1045 Carbon Steel

1045 Carbon Steel is a widely used medium-carbon steel offering higher strength, hardness, and wear resistance than 1018 while maintaining good machinability. Its mechanical properties can be further improved through normalizing, hardening, and tempering, making it suitable for shafts, gears, and precision mechanical components subjected to medium-to-high loads.

Appearance & Properties

Color: Silver-gray to dark gray

Density: Approx. 7.85 g/cm³

Tensile Strength: Approx. 570–700 MPa (depending on material condition and heat treatment)

Corrosion Resistance: Poor

Machinability: Good

Weldability: Moderate

Wear Resistance: Good

Magnetism: Magnetic

Heat Treatment: Suitable for normalizing, hardening, tempering, etc.

Surface Finishes: Zinc plating, nickel plating, black oxide, phosphating, painting, powder coating, etc.

Typical Applications

1045 Carbon Steel is widely used in automotive, industrial machinery, automation equipment, agricultural machinery, transmission systems, and engineering equipment.

Typical parts include drive shafts, gears, sprockets, pins, bolts, connecting rods, spindles, rollers, couplings, and various high-strength CNC machined components.

Advantages

• Higher strength and hardness than low-carbon steel

• Good machinability

• Mechanical properties can be improved through heat treatment

• Good wear resistance and load-bearing capacity

• Cost-effective for general mechanical components

Limitations

• Poor corrosion resistance and usually requires surface protection

• Lower weldability than 1018

• More difficult to CNC machine after hardening

• Not suitable for highly corrosive environments