JohnSTA
Materials
- Sep 20, 2012
- 2
Hey guys! New to the board!
I've recently started a weightlifting equipment business with 3 partners. Our goal right now is to manufacture barbells and bumper plates with the eventual goal to expand our line to other pieces of equipment that are beneficial to increasing sports specific athletic performance. However, we are weightlifters first, so the two pieces of equipment central to our business is of course barbells and weights.
Since we are starting out small, we have been sourcing materials and equipment overseas. 60Si2Mn spring steel and 65 Mn spring steel both seem to be popular with the Chinese. I found tensile and yield strength values on 60Si2Mn spring steel, although I'm not sure how accurate they are as the source is from one of the manufacturers. I would suppose these values would be reliant on the type of heat treatment given to that specific sample of alloy. Anyways, tensile and yield strength values for 60Si2Mn spring steel are listed below:
Tensile Strength: 1274 MPa (130)
Yield Strength: 1176 MPa (120)
I haven't been able to find any values for the 65 Mn spring steel. I have several questions for you guys. I'd like to apologize upfront if any of my questions seem vague or uninformed, I'm obviously not an expert in this field and am very new to metallurgy in general. I'll try my best to format these questions correctly.
First, I'd like to know if there is anyone on here who is familiar with these two alloys? If so, do the tensile and yield strength numbers I posted above for 60Si2Mn look somewhat accurate? Are there American equivalents to these steels? If not, would anybody happen to know of a good, flexible, strong steel available in the US that might be a viable substitute? Is there a reliable database of some sort that I could look through myself to get some of this info?
My purpose with asking these questions is to really educate myself on the properties of these alloys. Tensile and yield strength is not the entire story with barbells. A bar must be strong and durable, so those numbers need to be fairly high (the values I gave above are very good for a quality barbell, around the industry standard), but the material must also be flexible to allow for what is known in the weightlifting world as "whip", which from what I understand basically refers to the bars ability to store elastic energy. My guess is the requirements of both whip and strength being present, that is why spring steel is popular for these applications. Thanks in advance guys for any help provided!
John
I've recently started a weightlifting equipment business with 3 partners. Our goal right now is to manufacture barbells and bumper plates with the eventual goal to expand our line to other pieces of equipment that are beneficial to increasing sports specific athletic performance. However, we are weightlifters first, so the two pieces of equipment central to our business is of course barbells and weights.
Since we are starting out small, we have been sourcing materials and equipment overseas. 60Si2Mn spring steel and 65 Mn spring steel both seem to be popular with the Chinese. I found tensile and yield strength values on 60Si2Mn spring steel, although I'm not sure how accurate they are as the source is from one of the manufacturers. I would suppose these values would be reliant on the type of heat treatment given to that specific sample of alloy. Anyways, tensile and yield strength values for 60Si2Mn spring steel are listed below:
Tensile Strength: 1274 MPa (130)
Yield Strength: 1176 MPa (120)
I haven't been able to find any values for the 65 Mn spring steel. I have several questions for you guys. I'd like to apologize upfront if any of my questions seem vague or uninformed, I'm obviously not an expert in this field and am very new to metallurgy in general. I'll try my best to format these questions correctly.
First, I'd like to know if there is anyone on here who is familiar with these two alloys? If so, do the tensile and yield strength numbers I posted above for 60Si2Mn look somewhat accurate? Are there American equivalents to these steels? If not, would anybody happen to know of a good, flexible, strong steel available in the US that might be a viable substitute? Is there a reliable database of some sort that I could look through myself to get some of this info?
My purpose with asking these questions is to really educate myself on the properties of these alloys. Tensile and yield strength is not the entire story with barbells. A bar must be strong and durable, so those numbers need to be fairly high (the values I gave above are very good for a quality barbell, around the industry standard), but the material must also be flexible to allow for what is known in the weightlifting world as "whip", which from what I understand basically refers to the bars ability to store elastic energy. My guess is the requirements of both whip and strength being present, that is why spring steel is popular for these applications. Thanks in advance guys for any help provided!
John
