Materials database

Ferritic chromium stainless steel with good corrosion resistance and formability. Lower cost than austenitic grades. Used for automotive trim, kitchen sinks, architectural panels, and appliance components.

Nickel-bearing martensitic stainless steel with higher corrosion resistance than 410/420. Highest strength of the standard martensitic grades (up to 1100 MPa). Used for marine shafts, propeller shafts, high-strength fasteners, valves, and pump components.

17% Cr Ti-stabilized ferritic stainless. Cost-effective alternative to 304 for many applications — no Ni means ~30-40% lower cost. Immune to chloride SCC. Used for automotive exhaust systems (downstream), kitchen sinks, washing machine drums, heat exchangers, and architectural trim.

High-carbon martensitic stainless steel with molybdenum and vanadium. Hardenable to 58+ HRC while maintaining moderate corrosion resistance. Used for cutlery, surgical instruments, valve components, bearings, and pump parts where hardness and corrosion resistance are both needed.

Highest-hardness standard martensitic stainless steel. Achieves 57-60 HRC — the hardest commonly available stainless grade. Excellent wear resistance from chromium carbides. Used for bearings, races, valve components, surgical instruments, high-end cutlery, and precision molds.

Stabilized ferritic stainless steel with Mo addition. A cost-effective alternative to 316L for applications where austenitic properties are not needed. Excellent resistance to chloride stress corrosion cracking. Used for hot water tanks, solar collectors, automotive exhaust, and catering equipment.

Medium-carbon chromium steel for quenching and tempering. Good hardenability for medium cross-sections. Used for crankshafts, connecting rods, spindles, bolts, and other moderately stressed machine parts requiring through-hardening.

Higher-carbon CrMo Q&T steel — 0.42-0.50% C vs 0.38-0.45% for 42CrMo4. Higher maximum hardness (HRC 52-56 surface after induction) and tensile strength (UTS 1000-1200 MPa QT) at the expense of slightly reduced toughness and weldability. Used where 42CrMo4 is not quite hard/strong enough: heavy-duty gear shafts, large bolts (12.9 class), crankshafts, and torsion bars.

Silicon spring steel with high elastic limit. Standard flat/leaf spring steel in Europe. Si provides high sag resistance. Used for leaf springs, Belleville washers, lock washers, and agricultural machine springs.

High-carbon Cr-Mo steel for springs and high-strength applications. Higher carbon than 42CrMo4 for greater hardness and spring properties. Used for coil springs, leaf springs, torsion bars, highly stressed bolts, and heavy-duty shafts.

Chromium-vanadium spring/tool steel — identical alloy system to 51CrV4 (1.8159) but recognized as a separate grade in some standards. Dual use: heavy-duty springs (EN 10089) AND cold work tools (knives, shear blades). V improves temper resistance and grain refinement. UTS 1200-1500 QT. Used for heavy leaf springs, stabilizer bars, torsion bars, and cold work cutting tools.

CrMoV alloyed spring steel — THE European automotive suspension spring material. CrMo gives deep hardenability for large coil springs, V adds grain refinement and secondary hardening for fatigue resistance. UTS 1350-1600 MPa QT. Used for hot-formed coil springs (cars, trucks), leaf springs, torsion bars, and stabilizer bars. Excellent sag resistance to 200°C.

Chromium-vanadium spring steel. The most important European spring steel grade. Excellent fatigue resistance and high elastic limit after heat treatment. Used for coil springs, leaf springs, torsion bars, anti-roll bars, and high-strength fasteners.

Si-Cr spring steel for high-performance automotive suspension and valve springs. Lower sag tendency than 46Si7 due to Cr addition. The standard European valve spring steel. Used for suspension springs, valve springs, torsion bars, and stabilizer bars where fatigue resistance is critical.

Chromium spring steel — simpler and cheaper than 51CrV4 (no vanadium). 0.75% Cr provides adequate hardenability for flat and small-diameter round springs. Used for leaf springs, agricultural springs, lock springs, and general-purpose springs where the V-premium of 51CrV4 is not justified.

Silicon spring steel — Si (1.5-2.0%) provides high elastic limit and excellent fatigue resistance without expensive Cr/V additions. Better heat resistance than Cr-spring steels — retains spring properties to ~250°C. Used for valve springs, clutch springs, hot-wound coil springs, and applications with moderate elevated temperature exposure. Cheaper than CrV spring steels.

Heavy-duty hot work tool steel with high Ni (1.5-1.8%) for exceptional toughness at working hardness. THE forging die material for hammers and presses. Better impact resistance than H13 but lower hot hardness. Also used as backing steel for composite dies. Applications: forging dies, die holders, press tools, shear blades, and heavy-duty punches.

High-carbon chromium-vanadium spring steel — higher C (0.55-0.62%) than 51CrV4 (0.47-0.55%) for maximum hardness and fatigue strength. V refines grain and improves temper resistance. Used for the most demanding spring applications: heavy-duty coil springs, torsion bars, stabilizer bars, and spring tools. Also used as tool steel (1.2242/59CrV4 variant).

Silicon-chromium valve spring steel — the highest fatigue life among EN 10089 spring steels. High Si (1.50-1.80%) provides excellent resistance to relaxation at elevated temperatures (up to ~250°C). Superior to 51CrV4 for high-stress, high-cycle applications. Used for automotive valve springs, heavy-duty coil springs, torsion bars, and stabilizers. ≈ AISI 9260.

Precipitation-hardening martensitic stainless steel — the highest-strength stainless in common use. Solution anneal at 1040°C then age at 480-620°C for UTS >1300 MPa. Corrosion resistance similar to 304. Cu+Nb precipitation hardening. Trade names include 17-4PH, SUS630. Used for aerospace structural parts, turbine blades, valve components, nuclear waste casks, medical instruments, and oil/gas equipment.

Nickel-chromium-molybdenum case-hardening steel. Good combination of core toughness and case hardness. The most widely used case-hardening steel in the US (AISI 8620). Used for gears, pinions, worm drives, king pins, and cross-shafts.

Super-austenitic stainless steel with high Mo and Cu content. Excellent resistance to sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, and chloride environments. Bridges the gap between standard austenitics (316L) and nickel alloys (Inconel/Hastelloy). Used in chemical processing, oil & gas, and pharmaceutical.

Free-cutting steel with high sulfur for excellent machinability. Very similar to 11SMn30 — historical German designation that is still widely referenced. Lower C variant preferred for some screw machine products. Used for high-volume automatic lathe parts, screws, nuts, pins, and bushings. ≈ AISI 1215.

Leaded free-cutting steel — Pb (0.15-0.35%) + S (0.24-0.33%) for maximum machinability. THE ultimate Automatenstahl: machinability rating ~175% (vs 100% for 11SMn30). Pb acts as chip-breaker and tool lubricant. Used for high-speed automatic screw machine production of screws, nuts, fittings, bushings, and any part where surface finish and cycle time matter most. NOTE: Pb content being phased out under EU ELV/RoHS — replacement grades emerging.