Standard SteelsSteel is often classified by its carbon content: a high-carbon steel is serviceable for dies and cutting tools because of its great hardness and brittleness; low- or medium-carbon steel is used for sheeting and structural forms because of its amenability to welding and tooling. Alloy steels, now most widely used, contain one or more other elements to give them specific qualities. Aluminum steel is smooth and has a high tensile strength. Chromium steel finds wide use in automobile and airplane parts on account of its hardness, strength, and elasticity, as does the chromium-vanadium variety. Nickel steel is the most widely used of the alloys; it is nonmagnetic and has the tensile properties of high-carbon steel without the brittleness. Nickel-chromium steel possesses a shock resistant quality that makes it suitable for armor plate. Wolfram (tungsten), molybdenum, and high-manganese steel are other alloys. Stainless steel has a high tensile strength and resists abrasion and corrosion because of its high chromium content.
Carbon Steels Carbon Steels are steels whose alloying elements do not exceed these limits: 1% carbon, 0.6% copper, 1.65% manganese, 0.4% phosphorus, 0.6% silicon, and 0.05% sulfur Alloy Steels
Steels that exceed the element limits for carbon steels. Also includes steels that contain elements not found in carbon steels such as nickel, chromium (up to 3.99%), cobalt, etc. Tool Steels Tool steels are steels that are primarily used to make tools used in manufacturing processes as well as for machining metals, woods, and plastics. Tool steels are generally ingot-cast wrought products, and must be able to withstand high specific loads as well as be stable at elevated temperatures. Stainless SteelsThe stainless steels owe their resistance to corrosion to the presence of chromium. Brearley discovered this fact more or less accidentally in 1913. Today, there is a range of steels from the plain chromium variety to those containing up to six alloying elements in addition to the usual impurities.
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All about Steel 
