ForMatter/Materials/metal/Steel 1018 (Mild Steel)
mat_steel_1018

Steel 1018 (Mild Steel)

low-carbon plain steel · mild steel, low-carbon steel, AISI 1018, C1018
highlast updated 2026-04-27
metallic 0.00
hue shift +0°

The bread-and-butter steel. Soft enough to drill in a school shop with hand tools, strong enough for almost any structural prototype. Welds easily, machines easily, rusts if you forget about it. The first metal most students cut.

Plain low-carbon steel (~0.18% C, ~0.75% Mn). Cold-drawn or hot-rolled. Excellent weldability and machinability. Not heat-treatable for hardness — rely on case hardening or cold work for surface strength. Yields readily; takes a clean weld with any common process.

mechanical

  • tensile_strength_mpa440
  • yield_strength_mpa370
  • elastic_modulus_gpa205
  • elongation_pct15
  • hardness_brinell126
source: MakeItFrom

thermal

  • melting_point_c1515
  • thermal_conductivity_w_mk51.9
source: MakeItFrom

physical

  • density_kg_m37870
source: ASM Handbook; MakeItFrom (AISI 1018 carbon steel)

Sustainability

  • embodied carbon kg co2e per kg1.95
  • sourceEditorial estimate from ICE / Granta CES EduPack class databases — industry mean, with cradle-to-gate boundary unless otherwise noted. Embodied carbon for any specific product depends on supplier mix, recycled content, and energy grid; verify against a primary source before using these numbers in a sustainability claim.
  • embodied carbon recycled kg co2e per kg0.5
  • recyclabilityvery high — most-recycled material on Earth, magnetic separation makes recovery trivial
  • biodegradableFalse
  • certifications—
  • localityglobally available; mills in nearly every industrial region
visual
matte gray, develops orange rust within hours of exposure to humid air
tactile
cool, smooth on cold-drawn surfaces, gritty on hot-rolled scale
weight perception
heavy
acoustic
ringing clang when struck thin, dense thud when struck thick
Georgius Agricola (dead — quote)

Iron is used not only in hand to hand fighting, but also to form the winged missiles for hurling engines, sometimes for lances, sometimes even for arrows. I look upon it as the most deadly fruit of human ingenuity. For to bring Death to men more quickly we have given wings to iron and taught it to fly.

De Re Metallica (1556), Book I, p. 11. Trans. Herbert Clark Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover (Dover Publications, 1950).

PBR starter values

Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere metallic finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material.

# finish:      metallic
albedo        #7a7c80
metallic      1.00
roughness     0.25
ior           1.45
transmission  0.00
clearcoat     0.00
sheen         0.00
anisotropic   0.00
copy as JSON 
{
  "albedo": "#7a7c80",
  "metallic": 1.0,
  "roughness": 0.25,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "transmission": 0.0,
  "clearcoat": 0.0,
  "sheen": 0.0,
  "anisotropic": 0.0
}
Blender 4.x Python 
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Steel 1018 (Mild Steel) · finish: metallic
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_steel_1018")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value         = (0.1946, 0.2016, 0.2159, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value           = 1.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value          = 0.250
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value                = 1.450
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value        = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value       = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value        = 0.000
KeyShot Python (lux) 
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Steel 1018 (Mild Steel) · finish: metallic
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_steel_1018", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse",      (122, 124, 128))   # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic",     1.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness",    0.250)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.450)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 0.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
Substance pbrMetalRough 
{
  "_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
  "_about": "Steel 1018 (Mild Steel) \u00b7 finish: metallic",
  "baseColor": {
    "r": 0.1946,
    "g": 0.2016,
    "b": 0.2159
  },
  "metallic": 1.0,
  "roughness": 0.25,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "opacity": 1.0,
  "anisotropyLevel": 0.0,
  "_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}
glTF 2.0 Metallic-Roughness 
{
  "asset": {
    "version": "2.0",
    "generator": "ForMatter"
  },
  "materials": [
    {
      "name": "mat_steel_1018",
      "pbrMetallicRoughness": {
        "baseColorFactor": [
          0.1946,
          0.2016,
          0.2159,
          1.0
        ],
        "metallicFactor": 1.0,
        "roughnessFactor": 0.25
      },
      "extensions": {
        "KHR_materials_ior": {
          "ior": 1.45
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
USD Preview Surface 
# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Steel 1018 (Mild Steel) · finish: metallic
def Material "mat_steel_1018" {
    token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_steel_1018/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>

    def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
        uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
        color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.1946, 0.2016, 0.2159)
        float   inputs:metallic     = 1.000
        float   inputs:roughness    = 0.250
        float   inputs:ior          = 1.450
        float   inputs:opacity      = 1.000
        float   inputs:clearcoat    = 0.000
        token   outputs:surface
    }
}
↓ download glTF material
ProcessCNC Milling · Laser Cutting · Water-Jet Cutting · MIG Welding · TIG Welding · Sheet-Metal Bending
Used inBicycle frame · Chair · Extruded-Aluminum Furniture
Substitutes
Steel 4130 (Chromoly)
Aluminum 6061
Stainless Steel 304

Citations