Steel and Equivalent Carbon
Calculating the hardness of steel through acquiring the carbon equivalent of the steel is a significant piece of information for the welding process. Alloying materials such as manganese, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, nickel, and copper affect the weldability of alloy steel. The higher the amount of each of these materials in the pipe, the harder the alloy steel becomes, which in turn decrease the likelihood of being able to make a successful, sturdy weld.
For this equation the weldability is based on a range of CE values can be defined as follows:
| Carbon equivalent (CE) |
Weldability |
| Up to .35 |
Excellent |
| .36 - .40 |
Very good |
| .41 - .45 |
Good |
| .46 - .50 |
Fair |
| Over .50 |
Poor |