Spring Steel

Spring Steel

Spring steel is a low alloy, medium carbon steel with a high yield strength. It is made with silicone, and therefore has elastomeric properties—it can bend and stretch, then return to its normal state. Spring steel is a good raw material for manufacturers that need strong, heat and abrasion resistant metal. Cold rolled annealed spring steel is used to manufacture automobile parts, knives, small files, mechanical springs, clips, machine parts, gun parts, and anything requiring the properties of high carbon. Blue tempered steel, on the other hand, is the more economical option and is often used to produce doctor blades, flat springs, motor springs, steel tapes, valves and reeds. The molds for plastic injection molding are often made of spring steel.

Spring steel frequently goes through heat treatments in steel service centers. Tempered steel has been heated up to increase hardening properties, while annealed steel is heated until pliable, but below its re-crystallization temperature, and altered or shaped. It often contains the additives cobalt and nickel. These improve its performance under high temperatures. There are several other manufacturing processes spring steel may undergo to increase its properties, including quenching in oil or water and air hardening, which takes place when steel becomes fully hardened when cooled in air that is above its critical point. The shape of spring steel can also be changed to fit specifications through slitting, edging or leveling.