Strong, hardenable, corrosion resstant steel?

[legrand01]

Hello everyone,

I have a product that needs a specific type of steel that I'm not familar with. I'm used to tool steels and the requirement for this job is that it needs to be:

-a steel that can be hardened
-should have some sort of corrosion resistance
-must be impact and abrasion resistant

The current material being used is carbide, but you can't easily put threads on carbide, hence the desire to use a material that can be post-process hardened. I'd use something like A2 or D2 but it would rust too quickly I fear. This is obviously being used outside.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[unclesyd]

You should look to the Ferrium Alloys especially the Ferrium C61. These alloys won't be cheap but should do the job.

We use D2 to cut polymer under water and in water spray systems. We don't see any corrosion with the D2 in this application.

http://www.questek.com/ferrium-c61.html

 

[metman]

You might consider 17-7 or 17-4 PH stainless steel. You can machine in the solution annealed conditon and then age harden. It will not be as hard as C61 but maybe you don't need it that hard?

 

[arunmrao]

You can try the 410 series of stainless steel,which can be hardened and offer a medium corrosion resistance. Industrial knives and surgical instruments are some of the applications.

_____________________________________
"The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually." Martin Luther King Jr

 

[EdStainless]

alloys such as 410 will give you good hardness and fair corrosion resistance. They require a quench and temper treatment to harden them.

The PH stainless grades such as 17-4, 17-7, 15-5 have good corrosion resistance. They harden using a low temp (900F) aging cycle making hardening after machining easy.

There are other hardenable alloys with high corrosion resistance.
C61, Monel K-500, 718, and so on.
Unless you really need very high corrosion resistance there is no need for these very expensive alloys.

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Plymouth Tube

 

[TVP]

legrand01,

Depending on how hard the surface needs to be, there are some other stainless steel grades that may be of interest. CSS-42L VIM-VAR is a high performance carburizing stainless steel grade that can achieve high surface hardness while retaining a tough, ductile core. LESCALLOY BG42 VIM-VAR is a through hardening stainless steel grade that can be hardened to similar levels as A2 or D2. Here are some links for more information:

Latrobe CSS-42L VIM-VAR

http://www.latrobesteel.com/assets/documents/datasheets/CSS-42L_extended.pdf

LESCALLOY BG42 VIM-VAR

http://www.latrobesteel.com/assets/documents/datasheets/BG42_BNG_8½x11.pdf

 

[TemperedMartensite]

Other options are the high-strength PH grades - such as ATI S240 or C465. Each of these grades have good corrosion resistance with YS about 210ksi for the H1000 .....230ksi in the H950.

I don't have a datasheet for C465 but here is one for S240.

http://www.alleghenytechnologies.com/allvac/pages/PDF/tech/SS-240 S240.pdf

 

[EdStainless]

Take a look at 17-7PH in the RH950 condition.
This alloy is reasonable to work with and reaches great strength.

http://www.alleghenytechnologies.com/ludlum/Documents/17-7(012508).pdf

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Plymouth Tube

 

[unclesyd]

If the PH alloys are tough enough and corrosion resistance for your application I would definately look at 17/4 with QPQ nitriding process.

One alloys that is corrosion resistant and gives excellent wear rates is Hastelloy C . With a good tough substrate it would stand a god chance of fall your requirement.


If you look toward the bottom of this paper there is a lot of information on SS used for knives. Nearly all o these cna fill your requirements.

http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.shtml#HomePt

 

[Maui]

What, specifically, is the application in which this material will be used? What hardness level does it need to achieve through heat treatment in order to be used in this application? What is the corrosive environment in which it will be used? If you can provide detailed answers to each of these questions, a more meaningful recommendation can be provided. Otherwise, we are just shooting in the dark.

Maui

 

[legrand01]

Thanks everyone for the input. As usual, not enough information in the opening statement I suppose.

The corrosion resistance is not of the highest importance, I would just like the steel to not rust the instant it sees a raindrop. The part will see normal weather, no special acids or corroding chemicals other than rain and maybe some salt.

This part is a wear part, it will be acting as a "brake spike". It will be striking a surface (ice) with force in order to slow down what it is attached to (a couple of tons), however there may be times that it will see contact with stones, dirt, pavement, etc. This is why it can't be brittle and it needs impact and abrasion resistance.

We use 17-4 PH H900 here quite frequently and a hardness in the mid 40's won't be enough. Hastelloy C only reaches into the Rockwell B scale, so that won't be enough either. I also don't think a normal (300, 400 series) hardened stainless steel will reach the hardness required.

The Ferrium C61 is an interesting possibility, but it apparently only case hardens, the core remains relatively soft. I don't think that will work either.

I wasn't familar with the CSS-42L. It looks like a good possibility as it can reach Rockwell C65 range, but any ideas on how expensive this material is?

I was also thinking along the lines of something like S-7 or CPM M4 or such but I don't know how fast those will rust when exposed to the elements.

I'd like a material that doesn't cost a fortune as these are wear items and will need to be replaced frequently.
Can't be brittle.
Impact resistant.
Good abrasion resistance.
Won't rust quickly when rained upon.

 

[EdStainless]

If you feel that RC 45 will not be hard enough then you need to work with tool steels and live with surface rusting.

There are a few specialty grades that get harder, but we are only talking about Rc50 (Custom 465).
Maybe the approach that they use fro rock ripping tools, high strength steels with Co based weld overlay, would work for you.

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Plymouth Tube

 

[TVP]

I have no idea about the cost of CSS-42L. Certainly higher than regular tool steels, maybe only a little higher than CPM M4.

 

[Maui]

Legrand01, based on your requirements I would suggest that you consider a stainless tool steel, such as 440C or one of its variations. For standard 440C, the mechanical properties and heat treating recommendations can be accessed here:

http://www.crucibleservice.com/eselector/prodbyapp/stainless/cru440cs.html

This data sheet was produced by Crucible Steel, who went bankrupt back in 2009. But I believe they are up and running again. If they no longer supply 440C, it is manufactured by a number of other suppliers, one of which is Carpenter Technologies.

For a modified (and improved) variation of 440C, you might consider 154 CM. Its data sheet can be accessed here:

http://www.crucibleservice.com/eselector/prodbyapp/stainless/154cms.html

Please let us know if any of the recommendations made by the members in this forum are implemented, and if they are successful.

Maui

 

[hydtools]

I would agree with 440C. We used it for hydraulic motor shafts for underwater service. Hardnesses in the high 50 to low 60 HRC.

http://www.interlloy.com.au/data_sheets/stainless_steel/440c.html

Ted

 

[KENAT]

Out of left field, and I have my doubts that it's suitable, but how about your tool steel or similar with one of the more exotic coatings that are now available?

I had a guy in talking to me about DLC (Diamond Like Coating) a few weeks back. We were looking at a very different application so I didn't ask about how fragile it was etc. but I believe it works on tool steel, is about 85RC, reasonably corrosion resistant...

Not sure how pricey it gets though, and it's low coefficient of friction may not be ideal for you although if the idea is your spike actually digs in to the ground it may not be an issue - or could even be benefficial.

http://www.sulzermetco.com/en/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-100/

I can't find the information on their website, but the guy gave me a presentation that I don't think is confidential so I've uploaded that.

Brief DLC Presentation

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[unclesyd]

Wear resistant properties are solely dependant on hardness. Hastelloy C is not very hard initially bur will work harden very quickly becoming an excellent wear resistn material.
On of the names for the overly material is Tool Alloy C.

You might want to look at Astralloy V. It has excellant wear properties and is very tough. I've used this material in many applications where the resistance to impact was needed.
I just saw some equipment crushing coal was made from Astralloy V.
It also has good weathering properties.

http://www.astralloy.com/products.asp

 

[ornerynorsk]

Is there any room for compromise in just managing the corrosion? This would open up a tremendous variety of steels.

 

[macmil]

re unclesyd's reference to Astralloy_V. It is frequently used for ripper shanks on graders and dozers; sounds similar to your requirements.

 

[BenWhite]

If you like CPM M4 I think that M390 is its closest stainless equivalent, but D2, CPM 154 and the 440 etc. series should be just fine

http://www.bohler-edelstahl.com/files/M390DE.pdf"]

http://www.bohler-edelstahl.com/files/M390DE.pdf

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