Carbon Steel

Carbon Steel Forged Parts

All Metals & Forge Group manufactures high-quality carbon steel forged parts using controlled open die forging processes. Carbon steel remains one of the most widely used materials in industrial forging because it offers strength, toughness, and cost efficiency across a broad range of applications.

Forging significantly improves the mechanical properties of carbon steel. Through controlled compression, we break up material segregation, reduce porosity, and refine the grain structure. As a result, forged carbon steel components deliver improved impact strength, fatigue resistance, and ductility compared to cast or fabricated alternatives. In addition, directional grain flow enhances strength along the primary load path of the component.

Carbon Content and Mechanical Properties

Carbon steel typically contains between 0.06% and 2.0% carbon, although most industrial grades fall below 1.0%. Because carbon content directly affects hardness and strength, engineers can select specific grades to meet performance requirements.

Lower carbon grades such as 1008, 1015, 1018, and 1020 offer excellent machinability in the as-forged condition. Therefore, these grades often require no additional heat treatment for machining purposes. In contrast, higher carbon grades such as 1025, 1030, and 1045 require controlled heat treatment to achieve specified mechanical properties.

Heat treatment methods include normalizing, annealing, quenching, and tempering. Through these processes, we tailor tensile strength, yield strength, ductility, impact resistance, and fatigue strength to match the application.

However, while carbon steel performs well in many environments, it offers limited corrosion and high-temperature resistance. For more severe conditions, alloy steels or martensitic stainless steels may provide better long-term performance.

Applications for Carbon Steel Forged Parts

Carbon steel forged parts serve a wide range of industries, including heavy equipment, oil and gas, machinery manufacturing, power generation, mining, and structural applications. Because these components often support high loads or repetitive motion, forging improves reliability and service life.

Common forged shapes include round bars, flats, squares, hex bars, discs, rings, cylinders, blocks, and stepped or flanged configurations. These parts frequently undergo finish machining to meet precise dimensional tolerances.

Carbon steel can withstand temperatures up to approximately 1200°F (650°C) in certain oil and gas applications. Additionally, its strength increases at lower temperatures; however, the material may become brittle below -20°F (-28.9°C) when exposed to impact loading. Therefore, proper grade selection remains critical.

Quality Control and Machining Advantages

All Metals & Forge Group operates under an ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D registered quality management system. Our process begins with a detailed review of the customer’s end use, required mechanical properties, surface condition, and delivery schedule. From there, we apply controlled forging, heat treatment, inspection, and machining procedures.

Every carbon steel forged part includes ultrasonic testing to verify internal soundness. In addition, we rough machine all forgings to within 3 mm of finished dimensions. This practice reduces CNC machining time and lowers overall project costs for our customers. Our standard rough-machined surface finish is 250 RMS, which allows accurate quality inspection before final machining.

When required, we also perform finish machining to tolerances as tight as ±0.001 inch with surface finishes of 64 or 32 RMS. This level of precision distinguishes AMFG from suppliers who ship parts in the black or with minimal machining allowance.

From inquiry through final delivery, we actively manage quality at every stage. Whether producing a single prototype or a large production run, we deliver carbon steel forged parts that meet demanding technical and commercial requirements.