AISI 1018 steel is low-carbon mild steel with excellent compressive strength and toughness. It’s highly weldable and recognized as the best steel that can be carburized. Numerous companies are producing 1018 steel but the question is, how do we find the best quality 1018 steel from the best manufacturer?
It might interest you to know that not all 1018 steel has the same quality of components and that’s what this guide is all about. We are going to help you differentiate and find the most suitable 1018 steel to buy and from the best manufacturer, you can trust for quality when buying any type of steel.
WHAT IS THE AISI IN 1018 STEEL?
For the American Iron and Steel Institute, the AISI is an acronym for a short term. The term AISI only helps to identify and differentiate particular steel from others and as well shows how steel is processed.
So when you talk about AISI 1018 steel you should remember that its a steel that is manufactured by its terms
WHAT’S THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF 1018 STEEL?
As I said earlier it’s important to know about 1018 steel before buying it to understand the real composite of AISI 1018 steel. It is made up of the following components:
-Manganese (Mn) – 0.60-0.90
-Carbon (C) – 0.15-0.20
-Sulfur (S) – 0.05 (max)
-Phosphorous (P) – 0.04 (max)
-Iron (Fe) – Balance
These are the components of AISI 1018 Steel and their composite materials.
Some variations will be noticeable since manufacturers place and combine them in different ways.
Knowing the components used in making 1018 steel is very important but you must as well know that companies combine the elements differently and that’s why you only need to buy from a trusted manufacturer.
WHAT THE 1018 STEEL GRADING NUMBER REPRESENTS
You might not understand why 1018 is attached to the name of this steel but it simply helps to identify a particular steel type and its elements. For instance, 1018 represents a type of carbon steel that has not been modified and contains 0.18 percent carbon.
There are different types of steel in the market and the grading numbers are used to differentiate different types of steel.
To go into details, A four-digit number is designated for carbon steels, the first number being the main alloying elements, the second digit indicating the elements tg (top grade), and the last two digits indicating carbon amount by weight in hundredths of a percentage point.
WHAT ARE THE PROPERTIES OF 1018 STEEL?
Just like every other steel, 1018 contains thermal, mechanical and physical properties. To make it easier for you to understand, we are going to explain each of the Thermal, mechanical and physical properties to help you understand more about AISI 1018 steel.
Thermal Properties
The AISI 1018 carbon steel thermal properties are presented in the table below.
| Properties | Metric | Imperial |
| Thermal conductivity | 51.9 W/mK | 360 BTU in/hr.ft2.°F |
Mechanical Properties
AISI 1018 carbon steel drawn in the cold is shown in the following table.
| Properties | Metric | Imperial |
| Tensile strength | 440 MPa | 63800 psi |
| Yield strength | 370 MPa | 53700 psi |
| Modulus of elasticity | 205 GPa | 29700 ksi |
| Shear modulus (typical for steel) | 80 GPa | 11600 ksi |
| Poisson’s ratio | 0.29 | 0.29 |
| Elongation at break (in 50 mm) | 15% | 15% |
| Hardness, Brinell | 126 | 126 |
| Hardness, Knoop (converted from Brinell hardness) | 145 | 145 |
| Hardness, Rockwell B (converted from Brinell hardness) | 71 | 71 |
| Hardness, Vickers (converted from Brinell hardness) | 131 | 131 |
| Machinability (based on AISI 1212 steel. as 100 machinabilities) | 70 | 70 |
Physical Properties
The AISI 1018 carbon steel’s physical properties are shown below
| Properties | Metric | Imperial |
| Density | 7.87 g/cm3 | 0.284 lb/in3 |









