Carbon steel is by far the most common metal that is welded. Chosen for its relatively low-cost, it is easily cut, formed and welded. It is frequently chosen for its strength and versatility, although normally it needs to be coated, whether with paint, powder coating or by galvanising.
Carbon steel is available with varying levels of carbon content; these are grouped as per the following:
- Low (or mild) carbon steel
- Medium carbon steel
- High carbon steel
- Ultra-high
Carbon steel, with a low carbon content, is by far the most common variant and therefore, for this reason, carbon steel is often referred to as mild steel even when it has a higher carbon content.
The applications for carbon steel spans all applications, ranging from small items such as chairs through to cars, bridges or ships.
The Ferrolinx® weld process gases range has been purpose-designed for MAG welding carbon, carbon manganese and low alloy steels. The gases give superb weld quality and excellent penetration together with minimal spatter and low fume levels.
Ferrolinx® Plus is our best gas for carbon steel and it increases manual weld speeds by up to 19% compared with conventional weld process gases.
Ferrolinx® 7 is our thin steel specialist gas. This mixture improves weld quality and reduces rejects and provides excellent weld pool control, particularly at low voltages on thin sheet materials (up to 10mm thick) and is well suited for positional welding.
Completing the range is Ferrolinx® 15 weld process gas. This reliable all-rounder improves weld quality and reduces rejects, gives excellent penetration characteristics, and is tolerant to variations in weld parameter settings.
