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An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, opacity, and luster, but may have properties that differ from those of the pure metals, such as increased strength or hardness. In some cases, an alloy may reduce the overall cost of the material while preserving important properties. In other cases, the mixture imparts synergistic properties to the constituent metal elements such as corrosion resistance or mechanical strength.
Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES) and rustless steel, is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains iron with chromium and other elements such as molybdenum, carbon, nickel and nitrogen depending on its specific use and cost. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion results from the 10.5%, or more, chromium content which forms a passive film that can protect the material and self-heal in the presence of oxygen.
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its carbon appears: white cast iron has its carbon combined into an iron carbide named cementite, which is very hard, but brittle, as it allows cracks to pass straight through; grey cast iron has graphite flakes which deflect a passing crack and initiate countless new cracks as the material breaks, and ductile cast iron has spherical graphite "nodules" which stop the crack from further progressing.
Beryllium copper (BeCu), also known as copper beryllium (CuBe), beryllium bronze, and spring copper, is a copper alloy with 0.5–3% beryllium. Copper beryllium alloys are often used because of their high strength and good conductivity of both heat and electricity. It is used for its ductility, weldability in metalworking, and machining properties. It has many specialized applications in tools for hazardous environments, musical instruments, precision measurement devices, bullets, and some uses in the field of aerospace. Beryllium copper and other beryllium alloys are harmful carcinogens that present a toxic inhalation hazard during manufacturing.
High-strength low-alloy steel (HSLA) is a type of alloy steel that provides better mechanical properties or greater resistance to corrosion than carbon steel. HSLA steels vary from other steels in that they are not made to meet a specific chemical composition but rather specific mechanical properties. They have a carbon content between 0.05 and 0.25% to retain formability and weldability. Other alloying elements include up to 2.0% manganese and small quantities of copper, nickel, niobium, nitrogen, vanadium, chromium, molybdenum, titanium, calcium, rare-earth elements, or zirconium. Copper, titanium, vanadium, and niobium are added for strengthening purposes. These elements are intended to alter the microstructure of carbon steels, which is usually a ferrite-pearlite aggregate, to produce a very fine dispersion of alloy carbides in an almost pure ferrite matrix. This eliminates the toughness-reducing effect of a pearlitic volume fraction yet maintains and increases the material's strength by refining the grain size, which in the case of ferrite increases yield strength by 50% for every halving of the mean grain diameter. Precipitation strengthening plays a minor role, too. Their yield strengths can be anywhere between 250–590 megapascals (36,000–86,000 psi). Because of their higher strength and toughness HSLA steels usually require 25 to 30% more power to form, as compared to carbon steels.
Refractory metals are a class of metals that are extraordinarily resistant to heat and wear. The expression is mostly used in the context of materials science, metallurgy and engineering. The definition of which elements belong to this group differs. The most common definition includes five elements: two of the fifth period and three of the sixth period. They all share some properties, including a melting point above 2000 °C and high hardness at room temperature. They are chemically inert and have a relatively high density. Their high melting points make powder metallurgy the method of choice for fabricating components from these metals. Some of their applications include tools to work metals at high temperatures, wire filaments, casting molds, and chemical reaction vessels in corrosive environments. Partly due to the high melting point, refractory metals are stable against creep deformation to very high temperatures.
Carbon steel is a steel with carbon content from about 0.05 up to 2.1 percent by weight. The definition of carbon steel from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) states:
Tool steel is any of various carbon steels and alloy steels that are particularly well-suited to be made into tools and tooling, including cutting tools, dies, hand tools, knives, and others. Their suitability comes from their distinctive hardness, resistance to abrasion and deformation, and their ability to hold a cutting edge at elevated temperatures. As a result, tool steels are suited for use in the shaping of other materials, as for example in cutting, machining, stamping, or forging.
High-speed steel is a subset of tool steels, commonly used as cutting tool material.
Tempering is a process of heat treating, which is used to increase the toughness of iron-based alloys. Tempering is usually performed after hardening, to reduce some of the excess hardness, and is done by heating the metal to some temperature below the critical point for a certain period of time, then allowing it to cool in still air. The exact temperature determines the amount of hardness removed, and depends on both the specific composition of the alloy and on the desired properties in the finished product. For instance, very hard tools are often tempered at low temperatures, while springs are tempered at much higher temperatures.
Titanium alloys are alloys that contain a mixture of titanium and other chemical elements. Such alloys have very high tensile strength and toughness. They are light in weight, have extraordinary corrosion resistance and the ability to withstand extreme temperatures. However, the high cost of both raw materials and processing limit their use to military applications, aircraft, spacecraft, bicycles, medical devices, jewelry, highly stressed components such as connecting rods on expensive sports cars and some premium sports equipment and consumer electronics.
Alloy steel is steel that is alloyed with a variety of elements in total amounts between 1.0% and 50% by weight to improve its mechanical properties.
Eglin steel (ES-1) is a high-strength, high-performance, low-alloy, low-cost steel, developed for a new generation of bunker buster type bombs, e.g. the Massive Ordnance Penetrator and the improved version of the GBU-28 bomb known as EGBU-28. It was developed in collaboration between the US Air Force and the Ellwood National Forge Company.
Microalloyed steel is a type of alloy steel that contains small amounts of alloying elements, including niobium, vanadium, titanium, molybdenum, zirconium, boron, and rare-earth metals. They are used to refine the grain microstructure or facilitate precipitation hardening.
Mangalloy, also called manganese steel or Hadfield steel, is an alloy steel containing an average of around 13% manganese. Mangalloy is known for its high impact strength and resistance to abrasion once in its work-hardened state.
Caldie is a chromium-molybdenum-vanadium alloyed tool steel manufactured by Uddeholms AB. It is intended for cold work processes, such as blanking and piercing, applied to difficult materials such as advanced high strength steel, where compressive strength and chipping and cracking resistance are important.
Tool steel 1.2344 is a tool steel grade standardised for hot working. The main feature of this grade is the combination of alloyed elements of chromium, molybdenum and vanadium, Cr-Mo-V, which provides a high wear resistance to thermal shock. It is well known as for its great strength, and heat resistance. It is heavily used for die casting and the cold heading field. The presence of high vanadium in DIN 1.2344 can handle the abrasion at both low and high temperatures. It always provides a uniform and high level of machinability. This tool steel is mostly used for aluminum, magnesium and zinc die casting.
USAF-96 is a high-strength, high-performance, low-alloy, low-cost steel, developed for new generation of bunker buster type bombs, e.g. the Massive Ordnance Penetrator and the improved version of the GBU-28 bomb known as EGBU-28. It was developed by the US Air Force at the Eglin Air Force Munitions Directorate. It uses only materials domestic to the USA. In particular it requires no tungsten.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Isakov, Edmund (2007). "1.5.2 Shock-resisting tool steels". Cutting Data for Turning of Steel. Industrial Press Inc. pp. 82–84.
- ↑ Materials Selection for the Minerals Industry: A Short Course. Metallurgical Society of AIME. 1977. p. 69.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Tool Steels – Shock-Resisting Tool Steels". AMO Materials. Jul 9, 2012.
- ↑ Davis, Joseph R., ed. (1995). ASM Specialty Handbook: Tool Materials. ASM International. p. 123, Table 2. ISBN 978-0-87170-545-7.
- ↑ "What Our Tools Are Made Out of". Olsa Tools. 12 March 2021.
- 1 2 "Screwdrivers". Draper Tools.
Made by blending carbon, silicon, magnesium, nickel, chromium, molybdenum and lead to create a metal featuring a host of qualities including high strength and ductility
- ↑ "Common materials for hand tools: Carbon steel & Chromium-vanadium steel". Wait. August 14, 2018.