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Grade VDC Spring Steel

Grade VDC steel is an alloy steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. Cited properties are appropriate for the hardened (H) condition.

It has a fairly low electrical conductivity among EN wrought alloy steels. In addition, it has a moderately low embodied energy and a very low base cost.

The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare grade VDC 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

510

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus

190 GPa 27 x 106 psi

Poisson's Ratio

0.29

Reduction in Area

50 %

Shear Modulus

80 GPa 12 x 106 psi

Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)

1700 MPa 250 x 103 psi

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion

250 J/g

Maximum Temperature: Mechanical

400 °C 760 °F

Melting Completion (Liquidus)

1450 °C 2650 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1410 °C 2580 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

470 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Conductivity

51 W/m-K 29 BTU/h-ft-°F

Thermal Expansion

13 µm/m-K

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume

7.1 % IACS

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)

8.1 % IACS

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price

1.9 % relative

Density

7.8 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3

Embodied Carbon

1.4 kg CO2/kg material

Embodied Energy

19 MJ/kg 8.1 x 103 BTU/lb

Embodied Water

47 L/kg 5.5 gal/lb

Common Calculations

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

13 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

24 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

60 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

40 points

Thermal Diffusivity

14 mm2/s

Thermal Shock Resistance

50 points

Alloy Composition

Among alloy steels, the composition of grade VDC steel is notable for including copper (Cu). Copper is used to improve corrosion resistance, and to add at least some degree of precipitation hardenability.

Iron (Fe)Fe 98.3 to 99.35
Manganese (Mn)Mn 0.5 to 1.0
Carbon (C)C 0.6 to 0.75
Silicon (Si)Si 0.15 to 0.3
Chromium (Cr)Cr 0 to 0.3
Copper (Cu)Cu 0 to 0.060
Phosphorus (P)P 0 to 0.020
Sulfur (S)S 0 to 0.020

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

Followup Questions

Similar Alloys

Further Reading

EN 10270-2: Steel wire for mechanical spring - Part 2: Oil hardened and tempered spring steel wire

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