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EN 1.8961 (S235J2W) Weathering Steel

EN 1.8961 steel is an alloy steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. Cited properties are appropriate for the hot worked condition. 1.8961 is the EN numeric designation for this material. S235J2W is the EN chemical designation.

It has a very low tensile strength and a moderately high embodied energy among EN wrought alloy steels.

The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare EN 1.8961 steel to: EN wrought alloy steels (top), all iron alloys (middle), and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.

Mechanical Properties

Brinell Hardness

130

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus

190 GPa 27 x 106 psi

Elongation at Break

19 %

Fatigue Strength

150 MPa 22 x 103 psi

Impact Strength: V-Notched Charpy

30 J 22 ft-lb

Poisson's Ratio

0.29

Shear Modulus

73 GPa 11 x 106 psi

Shear Strength

270 MPa 39 x 103 psi

Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)

430 MPa 62 x 103 psi

Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)

220 MPa 32 x 103 psi

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion

250 J/g

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical

410 °C 780 °F

Melting Completion (Liquidus)

1460 °C 2660 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1420 °C 2590 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

470 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Conductivity

45 W/m-K 26 BTU/h-ft-°F

Thermal Expansion

13 µm/m-K

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume

7.4 % IACS

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)

8.5 % IACS

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price

2.6 % relative

Density

7.8 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3

Embodied Carbon

1.7 kg CO2/kg material

Embodied Energy

23 MJ/kg 9.7 x 103 BTU/lb

Embodied Water

50 L/kg 6.0 gal/lb

Common Calculations

Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)

70 MJ/m3

Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)

130 kJ/m3

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

13 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

24 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

15 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

16 points

Thermal Diffusivity

12 mm2/s

Thermal Shock Resistance

13 points

Alloy Composition

Among alloy steels, the composition of EN 1.8961 steel is notable for including niobium (Nb) and titanium (Ti). Niobium is primarily used to improve yield strength. Titanium is used to broadly improve mechanical properties.

Iron (Fe)Fe 96.1 to 99.3
Chromium (Cr)Cr 0.35 to 0.85
Manganese (Mn)Mn 0.15 to 0.7
Copper (Cu)Cu 0.2 to 0.6
Nickel (Ni)Ni 0 to 0.7
Silicon (Si)Si 0 to 0.45
Carbon (C)C 0 to 0.16
Vanadium (V)V 0 to 0.14
Titanium (Ti)Ti 0 to 0.12
Niobium (Nb)Nb 0 to 0.065
Phosphorus (P)P 0 to 0.040
Sulfur (S)S 0 to 0.035
Aluminum (Al)Al 0 to 0.030

All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.

Followup Questions

Similar Alloys

Further Reading

Real Material Properties of Weathering Steels Used in Bridge Structures, Vit Krivy and Petr Konecny, 2013

EN 10025-5: Hot rolled products of structural steels - Part 5: Technical delivery conditions for structural steels with improved atmospheric corrosion resistance

Welding Metallurgy, 2nd ed., Sindo Kou, 2003

ASM Specialty Handbook: Carbon and Alloy Steels, J. R. Davis (editor), 1996

Manufacture and Uses of Alloy Steels, Henry D. Hibbard, 2005

CRC Materials Science and Engineering Handbook, 4th ed., James F. Shackelford et al. (editors), 2015

Steels: Processing, Structure, and Performance, 2nd ed., George Krauss, 2015