Precipitation Hardening Steels

Precipitation Hardening Steels

Designers of stainless steel and nickel alloy products are routinely faced with making tradeoffs between the properties needed for manufacturing and those required for its end use. When such compromises begin to adversely impact cost or performance, precipitation hardening stainless steel (PH) alloys may offer a solution.

Good candidates are strip and wire components that must be extensively formed or drawn during the manufacturing, then must exhibit high strength and toughness in service. PH alloys are similar to other stainless steel and nickel-based alloys, with one major exception: They contain small additions of copper, aluminum, phosphorus, or titanium.

After a part made of a PH alloy has been formed, it is given an age-hardening treatment in which these elements precipitate as hard intermetallic compounds that significantly increase hardness and strength.