ... Figure 1  Stress tensor A mature tree trunk may support a greater force than a fine steel wire but intuitively we feel that steel is stronger than wood. ...

HSLA steels are so called because they only contain a very small percentage of carbon. A typical HSLA steel may contain 0.15% carbon, 1.65% manganese and low levels (under 0.035%) of phosphorous and sulphur^[1]. It may also contain small amounts of copper, nickel, niobium, nitrogen, vandium, chromium, molybdenum, silicon or zirconium. HSLAs are therefore also referred to as 'microalloyed', as they are indeed alloyed in extremely small amounts by comparison to other main commercial alloy steels. As little as 0.10% niobium and vanadium can have profound effects on the mechanical properties of a 0.1%C, 1.3% Mn steel. These added elements are intended to alter the microstructure of plain carbon steels, which is usually a ferrite-pearlite aggregate, to produce a very fine dispersion of alloy carbides in an almost pure ferrite. This eliminates the toughness-reducing effect of a pearlitic volume fraction, yet maintains and even increases the material's strength by precipitation strengthening and by refining the grain size, which in the case of ferrite increases yield strength by 50% for every halving of the mean grain diameter. Its yield strength can be anywhere between 250-590 MPa (35000-85000 psi). General Name, Symbol, Number carbon, C, 6 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 14, 2, p Appearance black (graphite) colorless (diamond) Atomic mass 12. ... General Name, Symbol, Number niobium, Nb, 41 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 5, 5, d Appearance gray metallic Atomic mass 92. ... General Name, Symbol, Number vanadium, V, 23 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 5, 4, d Appearance gray-white metal Atomic mass 50. ... Al-Si microstructure at 40x magnification Microstructure refers of the microscopic description of the individual constituents of a material. ... Iron-carbon phase diagram, showing the conditions under which ferrite (α) is stable. ... Pearlite occurs at the eutectoid of the iron-carbon phase diagram (near the lower left). ... Carbide In chemistry, Carbide confusingly refers to three different things: 1. ... Precipitation hardening is a heat treatment technique used to strengthen malleable materials, especially non-ferrous alloys including most structural alloys of aluminium and titanium. ... Yield strength, or the yield point, is defined in engineering as the amount of strain that a material can undergo before moving from elastic deformation into plastic deformation. ...

HSLA steels are also more resistant to rust then most carbon steels. Although the material quickly becomes covered with surface rust, this is superficial and rust takes a long time to threaten the integrity of a structure made from the material. The Angel Of The North at Gateshead, England is a well known example of an unpainted HSLA structure (the actual alloy used is called COR-TEN and includes a small amount of copper). HSLA steels usually have densities of around 7800 kg/m^3. [1] A blacksmith removing rust with sand prior to welding Rust damage in automobiles can create hidden dangers. ... Angel of the North The Angel of the North is a piece of modern sculpture by Anthony Gormley, which after several attempts to locate it elsewhere was erected in Gateshead, England (, ). As the name suggests, it is a steel sculpture of an angel, standing 20 metres tall, with wings 54... Map sources for Gateshead at grid reference NZ2460 Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear in north-east England on the south side of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne which covers the North Bank. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi   - Water (%) Population...

See also

Related pages

• Basics of Design Engineering - Engineering Materials - Ferrous Metals - HSLA steel.

References

1. ^ High strength low alloy steels. Schoolscience.co.uk. Retrieved on 2006-05-23.