1018 Cold Rolled Steel

The term steel refers to iron whereby 0.02 to 1.7% carbon has been added. There are many different types and various alloys and applications for each type. This makes steel a popular choice for many different types of products. It is used commonly in the manufacturing of automobiles, homes, cutlery, appliances, and magnetic cores just to name a few. Generally it is low cost and it is easy to finish with paint or other coatings. Steel does, however, have poor corrosion resistance.

The numeric system that describes types of steel helps to determine the alloying ingredients by the first two digits of the alloy number, and the last two digits refer to the carbon content. Generally, as carbon is added, machinability and weldability decrease but tensile strength increases.

In steel manufacturing, rolling is a forming process whereby metal materials are passed through a pair of rollers. Rolling is classified according to the temperature of the metal rolled. There are different types of rolling; the most common are hot rolling and cold rolling. Cold rolling is the process that occurs when the metal is below its recrystallization temperature. When the metal is higher than its recrystallization temperature it is referred to as hot rolling.

1018 Cold Rolled Steel is medium low carbon and has good weldability and slightly better machinability than the lower carbon steels. Available in flat bar, round bar, and square bar, 1018 is often zinc coated and can be stamped for easy identification. AISI 1018 is one of the most commonly available grades worldwide. This alloy can easily be brought to a fine cold finish.

1018 cold rolled steel flat bars are great for most processing techniques. 1018 cold rolled steel has a smooth dark grey oiled surface with sharp defined edges. 1018 cold roll bars have a higher tensile and yield strength compared to hot rolled bars, it is also a low carbon steel with good case hardening qualities. ASTM A108-07 is the standard specification for steel bar, carbon, and alloy. It is especially suited to cold forming and bending operations.

General Characteristics of 1018 Cold Finished Bar

• Easy to form, weld, machine and fabricate
• Can be welded without pre-heating or post-heating
• Suitable for cold forming

Typical Uses

Because of its high workability, machinability, and combination of most steel traits, 1018 steel is useful for creating a number of high-volume machine parts, including:

• Fasteners
• Anchor bolts
• Pins
• Rods
• Gears
• Ratchets

Applications

1018 cold rolled steel has a large variety of applications. It is used for parts requiring cold forming, such as crimping or bending. For severe bends, stress relieving may be necessary to prevent cracking. 1018 is suitable for carburized parts, such as gears, ratchets, pins, chain pins, dowels, machine parts, tool holders, etc. It is used when good workability is required such as parts requiring threading, drilling, and machining. It is used for mounting plates, spacers and fixtures. Cold rolled steel’s chemical composition is suitable for all applications that do not require the strength of high carbon and alloy steels

Types of Cold Rolled Steel

Consolidated Metal Service Inc. also works with the following types of cold rolled steel:

• 1008 Cold Rolled Steel
• 1010 Cold Rolled Steel
• 1020 Cold Rolled Steel
• 4140 Cold Rolled Steel

In addition to custom slitting metals, other services provided by Consolidated Metal Service, Inc. include:

• Cold Rolled Steel Edging – removing slitting burrs from the edge of steel coil and rolling the edge into a desired shape.
• Cold Rolled Steel Toll Processing – slitting and edging your coiled metal inventory which you can drop-ship to our location.
• Local & Cross-Country Shipping – providing local delivery with our own fleet and cross-country shipping through national providers.