easiest way to make (or buy) "sorta springy" steel

Jan 07, 2004 2 Replies

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P Oster 22 years ago

Hi,

I've got a project where mild steel is not springy enough; Ideally I'd like to get a steel that has a yield point 2~3 times as high.

two q's;

1) Is there a cheap steel that meets this spec ?
2) I'm having trouble reconciling hardness specs like rockwell with yield point and elastic modulus - (all I care about). Can someone cite a reference that explains how hardness and temper (yield point) relate. 3) In fact I only need a fraction of the part to have this higher yield point. Is there a home DIY process for heat treating steel for this characteristic?

Thanks,

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Ed Huntress 22 years ago

It depends on the project and the size, but plain, high-carbon steel can reach a yield point that's three times as high as that of low-carbon (mild) steel. If you're talking about small wire, you can use music wire. Otherwise, you'll have to heat treat it.

Elastic modulus is virtually the same for all alloys and grades of steel, no matter what its condition of hardness or strength. If you need something stiffer, you'll have to look elsewhere. There aren't many materials that are stiffer but there are a few.

For strength, but not for stiffness.

Ed Huntress

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P Oster 22 years ago

btw my understanding is that heat treating can change the yield point but _not the modulus of the steel (I'm agreeing with Ed). My problem is that all that I've found on heat treating uses the rockwell scale to describe the temper, but I want to understand degrees and types of tempering and hardening in terms of yield point.

Thanks,

"Ed Huntress" wrote in news:nDIKb.37094$ snipped-for-privacy@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net:

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