At Wasatch Steel, we’re happy to offer a wide variety of alloys and custom steel options. Whatever your project, we can help you source and find the proper type of steel to get the job done right.

Many types of steel are formed by combining major alloys, and chromoly steel is an example here. This is a type of low-alloy steel that combines chromium and molybdenum, to major alloying elements. It’s regularly used when you need more strength than mild carbon steel, and while it can come with an increase in cost, it’s well worth it for most buyers. Here are some basics on chromoly steel.

Alloy Steel Grade

Chromoly steel is actually alloy steel grade 4130. The “30” at the end here designates that this form has about 0.3 percent carbon by weight. While it holds the same percentage of carbon as AISI 1030, its mild steel counterpart, the alloying elements chromium and molybdenum help give it different properties, including higher strength that can be increased even further using a hardening procedure. Molybdenum increases the toughness.

In addition, chromium helps increase hardenability and corrosion resistance in the steel. However, this is not the primary property of chromoly steel, and other materials with more corrosion resistance should be considered if the project is being done in a corrosive environment.

Common Applications

In its annealed state, chromoly steel has good formability, good machinability, and is very weldable. Preheat is usually a good idea for thick sections or welding processes.

The applications of chromoly can be found in numerous industries, particularly in automotive, bicycle, oil and gas, metal production, forming equipment and heavy equipment parts. It can be used to create molds, pins, bike tubing, furnace equipment, crank shafts, chain links, drill collars, machine shafts, conveyors, tie rods and various miscellaneous tooling applications.

To learn more about chromoly or find out about any of our other steel services, speak to the pros at Wasatch Steel today.