High Speed Steels (HSS) are so named primarily because of their ability to machine materials at high cutting speeds. They are complex iron-base alloys of carbon, chromium, vanadium, molybdenum, or tungsten, or combinations thereof, and in some cases substantial amounts of cobalt. The carbon and alloy contents are balanced at levels to give high attainable hardening response, high wear resistance, high resistance to the softening effect of heat, and good toughness for effective use in industrial cutting operations. Conventional High Speed Steels (HSS) are manufactured with the conventional steel’s melting processing which includes ingots solidification, forging or rolling, heat treatments and final quality inspections.
Erasteel is a leader in the HSS market and it built its high quality reputation thanks to its high performance conventional HSS steels grades during last century with famous high speed steels grades like E M2, E M35 and E M42. Erasteel conventional HSS grades serve various industries : automotive, mechanical engineering, aerospace, tool steels, die and molds …. Erasteel Masters all the manufacturing process of the conventional HSS from the raw materials to the end user product.
Process and Main characteristics
High Speed Steels (HSS) resist to wear thanks to carbides in the steel. Structural stability at up to 560°C gives HSS a great resistance to softening. HSS exhibit high resistance to deformation as a result of a high hardness. As the HSS owns a high strength, they resist to breakage. For all these reasons, High Speed Steels (HSS) are suitable for tools and special components.
The Heat treatment process is as critical to the success of the cutting tool as material selection itself. Often the highest-quality steel made into the most precise tools does not perform because of improper heat treatment. The object of the heat treating or hardening operation is to transform a fully annealed high-speed tool steel consisting mainly of ferrite (iron) and alloy carbides into a hardened and tempered martensitic structure having carbides that provide the cutting tool properties. Heat treatment of High-Speed steel is done in salt bath or in a vacuum furnace. High quality for HSS steels is also comes from the quality of the heat treatment
HSS Grades
Erasteel offers a large range of conventional High Speed Steels (HSS) as: E M2 grade for general applications included rolls. E M35 grade for general applications. E M42 cobalt-grade for cutting tools and bi-metal bandsaws. C8 grade 8% cobalt-grade with improved high hardness and E945 low alloyed grade with a good hot hardness for cutting tools.