ASTM A372 Grade B Carbon Steel
ASTM A372 grade B steel is a carbon (non-alloy) steel formulated for primary forming into wrought products. Cited properties are appropriate for the normalized condition. ASTM A372 Grade B is the ASTM designation for this material. Older literature may refer to this material as Type II, but this is now discouraged.
It has a moderately high tensile strength among the wrought carbon or non-alloy steels in the database.
The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare ASTM A372 grade B steel to: wrought carbon or non-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
180
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
190 GPa 27 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
20 %
Fatigue Strength
240 MPa 35 x 103 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0.29
Shear Modulus
73 GPa 11 x 106 psi
Shear Strength
380 MPa 55 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
600 MPa 87 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
350 MPa 51 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
250 J/g
Maximum Temperature: Mechanical
400 °C 750 °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
52 W/m-K 30 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
12 µm/m-K
Electrical Properties
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume
7.1 % IACS
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)
8.2 % IACS
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price
1.8 % relative
Density
7.8 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3
Embodied Carbon
1.4 kg CO2/kg material
Embodied Energy
18 MJ/kg 7.9 x 103 BTU/lb
Embodied Water
46 L/kg 5.5 gal/lb
Common Calculations
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)
100 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
330 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
13 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
24 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
21 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
20 points
Thermal Diffusivity
14 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
19 points
Alloy Composition
| Fe | 97.9 to 99.85 | |
| Mn | 0 to 1.4 | |
| Si | 0.15 to 0.35 | |
| C | 0 to 0.35 | |
| P | 0 to 0.015 | |
| S | 0 to 0.010 |
All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.
Followup Questions
Similar Alloys
Further Reading
ASTM A372: Standard Specification for Carbon and Alloy Steel Forgings for Thin-Walled Pressure Vessels
Microstructure of Steels and Cast Irons, Madeleine Durand-Charre, 2004
Pressure Vessels: External Pressure Technology, 2nd ed., Carl T. F. Ross, 2011
Carbon Steel Handbook, D. Gandy, 2007
ASM Specialty Handbook: Carbon and Alloy Steels, J. R. Davis (editor), 1996
Steels: Processing, Structure, and Performance, 2nd ed., George Krauss, 2015