Cov cuab yeej hlau muaj cov ntsiab lus siab carbon, feem ntau ntau dua 0.5% los ntawm qhov hnyav. Kev ua haujlwm ntawm cov pa roj carbon monoxide yog tsim cov carbide hauv matrix ntawm cov hlau, yog li ua kom lub zog ntawm cov hlau. Cov carbide no ua rau cov khoom hnav tsis kam, ua rau nws nyuaj thiab muaj zog dua.
Cov cuab yeej steel feem ntau muaj chromium, vanadium, tungsten, molybdenum thiab lwm yam khoom. Lawv muaj qhov tseem ceeb hauv kev txhim kho qhov hnav tsis kam, hardness thiab toughness ntawm steel. Piv txwv li, chromium tuaj yeem txhim kho corrosion kuj, thaum tungsten thiab molybdenum tuaj yeem txhim kho hardness thiab txhim khu kev hnav.
Siv cov cuab yeej siv high-precision thaum tshav kub kub kho, cov cuab yeej steel tuaj yeem muaj lub zog siab thiab hardness. Cov cuab yeej hlau feem ntau yog rhuab mus rau qhov kub thiab txias sai sai siv lub tshuab cua txias xws li roj lossis dej. Qhov no txias txias "freezes" atomic pleev ntawm cov hlau, ua rau nws nyuaj. Tom qab tempering (ntawm qhov kub qis) ua tiav qhov sib npaug ntawm hardness thiab toughness, ua rau cov hlau muaj zog thiab ruaj khov dua.
