High speed steel Totally Explained

Everything about High Speed Steel totally explained

High speed steel (often abbreviated HSS) is a material usually used in the manufacture of machine tool bits and other cutters. It is often used in power saw blades and drill bits. It is superior to the older high carbon steel tools used extensively through the 1940s in that it can withstand higher temperatures without losing its temper (hardness). This property allows HSS to cut faster than high carbon steel, hence the name high speed steel. At room temperature HSS and high carbon steel have an equivalent hardness; only at elevated temperatures does HSS become advantageous.

Applications

The main use of high speed steels continues to be in the manufacture of various cutting tools: drills, taps, milling cutters, tool bits, gear cutters, saw blades, etc., although usage for punches and dies is increasing.
High carbon steel remains a good choice for low speed applications where a very keen (sharp) edge is required, such as files, chisels and hand plane blades.

Types of high speed steel

High speed steels belong to the Fe-C-X multicomponent alloy system where X represents chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, and/or cobalt. Generally, the X component is present in excess of 7%, along with more than 0.60% carbon. (However, their alloying element percentages don't alone bestow the hardness-retaining properties; they also require appropriate high-temperature heat treatment in order to become true HSS; see History below.)
The grade type T-1 with 18% tungsten hasn't changed its composition since 1910 and was the main type used up to 1940, when substitution by molybdenum took place. Nowadays, only 5-10% of the HSS in Europe and only 2% in the United States is of this type.
The addition of about 10% of tungsten and molybdenum in total maximises efficiently the hardness and toughness of high speed steels and maintains these properties at the high temperatures generated when cutting metals.

Grade	a href=http://carbon.totallyexplained.com title="carbon - Totally Explained">C	a href=http://chromium.totallyexplained.com title="chromium - Totally Explained">Cr	a href=http://molybdenum.totallyexplained.com title="molybdenum - Totally Explained">Mo	a href=http://Tungsten.totallyexplained.com title="Tungsten - Totally Explained">W	a href=http://vanadium.totallyexplained.com title="vanadium - Totally Explained">V	a href=http://cobalt.totallyexplained.com title="cobalt - Totally Explained">Co	a href=http://Manganese.totallyexplained.com title="Manganese - Totally Explained">Mn	a href=http://Silicon.totallyexplained.com title="Silicon - Totally Explained">Si
T1	0.65—0.80	3.75—4.00	-	17.25—18.75	0.9—1.3	-	0.1—0.4	0.2—0.4
M2	0.95	4.2	5.0	6.0	2.0	-	-	-
M7	1.00	3.8	8.7	1.6	2.0	-	-	-
M35	0.94	4.1	5.0	6.0	2.0	5.0	-	-
M42	1.10	3.8	9.5	1.5	1.2	8.0	-	-
Note that impurity limits are not included

M35

M35 is similar to M2, but with 5% cobalt added. The addition of cobalt increases heat resistance.

M42

M42 is a high speed steel alloy made up of roughly 8% cobalt. It is widely used in metal manufacturing because of its ability to resist wear over conventional high speed steels, allowing for shorter cycle times in production environments due to higher cutting speeds or from the increase in time between tool changes. M42 is also less prone to chipping when used for interrupted cuts and cost less when compared to the same tool made of carbide. Tools made from high speed steel and cobalt can often be identified by the letters HSS-Co.

Coatings

To increase the life of high speed steel, tools are sometimes coated. One such coating is TiN (titanium nitride). Most coatings generally increase a tool's hardness and/or lubricity. A coating allows the cutting edge of a tool to cleanly pass through the material without having the material gall (stick) to it. The coating also helps to decrease the temperature associated with the cutting process and increase the life of the tool.

Surface modification

Lasers and electron beams can be used as sources of intense heat at the surface for heat treatment, remelting (glazing), and compositional modification. It is possible to achieve different molten pool shapes and temperatures. Cooling rates range from 10³ - 10⁶ K s^-1. Beneficially, there's little or no cracking or porosity formation.
   While the possibilities of heat treating at the surface should be readily apparent, the other applications beg some explanation. At cooling rates in excess of 10⁶ K s^-1 eutectic microconstituents disappear and there's extreme segregation of substitutional alloying elements. This has the effect of providing the benefits of a glazed part without the associated run in wear damage.
   Following the discovery of crucible steel in 1740, in 1868 Robert Forester Mushet in England developed a steel that's considered the forerunner of modern high speed steels. It consisted of 2% C, 2.5% Mn, and 7% W. The major advantage of this steel was that it hardened when air cooled from a temperature from which most steels had to be quenched for hardening. Over the next 30 years the most important change was the substitution of chromium for manganese. Their experiments were characterized by a scientific empiricism in that many different combinations were made and tested, with no regard for conventional wisdom or alchemic recipes, and with detailed records kept of each batch. The end result was a heat treatment process that transformed existing alloys into a new kind of steel that could retain its hardness at higher temperatures, allowing much higher speeds, feeds, and depths of cut when machining.
   The Taylor-White process was patented and created a revolution in the machining industries, in fact necessitating whole new, heavier machine tool designs so the new steel could be used to its full advantage. The patent was hotly contested and eventually nullified, but the vigor of the litigation seems to have been propelled less by the merits of the case and more by the fact that many firms faced commercial extinction if they couldn't find a way to circumvent the patent.
   The first alloy that was formally classified as high speed steel is known by the AISI designation T1, which was introduced in 1910.

Copyediting conventions

Most copyeditors (subeditors) today would tend to choose to style the unit adjective high-speed with a hyphen, rendering the full term as high-speed steel, and this styling isn't uncommon (Kanigel 1997 is an example of a work edited thus). However, it's true that in the metalworking industries the styling high speed steel is long-established and is more commonly seen. Therefore, both can be considered acceptable variants.

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