What Are the Differences Between Ordinary Steel Wire and PC Steel Wire ?

Ordinary steel wire has a much wider range of applications and lower mechanical properties compared to PC steel wire. Due to differences in design positioning and process requirements, ordinary steel wire and PC steel wire exhibit significant differences in materials, performance, and applications. The former is suitable for general low-load scenarios, while the latter is specifically designed for high-stress, high-durability engineering structures. As a professional supplier of PC steel wire, we analyze these factors as follows:

I. Materials and Production Process

- Ordinary Steel Wire: Made from ordinary carbon steel (such as HRB335/400 grade), the production process only requires hot-rolled wire rod cold-drawing, without additional heat treatment or precision control procedures. The process is simple and low-cost; dimensional tolerances are not strictly required, only meeting basic usage standards.

- PC Steel Wire: Made from high carbon steel (carbon content 0.65%-0.85%), the production process includes core processes such as cold drawing and strengthening, stabilization heat treatment (tempering at 350-400℃ to eliminate internal stress), and tensioning and aging treatment. Some also require galvanizing/epoxy coating for corrosion protection. Strict control of dimensional accuracy, diameter deviation ≤ ±0.05mm, and type testing and certification are required.

II. Mechanical and Durability Properties

Ordinary Steel Wire

- Lower tensile strength, mostly 550-800MPa (typically ≤600MPa), higher elongation but no prestressing reinforcement design;

- No low relaxation characteristic requirement, poor fatigue resistance, prone to fatigue fracture under repeated loading;

- No prestressing design, unable to offset external tensile stress, weak durability and corrosion resistance.

PC Steel Wire

- Tensile strength ≥1470MPa, mainstream specifications reach 1570MPa, 1860MPa (some can reach 1960MPa), higher yield strength and elastic modulus;

- Possesses low relaxation characteristics (relaxation rate ≤2.5%), less stress loss; prestressing offsets external tensile stress, significantly improving fatigue life and fatigue strength;

- Surface treatments such as galvanizing and scoring enhance corrosion resistance, tempering further delays crack propagation, resulting in durability far exceeding ordinary steel wire.

III. Quality Standards

- Ordinary Steel Wire conforms to general steel standards such as GB/T 343, which have lenient requirements for mechanical properties, surface quality, and dimensional accuracy, and no special performance certification requirements;

- PC Steel Wire follows the special national standard GB/T 5223, which has stringent specifications for surface quality, mechanical properties, and relaxation performance, and can only be used after passing type testing and certification.

IV. Application Scenarios

- Ordinary Steel Wire: Primarily used in low-load, non-stressed, or temporary applications, such as binding, weaving, simple support, and ordinary hardware fittings. It does not need to withstand long-term high-stress loads.

- PC Steel Wire: Its core applications are in prestressed concrete structures such as bridges, rail transit, large buildings, and wind turbine foundations. Applications include box girder tensioning and pile foundation reinforcement. These structures need to withstand high prestress loads over long periods and are crucial for the durability and safety of engineering structures.

In summary, the essential difference between the two types of steel wire lies in their positioning: "general-purpose" versus "engineering-specific." Ordinary steel wire meets basic usage requirements, is low-cost but has limited performance; PC steel wire, through material upgrades and process enhancements, is suitable for high-stress, high-durability engineering scenarios, making it an irreplaceable core material in infrastructure projects. 

If you have any needs for purchasing PC steel wire, please contact us directly. Our company's official website lists our phone number and email address. You can call us for a quote and professional assistance. We look forward to hearing from you.