Tool Steels Specifications

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Tool Steel Grades

	Your choices are...
	Air Hardening (A Grades)		These materials are air-hardened grades of steels or tool steels.
	Cold Work (Die / Mold)		Steels and alloys are designed or suitable for die, mold, or other cold work service applications. Cold work steels have good compressive strength and wear resistance under room temperature conditions.
	Hot Work / Heat Resistant (H Grades)		Alloys are designed or suitable for service applications that require heat resistance.
	Oil Hardening (O Grades)		These materials are oil-hardened grades of steels or tool steels.
	Shock / Impact Resistant (S Grades)		Alloys are designed or suitable for service applications that require shock or impact resistance.
	Water Hardening (W Grades)		These materials are water-hardened grades of steels or tool steels.
	High Speed / Wear Resistant (M / T Grades)		Alloys are designed or suitable for service applications that require wear or erosion resistance.
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Grades & Specifications

	Standards / Specifications
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	AISI		Iron-based or ferrous alloys adhere to designations established by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Examples of AISI-SAE steel grades are 1018, 4140, 9610, and 52100.
	AMS		Metals or alloys meet specific Aerospace Material Specification (AMS) guidelines established by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
	ASTM / ASME		The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) is a non-profit organization that provides a forum for the development and publication of voluntary standards for materials, products, systems, and services. Most specifications from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) are adapted from or are very similar to ASTM specifications.
	Casting Grade (ICI, etc.)		Ingot or alloy shapes meet the requirements for casting stock from the Alloy Casting Institute (ACI), the American Die Casting Institute (ADCI), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and the Investment Casting Institute (ICI).
	EN		European Norm or EuroNorm (EN) specifications have superseded several older, national designation systems such as BS, DIN, NS, and SS.
	MIL-SPEC / Federal (QQS)		MIL-SPEC metals meet U.S. government standards and are suitable for military applications. QQ and QQS are prefixes used to designate specific metals.
	JIS		Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) specify the standards used for industrial activities in Japan. The standardization process is coordinated by the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee and published through the Japanese Standards Association.
	SAE		Products meet alloy grades, specifications, or designations established by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
	UNS		Metals or alloys meet the compositional standards in the Unified Numbering System (UNS), which was established by the ASTM, SAE, and several metal trade associations and societies. UNS identifies metals and alloys with a letter and five numbers. For example, carbon and alloy steels are identified as Gnnnnn, where G is the letter nnnnn is the number.
	Specialty / Other		This refers to other unlisted, specialized, and OEM-specific (e.g., GE, P&W, Boeing, etc.) or proprietary material specifications.
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	UNS Number
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Shape / Form

	Shape / Form:
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	Squares / Square Bar		Materials are supplied or available as square bars, bar stock, or billets. Squares have a cross-section where two equal sides proscribe a right angle between surfaces.
	Strip		Materials are supplied or available as strips. Strips are usually 0.187" (3/16", 4.76 mm) or less in thickness and under 24" (609.6 mm) in width. Typically, strips are formed to precise thicknesses and/or width requirements. Hardness and surface finish properties can be controlled by the rolling process, which usually consists of cross-rolling.
	Wire / Shaped Wire		Materials are supplied or available as round wire, shaped wire, or flattened wire. Wire is less than 0.375" in diameter.
	Other		This refers to other unlisted, specialized, or proprietary forms or stock types.
	Semi-finished Shape / Mill Stock		Semi-finished metal shapes or stock shapes are suitable for part fabrication by machining, assembly, or other processes. Stock shapes are also used as feedstock for casting, forging, spinning, and other forming processes. Semi-finished metal shapes and stock include forms such as bar stock, rods, plates, strips, wire, shaped wire, hexagonal shapes, billets, sheets, and foil.
	Fabricated Parts / Shapes		Materials are fabricated as custom or application-specific shapes.
	Bar Stock		Materials are supplied or available as bars, rod stock, or billets. Bars or rods may have a round, square, rectangular/flat, hexagonal, or oval-shaped cross-section.
	Billet / Slab / Bloom		Billets, slabs, or blooms are massive, hot rolled or forged blocks of metals or alloys. These forms can have semi-finished square, rectangular slab, or round cross-sections. Producing billets or blooms from ingots by forging is called cogging. Hot-rolling ingots is a process called blooming. Billets are used as feedstock for rolling operations and in the machining of large components. Slabs are semi-finished steel blocks, usually with widths that are at least twice their thickness.
	Flats / Rectangular Bar		Materials are supplied or available as square bars, bar stock, or billets. Squares have a cross-section where two unequal sides proscribe a right angle between the surfaces.
	Hex Bar Stock		Materials are supplied or available as hexagonal stock with a hex-shaped cross-section.
	Ingot		Materials are supplied or available as ingots or casting stock product forms.
	Plate		Materials are supplied or available as plates. Plates have a thickness of at least 0.250", but may be larger than 1/4".
	Powder		Materials are available as powders, granules, or flakes.
	Profile / Structural Shape		Profiles and structural shapes include shaped stock with uniform cross sections such tees, angles, channels, I-beams, rectangular tubes, and other cross-sectional shapes. These shapes are manufactured through extrusion, continuous casting, roll forming, or other processes.
	Rod / Round Bar Stock		Materials are supplied or available as rod stock with a round cross-section.
	Sheet		Materials can be supplied or available as sheets or foil. Sheets have a thickness between 0.006" and 0.250" and are 24" (609.6 mm) or larger in width. Typically, sheets are formed to precise thicknesses and/or width requirements. Hardness and surface finish properties can be controlled by the rolling process, which usually consists of cross-rolling.
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	Coil Stock?		Materials are supplied or available as coils, reels, or other wound stock forms.
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	Hollow Stock?		Materials are supplied or available as tubes, pipes, or hollow stock with an open internal bore.
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Size / Dimensions

	Overall Width / OD		This is the overall width or outer diameter (OD) of stock forms such as bars, plates, and tubes. Overall width is the average particulate diameter for raw materials such as powders, granules, and pellets.
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	Overall Length		This is the length of stock materials such as bars, rods, plates, and tubes.
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	Overall Thickness		This is the overall thickness of stock forms, tube walls, or other fabricated components.
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	ID		This is the internal diameter (ID) or inner dimension of tubes or other hollow stock shapes.
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Mechanical Properties

	Tensile Strength (UTS, Break)		Ultimate tensile strength (UTS) at break is the maximum amount of stress required to fail or break the material under tension-loading test conditions.
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	Yield Strength (YS)		Yield strength (YS) is the maximum amount of stress required to deform or impart permanent plastic deformation (typically of 0.2%) in the material under tension-loading test conditions. The yield point occurs when elastic or linear stress-strain behavior changes to plastic or non-linear behavior. Ductile materials typically deviate from Hooke's law or linear behavior at some higher stress level.
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	Elongation		Elongation is the percent amount of deformation that occurs during a tensile test or other mechanical test.
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	Tensile Modulus (E)		Tensile modulus, Young's modulus, or the modulus of elasticity (E) is a material constant that indicates the variation in strain produced under an applied tensile load. Materials with a higher modulus of elasticity have higher stiffness or rigidity.
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Features

	Processing Features
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	Cast (Continuous, Centrifugal, etc.)		Cast alloy stocks or shapes are produced in a casting process such as continuous casting or centrifugal casting.
	Powdered Metal (Compacted)		Powered metal stock or shapes are fabricated by consolidating or compacting powdered or atomized versions of the metal or alloy. Powder processing eliminates the possibility of large inclusions and can produce a finer structure compared to conventional wrought processes.
	Wrought		Wrought metals or alloys are worked mechanically to refine their structure, break up inclusion, close porosity, and improve homogeneity.
	Cold Finished / Rolled / Drawn		Alloy stock or shapes are produced in a process that mechanically deforms or works the material at a temperature that is below the recrystallization point of the alloy. Rolling processes squeeze the metal between two steel rolls. Drawing processes pull the metal from a die opening or gap. The elevated temperature allows a greater degree of deformation as well as annealing during the process. Hot rolled metals tend to have more scale on their surface.
	Vacuum Arc Melted (E, VAR, etc.)		The metal alloy has been melted or remelted using an electrical arc in a vacuum chamber or vacuum arc furnace, and then cast into a ingot, billet, or other shape. The vacuum protects the metal alloy from oxidation and contamination during the high temperature melting process. Vacuum melting can also remove undesirable contaminants through evaporation such as magnesium chloride in titanium sponge. Electric arc furnaced steels or E-grade steels are very clean and have less inclusions and lower variability. Aircraft, bearing, and premium steels are usually electric arc furnaced or E-grade steels.
	Extruded		These alloy stocks or shapes are produced by using an extrusion process.
	Forged		Metal stock or shapes are available as forged billets, blooms, slabs, or bar stock. The forging process presses, pounds, or squeezes metal stock under very high pressure. Material flow occurs during the forging process, closing any internal porosity and refining the microstructure.
	Hot Rolled		Hot rolled alloy stock or shapes are produced in a process that mechanically deforms or works the material at an elevated temperature (e.g., steels in the "red" hot condition). This temperature is above the recrystallization point of the alloy. The elevated temperature allows a greater degree of deformation or a reduction of thickness. A post-annealing process is not required after hot rolling. Hot rolled metals tend to have more surface scale and require pickling and oiling.
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	Performance Features
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	Anti-slip / Textured		Plates, bars, angles, or other stock metal shapes have a textured or non-slip surface such as an embossed diamond pattern or an anti-slip abrasive coating.
	Coated		Metal or alloy stock or shapes are coated with a wax, oil or lubricant coating for subsequent processing operations.  Stainless steels do not typically require or benefit from a protective paint or coating because a thin coherent oxide film forms on the surface of the alloy that protects the metal from corrosion.
	Corrosion Resistant		These alloys are designed or suitable for service applications that require corrosion resistance.
	Free Machining		Alloys contain additions of lead, selenium, sulfur or other free-machining additives that help break up chips during the machining process.
	Precipitation Hardening		Precipitation hardening alloys can be hardened by solution treating and aged to high strength. Precipitation hardening (PH) stainless steels are chromium-nickel metals, some of which contain alloying elements such as copper or aluminum. PH grades 17-7 (Type 631), 17-4 (Type 630), 13-8, 15-5, 15-7, as well as specialty and proprietary alloys. Many aluminum alloys are hardened or strengthened through a precipitation hardening process.
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Applications

	Applications:
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	Aerospace / Aircraft (AQ)		Products are designed and rated for use in aerospace, aircraft, airport, space vehicle, satellite, rocket, interplanetary explorer, and space station applications. Aircraft quality (AQ) steels and alloys are manufactured to aerospace industry AMS 2301 standard specifications of cleanliness, chemistry, strength, and mill traceability as well as exacting steelmaking, rolling, and testing practices.  Mission critical and highly stressed aircraft parts are fabricated from aircraft quality (AQ) steel alloys. Aircraft quality alloys are also used in non-aerospace applications for highly stressed, mission critical components involving additional stringent inspection requirements such as macro-etch limits, magnetic particle, or other NDT tests for inclusions or other defects. Certified aircraft quality steels have paperwork indicating the alloy is what it is supposed to be and what steel mill produced the product.
	Abrasive / Erosive Wear Protection		Materials resist damage by abrasion or erosion, and protect underlying surfaces from abrasive or erosive wear.
	Alternative / Renewable Energy		Evaluated for alternative or renewable energy production products such as photovoltaic (PV) cells, solar power systems, wind turbines, hydro turbines, and flywheel power systems.
	Automotive / Vehicular		Products are designed and rated for use in automobiles, trailer trucks, trailers, railcars, off-road trucks, and other vehicles.
	Armor / Ballistic Protection		Materials are used to protect equipment, vehicles, and/or personnel against damage from blasts, explosions, bullets, and other high-speed projectiles.
	Bearings (BQ)		Bearing quality steels and alloys are produced in accordance with ASTM A 534, A 295, and A 485. Bearing quality steels are produced under restricted melting and special teeming, heating, rolling, and conditioning methods to meet the rigid bearing quality steel requirements. Bearing quality standards typically apply to alloy steel bars and tubes intended for the manufacture of races and balls or rollers in anti-friction bearings, oil well perforating gun bullets, dies, punches, shear and cutting blades, and cam rollers. Bearing quality level steels are usually produced from standard alloy carburizing grades and high-carbon chromium grades such as 52100 alloy steel.
	Battery / Fuel Cell		Material is suitable for use in battery or fuel cell as a collector plate, proton exchange membrane, or catalyst.
	Biocompatible / Biomaterial		Biomaterials are specially formulated or designed to have suitable biocompatibility for biotechnology and medical applications.
	Chemical / Materials Processing		Materials provide high temperature and/or corrosion resistance, making them suitable for chemical processing applications.
	Construction & Building / Architectural		Materials are designed or suitable for use in architectural, building, and construction applications.
	Electrical / HV Parts		Materials are used to fabricate electrical parts for high voltage or power applications.
	Electronics / RF-Microwave		Materials are suitable for electronics applications, including RF and microwave circuits, antennas, RMI and EFI shielding, and microelectronics interconnects.
	Marine		Products are designed for use in marine applications aboard ships or in offshore settings. Uses include fishing, mooring, docks, jetties, platforms, piers, and ship construction such as hull and deck plates.
	Mining		Alloys engineered for use in very corrosive and abrasive applications around mines and mining operations. Mining industry operations include excavation, water and slurry pumping, earth moving, and drilling under conditions where abrasive, corrosive, and erosive minerals, rocks, and soils are handled.
	MRO (Repair / Resurfacing)		Metals and alloys are suitable for repair, hole or gap filling, patching, refinishing, resurfacing, and other maintenance and repair (MRO) applications.
	Nuclear		Metals and alloys engineered for parts, products, capital equipment, or facilities used in the nuclear or utility industries. Nuclear grade stainless steels are manufactured to higher chemistry and cleanliness standards. Zirconium alloys such as Zircalloy are an excellent tube material choice for containment of uranium dioxide pellets because zirconium has a low neutron capture cross section. Inversely, hafnium has a high neutron capture cross section (neutron absorber) and is commonly used as a control rod alloy in nuclear reactors.
	Oil and Gas		Metals and alloys suitable for applications that can handle exposure to corrosive sour gases, erosive drilling and mining fluids, and abrasive minerals. Oil and gas industry applications entail extracting, synthesizing or processing oils, gases, or fuels such as well drilling, well maintenance, pumping, oil refining, re-refining, recovery, and recycling. Alloy products are designed and rated for use in oil wells and platforms, natural gas wells, refineries, and in other energy exploration and extraction applications.
	Pressure Vessel (PVQ)		Steels and stainless steels suitable for steam boiler, pressure vessel, and process reactor applications. Pressure vessel quality (PVQ) steels are manufactured to ASTM/ASME standards concerning chemical composition, mechanical properties, toughness, weldability, and hydrogen induced crack resistance. Pressure vessel quality steels are manufactured to higher cleanliness and quality standards compared to commercial grade steels.
	Resistance Alloy / Heating		Metals and alloys engineered to have properties suitable for resistance heating element application. These metals and alloys are known as resistance alloys. Nichrome and Kanthal are common nickel based resistance alloys. Resistance alloys must have sufficient internal electrical resistance, high melting point, and sufficient elevated temperature strength. Resistance can vary with temperature and ideally the resistance is uniform in alloys to minimize variations with temperature or provide a linear change. In non-reducing, oxygen rich oven, furnace, and resistance heating applications, the resistance alloy must have high temperature oxidation resistance. In very high temperature vacuum and inert atmosphere furnaces, tungsten and molybdenum are commonly used.
	Structural		Structural applications require ceramic components with a suitable strength, elastic modulus, toughness, and other mechanical properties. These can have much higher ductility and toughness compared to other metals.
	Wear Parts / Tooling		Wear-resistant metals are used in industrial products such as dies, molds, tooling, automotive rings, pump parts, valve seals/seats, stops, brake parts, clutch parts, and machining guides.
	Other		Other unlisted, specialized, or proprietary applications.
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