A damper spring having an excellent fatigue limit is provided. A damper spring according to the present embodiment includes a nitrided layer formed in an outer layer, and a core portion that is further inward than the nitrided layer. The chemical composition of the core portion consists of, in mass%, C: 0.53 to 0.59%, Si: 2.51 to 2.90%, Mn: 0.70 to 0.85%, P: 0.020% or less, 5: 0.020% or less, Cr: 1.40 to 1.70%, Mo: 0.17 to 0.53%, V: 0.23 to 0.33%, Cu: 0.050% or less, Ni: 0.050% or less, Al: 0.0050% or less, Ti: 0.050% or less, N: 0.0070% or less, and Nb: 0 to 0.020%, with the balance being Fe and impurities. In the core portion, a number density of V-based precipitates having a maximum diameter ranging from 2 to 10 nm is 500 to 8000 pieces/μm.sup.2.

A damper spring having an excellent fatigue limit is provided. A damper spring according to the present embodiment includes a nitrided layer formed in an outer layer, and a core portion that is further inward than the nitrided layer. The chemical composition of the core portion consists of, in mass%, C: 0.53 to 0.59%, Si: 2.51 to 2.90%, Mn: 0.70 to 0.85%, P: 0.020% or less, 5: 0.020% or less, Cr: 1.40 to 1.70%, Mo: 0.17 to 0.53%, V: 0.23 to 0.33%, Cu: 0.050% or less, Ni: 0.050% or less, Al: 0.0050% or less, Ti: 0.050% or less, N: 0.0070% or less, and Nb: 0 to 0.020%, with the balance being Fe and impurities. In the core portion, a number density of V-based precipitates having a maximum diameter ranging from 2 to 10 nm is 500 to 8000 pieces/μm.sup.2.

A steel for leaf spring including of the following elements 0.4% ≦ C ≦ 0.7 %; 0.5% ≦ Mn ≦1.5 %;1% ≦ Si ≦ 2.5 %; 0.001% ≦ Al ≦ 0.1%; 0.1% ≦ Ni ≦ 1%;0.2% ≦ Cr ≦ 1.5 %; 0 ≦ P ≦ 0.09%; 0 ≦ S ≦ 0.09%; 0% ≦ N ≦ 0.09%; 0% ≦ Mo ≦ 0.5%; 0% ≦ V ≦ 0.2%; 0% ≦ Nb ≦ 0.1%; 0% ≦ Ti ≦ 0.1%; 0% ≦ Cu ≦ 1%; 0% ≦ B ≦ 0.008%; 0% ≦ Sn ≦ 0.1%; 0% ≦ Ce ≦ 0.1%; 0% ≦ Mg ≦ 0.10%; 0% ≦ Zr ≦ 0.10%; the remainder composition being composed of iron and unavoidable impurities caused by processing, the microstructure of the steel including, by area percentage, 75% to 98% of Martensite, 2% to 20% of Residual Austenite, with a cumulative optional presence of bainite and ferrite between 0% to 5%.

A steel for leaf spring including of the following elements 0.4% ≦ C ≦ 0.7 %; 0.5% ≦ Mn ≦1.5 %;1% ≦ Si ≦ 2.5 %; 0.001% ≦ Al ≦ 0.1%; 0.1% ≦ Ni ≦ 1%;0.2% ≦ Cr ≦ 1.5 %; 0 ≦ P ≦ 0.09%; 0 ≦ S ≦ 0.09%; 0% ≦ N ≦ 0.09%; 0% ≦ Mo ≦ 0.5%; 0% ≦ V ≦ 0.2%; 0% ≦ Nb ≦ 0.1%; 0% ≦ Ti ≦ 0.1%; 0% ≦ Cu ≦ 1%; 0% ≦ B ≦ 0.008%; 0% ≦ Sn ≦ 0.1%; 0% ≦ Ce ≦ 0.1%; 0% ≦ Mg ≦ 0.10%; 0% ≦ Zr ≦ 0.10%; the remainder composition being composed of iron and unavoidable impurities caused by processing, the microstructure of the steel including, by area percentage, 75% to 98% of Martensite, 2% to 20% of Residual Austenite, with a cumulative optional presence of bainite and ferrite between 0% to 5%.

A spring wire which can be cold formed well at diameters of at least 9 mm, but has improved mechanical properties. The spring wire is manufactured from a steel including, in % by weight, C: 0.35-0.42%, Si: 1.5-1.8%, Mn: 0.5-0.8%, Cr: 0.05-0.25%, Nb: 0.020-0.10%, V: 0.020-0.10%, N: 0.0040-0.0120%, Al: ≤0.03% and as the remainder iron and unavoidable impurities, wherein the total content of impurities is limited to at most 0.2% and the impurities include up to 0.025% P and up to 0.025% S. The spring wire is in particular suitable for the manufacture of a tension clamp with optimized usage properties. Also, a method which enables the practice-oriented production of the spring wire.

A spring consists of, by mass %, 0.5 to 0.7% of C, 1.0 to 2.0% of Si, 0.1 to 1.0% of Mn, 0.1 to 1.0% of Cr, not more than 0.035% of P, not more than 0.035% of S, and the balance of Fe and inevitable impurities. The spring has a structure including not less than 65% of bainite and 4 to 13% of residual austenite by area ratio in a cross section. The spring has a compressive residual stress layer in a cross section from a surface to a depth of 0.35 mm to D/4, in which D (mm) is a circle-equivalent diameter of the cross section. The spring has a high hardness layer with greater hardness than a center portion by 50 to 500 HV from a surface to a depth of 0.05 to 0.3 mm.

A spring consists of, by mass %, 0.5 to 0.7% of C, 1.0 to 2.0% of Si, 0.1 to 1.0% of Mn, 0.1 to 1.0% of Cr, not more than 0.035% of P, not more than 0.035% of S, and the balance of Fe and inevitable impurities. The spring has a structure including not less than 65% of bainite and 4 to 13% of residual austenite by area ratio in a cross section. The spring has a compressive residual stress layer in a cross section from a surface to a depth of 0.35 mm to D/4, in which D (mm) is a circle-equivalent diameter of the cross section. The spring has a high hardness layer with greater hardness than a center portion by 50 to 500 HV from a surface to a depth of 0.05 to 0.3 mm.

There is provided a spring steel including predetermined chemical composition, in which ([Ti mass %]−3.43×[N mass %])/[S mass %]>4.0, and [Ni mass %]+[Cu mass %]<0.75 are satisfied, and an appearance frequency of MnS is less than 20% among inclusions having an equivalent circle diameter of 1 μm or more which are observed at a ¼ position of a diameter from a surface.

Provided in the present disclosure is a method of heat treating a high-strength steel, wherein the high-strength steel comprises, by weight: 0.30-0.45% C, 1.0% or less Si, 0.20-2.5% Mn, 0.20-2.0% Cr, 0.15-0.50% Mo, 0.10-0.40% V, 0.2% or less Ti, 0.2% or less Nb, and a balance of Fe and other alloy elements and impurities, wherein the above alloy elements make Eq(Mn) according to the following formula (1) no less than 1.82, which method comprises the steps of 1) austenitizing; 2) carbide precipitation; and 3) tempering. The heat-treated steel in accordance with the present invention has high strength, high ductility and high toughness at the same time, especially improved reduction in area of tensile sample, so that it is particularly suitable for preparing spring members for vehicle suspension.

Eq(Mn)=Mn+0.26Si+3.50P+1.30Cr+2.67Mo  (1)

A wire rod and a steel wire for a high stress suspension spring for motorcycles, wherein decarbonization and low-temperature structure occurrence are easily suppressed when the wire rod and the steel wire are cooled down; and a manufacturing method therefor. A steel wire for a high strength spring includes, in percent by weight (wt %), 0.55 to 0.65% of carbon (C), 0.5 to 0.9% of silicon (Si), 0.3 to 0.8% of manganese (Mn), 0.3 to 0.6% of chromium (Cr), 0.015% or less of phosphorus (P), 0.01% or less of sulfur (S), 0.01% or less of aluminum (Al), 0.005% or less of nitrogen (N), and the remainder of iron (Fe) and inevitable impurities, satisfies Formula (1) below, and comprises 90% or more of a tempered martensite structure. In Formula (1), C, Mn, Cr, and Si denote contents (wt %) of the corresponding elements, respectively. (1) 0.77≤C+(⅙)*Mn+(⅕)*Cr+( 1/24)*Si≤0.83.