The Complete Guide to Engineering Steel Grades and Their Uses

Engineering steel is a popular and useful material for many different industries. It’s made for heavy-duty applications and modern manufacturing due to its incredible versatility and exceptional machinability. This material is also known as speciality carbon and alloy steel and provides great strength, toughness and durability to withstand immense pressure, heavy-duty use and harsh elements. On top of this, these materials can offer so many more useful properties, such as impressive shock resistance and fatigue performance to allow you to create a wide range of structures and products that are built to last in even the most demanding environments!

This material comes in various engineering steel grades to suit different applications. Due to this, it’s important to have the right grade for the job, as it can help make your project easier and smoother. In the UK and Europe, this material uses EN standards that outline the properties, composition and performance of the steel. Understanding these EN steel grades and what they can be used for can be complicated. This is why we’ve created this complete guide to engineering steel grades and their uses to help you know which grade you need for your project.

What is Engineering Steel?

Engineering steel is made for mechanical and engineering applications and covers a wide range of steels. It boasts unmatched strength, ductility, toughness, fatigue resistance and elasticity, and comes in different grades that all offer something unique. Some will have these properties and resistance to high or low temperatures, and others will also have corrosion resistance. This means that the EN steel grades you use will entirely depend on what you want to use the material for. Whichever grade you choose, engineering steel is built to last and withstand harsh environments, as well as a lot of weight and heavy-duty use. This makes it easy to create components that need to face high stress, heavy loads and repeated mechanical movement.

EN Steel Grades Explained

EN steel grades are basically the European Standard (EN) of steel. This is the system used across Europe and the UK to group steels together based on their chemical composition and mechanical properties. Every steel grade offers something unique and can be used for different applications, which is why they’re categorised into a standard to help make it easier to get the right type for the job. As well as this, having the EN standard maintains consistency and quality across every bit of engineering steel.

Even though the standard helps to get the right type for your project, many may need EN steel grades explained to them further to fully understand them. Basically, it labels each steel grade based on its composition and properties and assigns it a specific number. This number clearly identifies the characteristics of the engineering steel and helps you to know exactly which one you need. For example, EN1A steel is free-cutting mild steel, while EN19 steel is an alloy engineering steel. Each grade is useful for a different application, so your project may only require one type based on the strength, hardness and machinability you need for the job.

What Makes Engineering Steel Grades in the UK Important?

Engineering steel grades in the UK are important because they categorise the steel’s properties and put it into a number. This means that you only need to know the EN standard of the steel you need to ensure that you use the right one. Without this grading standard, finding the best steel for the job would require you to investigate the chemical composition and mechanical properties. This is because different projects need specific properties from the steel, otherwise it will be difficult to work with. Having the right steel grade allows you to create quality components and structures that last, performing well even under extreme conditions.

Each grade has unique properties, including various levels of strength, load capacities, machineability, heat treatment capabilities, corrosion resistance and wear resistance. If you choose the right one for your project, you can improve the durability of your structure, reduce maintenance and offer a long-lasting life.

What Are Engineering Steels Used For?

Different engineering steels are used for different purposes. However, these materials overall are highly versatile and can be used across multiple industries. The materials themselves offers some key advantages for numerous industries and can be used for different tasks, if the right grade is chosen. Some of these industries that engineering steel can be used for are:

• Manufacturing: Engineering steel can be used for machine tools, gear systems, conveyor mechanisms and industrial equipment.
• Construction: This material can be used for structures, like support systems, mechanical fixtures and heavy-duty fasteners.
• Automotive: As engineering steel is tough and durable, it is relied on to make quality automotive components. It can make quality engine components, axles, shafts and transmission systems.
• Heavy-Duty Engineering: The higher strength grades of this steel can be used for heavy-duty engineering, such as aerospace and harsh industrial environments. These can withstand gruelling elements and constant heavy-duty use, allowing you to use them for heavy machinery manufacturing.

The Most Common EN Steel Grades

There are so many EN steel grades that are available for different applications and industries. It’s important to know the more common grades of engineering steel and what they can be used for to help you understand the exact steel that helps you with every task.

EN1A (230M07) – Mild Steel

This type of engineering steel grade is a mild steel that has a low carbon content and offers free-cutting properties. It’s used for high-speed machining projects that need a material that can withstand high speeds without fracturing and for projects that need a precise finish.

EN1A is very easy to machine, provides a good surface finish for quality results and has consistent mechanical properties to make it easy to work with. It has moderate strength and durability but isn’t as strong as other engineering steels due to the lower carbon content, so it is ideal for lighter tasks. This material can be used for machining components, shafts, studs, bushings, fittings, bolts, fasteners, general engineering applications and precision-machined parts.

EN3B (070M20) – General Engineering Steel

EN3B (070M20) is a more general engineering steel that is versatile and offers a low carbon content. It’s a mild steel that can be used for typical fabrication and engineering applications, making it the best option for many standard machining tasks.

This steel has good strength, weldability and machinability, which allows you to manipulate it however you like. It’s great for applications that don’t have a high wear level or don’t need as much fatigue resistance. This means that it can be used in low-stress environments and perform reliably. EN3B steel is perfect for low-stress applications like making rods, shafts and general-purpose mechanical components. Due to its unmatched weldability, it can also be used for fabrication projects that put different materials together to create a structure.

EN8 (080M40) – Medium Carbon Engineering Steel

When it comes to EN8 (080M40) engineering steel, it’s the most used engineering steel grade in the UK. This is because even though it’s a mild steel, it’s made up of more carbon than usual mild steel, which gives you a higher tensile strength and better hardness. It offers superior mechanical properties at an affordable price, which is why it’s so popular. The material costs slightly more than typical mild steel, but it’s a lower cost than high-carbon and alloyed engineering steels.

This material can be heat-treated to further improve its wear resistance to withstand constant impact and stress without breaking or losing its quality. It’s also easy to machine and manipulate however you like, while offering higher strength than mild steel. Due to these useful properties, EN8 can be used for a wide range of applications, including bolts, studs, nuts, bearings, spindles and even automotive parts.

EN16T (605M36T) – High Tensile Engineering Steel

This EN steel grade has a medium carbon and manganese content that offers incredible strength and toughness. It’s extremely popular in a hardened and tempered state, which helps to create quality components that can withstand high stress and fatigue.

EN16T (605M36T) has unmatched toughness, tensile strength and wear resistance to be used for heavy-duty applications and projects that require higher stress levels. The material can be easily heat-treated to provide a much harder surface while keeping a tough core. This means that you can use it for high-performance engineering parts that face constant use, movement and harsh conditions. It’s commonly used in automotive, industrial and general engineering applications and can make shafts, gears, studs, axles, bolts, couplings and other heavy-duty mechanical parts.

EN19T (709M40T) – High-Strength Alloy Steel

This engineering steel grade is a chromium-molybdenum alloy steel that offers great strength and toughness to withstand heavy, constant use and harsher environments. It can produce quality heavy-duty components that have to face demanding mechanical environments.

EN19T (709M40T) has impressive tensile strength, high fatigue resistance, good shock resistance, toughness and great wear resistance. This means you can rely on this engineering steel for harsh environments and regular heavy-duty use. It can also be heat-treated easily to further improve its hardness while keeping a tough core. This is great for precise and critical engineering parts. EN19 can be used for gears, crankshafts, automotive components, tough shafts, heavy machinery parts and axles.

EN24T (817M40T) – High-Strength Alloy Steel

EN24T (817M40T) is another high-strength alloy grade that contains nickel, chromium and molybdenum. This provides unparalleled toughness and strength, which makes it very suitable for heavy-duty applications. It’s the grade you use for projects that require a high wear-resistance while still being easy to machine. It can be used for applications that have to face high stress, wear or impact.

This steel grade offers a very high tensile strength, great wear resistance and exceptional fatigue resistance to give you a material you can rely on. This means that it can withstand heavy stress and repeated use in even the most demanding environments. It can create precise and high-quality heavy-duty components, such as aerospace parts, heavy-duty gears, high-performance shafts and automotive parts.

EN36B (655M13) – Case Hardening Alloy Steel

EN36B (655M13) is a case hardening alloy steel that is made from nickel and chromium. Due to undergoing the case hardening heat treatment process, this steel has a harder surface while keeping a softer core to improve its durability and wear resistance.

Even with a slightly softer core, this engineering steel has great core strength, a high level of toughness and unmatched wear resistance after carburising. It also has exceptional hardening capabilities and can be further heat-treated to achieve a harder case with a strong, ductile core, which makes it ideal for demanding mechanical applications. EN36B is commonly used for heavy-duty gears, high-strength components, camshafts and heavy-duty machine parts because it can withstand tough environments and constant heavy use.

EN40B (722M24T) – Nitriding Steel

This type of engineering steel grade in the UK is a specialised alloy steel that is made for nitriding. The steel can undergo the heat treatment process that uses nitrogen and puts it into the surface to create a harder, wear-resistant layer.

Due to this, EN40B (722M24T) has incredible toughness and a strong fatigue strength. It also boasts good wear resistance because of its hard surface, which is created through nitriding. This steel also has a strong core, which helps it to have minimal distortion during heat treatment. EN40B is great for creating heavy-duty parts and precision engineering applications. These include automotive engine parts, precision shafts, high-performance gears and valve components.

BDMS (080A15) – Bright Drawn Mild Steel

BDMS (080A15) stands for bright drawn mild steel. This is a cold-finished steel that offers a perfectly smooth and bright surface finish and better dimensional accuracy. Due to the smooth finish and precision, the steel offers, it provides unmatched machinability, allowing you to easily work with the metal.

This type of engineering steel grade also has consistent strength that you can rely on for a variety of applications and excellent weldability, so you can join different materials to create a sturdy structure. The steel is suitable for components that don’t require high wear resistance but need reliable quality and performance instead. It’s typically used for general engineering applications, like precision-machined components, machine parts, shafts, studs and rods.

Our Collection of Quality Engineering Steel Grades

At Rapid Metals, we offer a varied range of high-quality engineering steel grades to suit your project and needs. Our collection provides you with a grade for different purposes to ensure that there’s always something that can work for your project. This means that you can easily find the right engineering steel for the job. On top of this, we also offer different grades in different forms, such as round and flat. You can also find various sizes to get the exact measurements you need, and, if there isn’t the size you want, we also offer a personalised cutting service. Our cutting service gives you cut-to-size engineering steel to minimise material wastage and give you the exact measurement your project requires.

Browse our collection of engineering steel grades for the UK and find the right one for you.