What is DC01 Steel?
DC01 steel (standard number 1.0330) is a cold-rolled, low-carbon, non-alloy quality steel defined under the EN 10130 standard. It belongs to the "DC" family for cold forming - "DC" stands for "Drawing Cold," while "01" indicates the base grade of this family. DC01 is produced as flat sheets or coils via cold rolling, resulting in consistent thickness, smooth surface finish, and excellent uniformity.
As a general-purpose cold-rolled steel, DC01 offers a balance of mechanical strength, ductility, and surface quality - making it suitable for a wide variety of forming, stamping, and manufacturing applications.
DC01 represents the basic grade of the DC steel family and is also known under the former designations St12 or FeP01. This grade can be used for simple forming operations such as bending, coining, beading and drawing. DC01 - send request!
Chemical Composition & Standards
The chemical composition of DC01 steel (per EN 10130) is carefully controlled to ensure desirable cold-forming and mechanical properties. Typical maximum values are:
| Element | Max. Content (% by weight) |
|---|---|
| Carbon (C) | 0.12 (trends.directindustry.com) |
| Manganese (Mn) | 0.60 (European Steel Business Group) |
| Phosphorus (P) | 0.045 (trends.directindustry.com) |
| Sulfur (S) | 0.045 (trends.directindustry.com) |
| Silicon (Si) (if specified) | usually low / minimal (steelnumber.com) |
This low-carbon, low-alloy composition ensures that DC01 remains ductile and easy to form, while maintaining acceptable strength for many manufacturing uses.
Mechanical Properties
Under EN 10130 specification, DC01 steel typically exhibits the following mechanical properties:
| Property | Typical Range |
|---|---|
| Yield Strength (0.2% offset) | 140 – 280 MPa (SteelPro) |
| Tensile Strength | 270 – 410 MPa (Gnee Steel (tianjin) Co., Ltd) |
| Elongation at Break (A80) | ≥ 28% (Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH) |
| Hardness (Brinell / Rockwell) | ~ 85 – 120 HB (approx. HRB 50 – 70) (opusteel) |
These properties confer a good balance of strength, ductility and formability - enabling DC01 to be processed through bending, drawing, stamping, and other cold-forming operations without cracking.
Key Advantages of DC01 Steel
- Excellent Cold Formability - thanks to low carbon and controlled alloying, DC01 can undergo bending, stamping, drawing, and other cold-forming processes with minimal risk of cracking or brittleness.
- Smooth Surface Finish & Dimensional Accuracy - cold rolling ensures tight thickness tolerances and a smooth surface, which is ideal for subsequent coating, painting or galvanizing.
- Good Weldability & Machinability - low carbon content improves weldability, and the uniform microstructure supports stable welding quality and secondary machining processes.
- Cost-Effective & Versatile - as a base-grade cold-rolled steel, DC01 is commonly available and economically priced relative to more specialized steel grades.
Typical Applications
Given its mechanical/treatment properties, DC01 steel is widely used in:
Automotive components: body panels, inner panels, brackets, reinforcements, and non-critical structural parts.
Household appliances: housings, panels and internal structural components for washing machines, refrigerators, ovens, air-conditioners, etc.
General manufacturing: stamped or formed parts, thin-wall shells, chassis, brackets, enclosures, and other formed metal parts requiring good formability and surface finish.
While raw DC01 has limited natural corrosion resistance (typical for low-carbon steels), it is well suited for surface treatments such as electro-galvanizing, painting or coating. The smooth surface and uniform microstructure of cold-rolled DC01 allows excellent adhesion and uniform distribution of coatings - making it a good substrate for corrosion-protected or decorative applications.
Our company can also supply the following cold-rolled steel grades:
DC01 – Designed for basic forming processes such as bending, embossing, beading and standard drawing operations.
DC03 – Intended for more demanding forming applications, including deep drawing and more complex profiling.
DC04 – Suitable for applications requiring high levels of formability.
DC05 – A deep-drawing grade developed to meet very high forming requirements.
DC06 – A special deep-drawing grade engineered for the highest demands in cold forming.
DC07 – An ultra deep-drawing grade tailored for extreme and highly challenging forming operations.
DC01 steel stands out as a dependable, economical, and versatile cold-rolled low-carbon steel grade. With its favorable combination of mechanical strength, ductility, smooth surface, weldability and formability, it offers a dependable solution for a broad range of applications - from automotive parts and appliances to general manufacturing and coated products. For companies like GNEE STEEL aiming to supply cold-rolled, coated, or formed steel products, DC01 represents a foundational material grade suitable for many projects with moderate forming and finishing requirements.