Materials database

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.

Free-cutting variant of 50CrMo4 — S 0.020-0.040% for machinability. Higher C (0.46-0.54%) than 42CrMoS4 = higher hardness after Q&T (UTS 1100-1300 MPa). Used for high-strength shafts, torsion bars, and heavy-duty bolts produced on CNC automatics where maximum CrMo strength with machinability is needed.

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.

Nickel-chromium-molybdenum-vanadium hot work tool steel with outstanding toughness. 1.7% Ni provides superior shock resistance and toughness at working temperatures. Hardened to 44–50 HRC. Used where maximum impact resistance is needed: hammer dies, forging dies, drop forge inserts, hot shear blades, plastic mold base plates and large press tools. The standard material for heavy forging dies in the automotive and aerospace forging industry.

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.

Shock-resisting cold work tool steel (AISI S1) with tungsten and high silicon for exceptional toughness and impact resistance. Oil hardening. Achieves 52-60 HRC. Very good dimensional stability during heat treatment. Used for blanking and stamping dies for sheet up to 12mm, cold piercing punches, shear blades, pneumatic chisels, coining tools, woodworking tools, and ejectors. The premium choice where impact resistance is more critical than maximum wear resistance. Also known as 60WCrV7 (older DIN designation).

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.

Universal cold work tool steel with high carbon and manganese. Oil hardening (AISI O2). Excellent dimensional stability during heat treatment, good wear resistance, and high hardness up to 63 HRC. Easy to machine in annealed condition. Used for blanking and stamping tools, precision punches, shear blades, thread chasers, reamers, measuring gauges, woodworking tools, and cold forming dies. Equivalent to AISI O2.

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.

Air-hardening cold-work tool steel. Combines good wear resistance with excellent dimensional stability during heat treatment (minimal distortion). Used for punching/blanking dies, forming tools, shear blades, gauges, and precision tooling where low distortion is critical.

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene — the most widely used amorphous engineering/commodity thermoplastic. Excellent balance of toughness, rigidity, and processability. Good surface finish and paintability. Not UV-stable without additives. Trade names include Novodur (INEOS Styrolution), Terluran (INEOS), Cycolac (SABIC). Used for automotive interior trim, appliance housings (vacuum cleaners, monitors), LEGO bricks, 3D printing filament, and pipe fittings.

Cr-Mo quench-and-temper alloy steel — the lower-carbon version of 4140 (42CrMo4). Lower C (0.33-0.38%) gives better weldability and toughness than 4140 with slightly lower strength. Primarily a US/ASTM designation. Used for drill pipe, tubing, couplings, and oil field applications where weldability matters more than maximum strength.

Austenitic Ni-Fe-Cr alloy specifically developed for sulfuric acid resistance. Nb-stabilized against sensitization. Cu addition gives outstanding resistance to H2SO4 at all concentrations up to 80%. Used for sulfuric acid piping, heat exchangers, mixing tanks, pickling equipment, and pharmaceutical processing.