High-speed steel (HSS), as an indispensable material in modern industry, plays a decisive role in the fields of cutting tools, stamping dies, and wear-resistant parts due to its high hardness, high wear resistance and high heat resistance. This article will introduce the grades of HSS and their characteristics in detail so that readers can choose the appropriate material according to specific needs.
What are the grades of HSS?
1. Overview of high-speed steel
High-speed steel is a complex steel type with high carbon content and rich alloying elements. Its carbon content is usually between 0.70% and 1.65%, and the total alloying elements can reach 10% and 25%. The main alloying elements of high-speed steel include tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo), chromium (Cr), vanadium (V), and cobalt (Co). The addition of these elements significantly improves the hardness, wear resistance, and heat resistance of steel.
2. Grades of HSS and their characteristics
- W Series High-Speed Steels：The W Series high-speed steels are primarily alloyed with tungsten, providing exceptional hardness, toughness, and wear resistance. Common grades include W18Cr4V and W6Mo5Cr4V2 (M2). Among them, W18Cr4V is a commonly used general-purpose high-speed steel with good strength and grindability, widely used in the manufacturing of various cutting tools, stamping dies, and wear-resistant parts. W6Mo5Cr4V2, on the other hand, is a high-hardness, high-toughness, and high-wear-resistant high-speed steel suitable for making tools that require resistance to impact and have a thin structure.
- M Series High-Speed Steels：The M Series high-speed steels feature molybdenum as the primary alloy element, with relatively high chromium and tungsten content as well. This type of steel possesses high wear resistance and thermal stability, suitable for the production of large-scale cutting machine tools and high-speed cutting tools. Common grades include M2, M35, and M42. Among them, M2 (W6Mo5Cr4V2) is a versatile high-speed steel with high hardness, excellent cutting performance, and wear resistance. M35 is a cobalt-containing high-speed steel with outstanding heat resistance and wear resistance. M42, with a higher cobalt content, boasts high hardness, wear resistance, heat resistance, and good impact resistance.
- T Series High-Speed Steels：The T Series high-speed steels are tungsten-based steel alloys, characterized by their high hardness and toughness. Common grades include T1, T4, and T5. Among them, T1 is the most widely used grade in the T Series, known for its high hardness, toughness, and wear resistance, making it ideal for the manufacture of high-speed cutting tools such as knives, drills, and milling cutters.
3. How to choose appropriate grades of HSS?
When selecting a suitable high-speed steel grade, the selection needs to be based on specific processing materials and process requirements. For example, for cutting metal materials with low hardness, you can choose general-purpose high-speed steel; for cutting difficult-to-machine metals (such as high-temperature alloys, titanium alloys, and high-strength steels, etc.), you need to choose special-purpose high-speed steels, such as cobalt high-speed steel and super hard high speed steel. In addition, factors such as tool life, machining accuracy and cost also need to be considered.
Conclusion
In short, there are many grades of HSS, and each steel type has its their unique characteristics and scope of application. We need to select the appropriate high-speed steel grade according to specific application scenarios and need to ensure processing efficiency and product quality.
Thank you for reading our article and we hope it can help you to have a better understanding of the grades of HSS. If you are looking for high-speed steel suppliers and manufacturers online now, we would advise you to visit Sino Special Metal.
As a leading supplier of high-speed steel, Sino Special Metal offers customers high-quality high-speed steel products at a very competitive price.
