SAE AISI 5160 Steel, High Carbon 5160 Spring Steel Properties, Composition

AISI 5160 Steel

AISI 5160 steel, also known as 5160 spring steel, is a high carbon chromium alloy (maximum carbon content 0.61%, chromium content 0.9%). AISI SAE 5160 high carbon steel has excellent toughness, ductility and fatigue resistance and is commonly used in industrial applications as well as in the automotive sector for many different heavy duty spring applications, especially for leaf springs. In addition, 5160 carbon steel is also used to make knives and swords.

5160 Spring Steel Datasheet

The table below shows the AISI 5160 steel datasheet such as chemical composition, and mechanical properties.

Chemical Composition

Datasheet 2, 5160 spring steel chemical composition

	AISI 5160 Chemical Composition (%)
Grade (UNS)	C	Si	Mn	P (≤)	S (≤)	Cr
5160 (G51600)	0.56-0.61	0.15-0.35	0.75-1.00	0.035	0.040	0.70-0.90

Mechanical Properties

The following data sheet shows the AISI 5160 steel mechanical properties such as yield strength, tensile strength, elongation, reduction in area and corresponding hardness under various conditions.

Datasheet 3, AISI SAE 5160 spring steel mechanical properties in heat-treated or cold worked conditions.

	5160 carbon steel mechanical properties for 25 mm (1 in.) diam bar
Steel (UNS)	Tensile strength (Mpa) ≥	Yield strength (Mpa) ≥	Elongation in 50 mm, % ≥	Reduction in area, % ≥	Hardness (HB)	Processing, condition or treatment
AISI 5160 (G51600)	1025	650	18.2	50.7	285	Normalized at 855 °C (1575 °F)
	724	275	17.2	30.6	197	Annealed at 815 °C (1495 °F)
	1145	1005	14.5	45.7	341	Oil quenched from 830 °C (1525 °F) and tempered at 540 °C (1000 °F)

Datasheet 4, 5160 high carbon steel mechanical properties in the quenched and tempered condition.

	5160 carbon steel mechanical properties in the quenched and tempered condition. (13 mm)
Steel (UNS)	Tensile strength (Mpa) ≥	Yield strength (Mpa) ≥	Elongation in 50 mm, % ≥	Reduction in area, % ≥	Hardness (HB)	Tempering temperature, ℃ (℉)
AISI 5160 (G51600)	2220	1790	4	10	625	205 (400)
	2000	1770	9	30	555	315 (600)
	1605	1460	10	37	460	425 (800)
	1165	1040	12	47	340	540 (1000)
	895	800	20	56	270	650 (1200)

5160 Carbon Steel Heat Treatment

Heat treatment of 5160 steel includes spheroidizing annealing, full annealing, normalizing and austenitizing.

Normalizing

5160 spring steel typical normalizing temperature is 870 °C (1600 °F).

Spheroidizing Annealing

Heat to 750 °C, rapidly cool to 705 °C, or slowly cool to 650 °C at 6 °C (10 °F)/h, or isothermal annealing at 675 °C, isothermal duration of 10 hours.

Full Annealing

Heat to 830 °C, rapidly cool to 705 °C, then slowly cool to 650 °C at a rate of 11 °C (20 °F)/h. Or rapidly cooled to 675 °C, held for 6 hours for isothermal annealing.

Austenitizing

Austenitizing temperature for direct-hardening is 800-845 °C (1475-1550 °F)

Forging

Typical forging temperature of 5160 carbon steel is 1205 °C.

Welding

AISI SAE 5160 steel is not suitable for welding.

AISI 5160 Equivalent Grade

ASTM AISI SAE 5160 carbon steel equivalent to European EN (German DIN EN, British BSI, French NF…), Chinese GB and Japanese JIS standard.

AISI 5160 steel equivalent
US		Germany		China		Japan		ISO
Standard	Grade (UNS)	Standard	Steel name (Steel number)	Standard	Grade	Standard	Grade	Standard	Grade
AISI SAE; ASTM A29/A29M; ASTM A322	5160 (G51600)			GB/T 1222	60CrMn	JIS G4801	SUP9A