materials

Steel

As one of the most prolific of all metals in manufacturing today, steel is a high-strength and economic option, with many variations and options available for the specific characteristics that your application requires.

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Relative Cost of Material

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Machining Degree of Difficulty

Summary

Steel is used in every industry, and is found in anything from everyday objects to the most advanced aerospace applications. From carbon steel to stainless, there are a wide variety of alloys that comprise the steel family with a myriad of different characteristics and properties, making it a common go-to for designers and engineers of all backgrounds to look to. For the most difficult and advanced components, however, precision definitely comes into play. Mindrum Precision has manufactured many mission-critical steel components over the years, from NASA’s ORION and SLS programs, to military and defense applications, to medical and fiberoptic support components. Click here for our contact information or to request a quote, and we will show you why more engineers are trusting us with their mission-critical needs.

Applications

Simply put, steel is in everything. Machined components from steel are the most common in nearly every major industry, and new fabrication advances are allowing more uses to be discovered every day. If geometry and tolerancing is the primary design driver, steel is a high-strength material that will produce a minimum in both material and production costs.

 

Properties

Material PropertySteel
Density (g/cm^3)7.8
Hardness (Rockwell C)44
Tensile Strength (MPa)1380
Modulus of Elasticity (GPa)196
Poisson's Ratio0.27-0.30
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (1 x 10^-6/°C)10.4
Thermal Conductivity (W/m K)17.8
Specific Heat (J/kg*K)502
*Note: Properties vary by manufacturer. The above information should be used for general reference purposes only.

related Materials

  • Aluminum – A lightweight, easily machinable, and generally low-cost metal
  • Titanium – A light-weight metal with an extremely high strength-to-mass ratio.
  • Inconel – A high-heat, high strength nickel based superalloy

With over a half-century of manned spaceflight experience, our parts have been trusted on some of mankind's proudest achievements. We look forward to working with you to bring your next project off of the drawing board and into reality.