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 | ||||
