Abbreviation for HSS, composed of the initial letters of the English words High Speed ??Steel, affects a whole group of steels, belonging to the category of high-speed. Mills are made of steels of this type, taps, dies for carving. Much less often this material is used for the production of hacksaw blades and knives.
HSS alloys are high carbon steel, some brands may contain significant amounts of tungsten. Hardness of the tool, made of steels of this type, may be in the interval 62-64 units on the HRC scale.
The final cutter, made ??made of HSS-Co8 steel is capable of processing material with a tensile strength of up to 1100N / mm2
HSS steel tools, if you compare them with carbides, are more affordable and more durable, which allows you to successfully use them for intermittent cutting. Meanwhile, it is allowed to perform processing with them at lower cutting speeds, compared to carbide drills.
The composition of high-speed steels, which foreign manufacturers call HSS alloys, constantly improving. So, from the end of the XIX century in such steels began to add a significant amount of tungsten (to 18%), and with 1912 year in these alloys began to appear cobalt. And only in 1930 year in the HSS-steels included molybdenum.
Main characteristics and brands
Depending on their composition, HSS steels are divided into three categories:
- with high tungsten content (T);
- molybdenum (M);
- high-alloy group.
Chemical composition of tungsten HSS steels
Due to the high cost and lack of tungsten steel with its high content in our time are used quite rarely. The most common steels of this group are general purpose alloy T1 and contains vanadium and cobalt steel alloy T15. The latter is used, in particular, for the manufacture of products, which must be highly resistant to wear and high temperatures.
Chemical composition of molybdenum HSS steels
HSS molybdenum group became more widespread, which may also contain tungsten and cobalt. High-speed steel molybdenum group, which contain a significant amount of vanadium and carbon, resistant to abrasive wear. For the manufacture of products, which must maintain high hardness even at high temperatures, molybdenum steel alloys are used, starting from the M41 brand. In the manufacture of tools, which are operated in cold conditions and have high impact strength, also use steel alloys of molybdenum group, subjecting them to special heat treatment.
Chemical composition of high-alloy HSS steels
Choosing tools from HSS-steels of molybdenum group, the characteristics of individual grades of such steel alloys should be taken into account.
M1
HSS-drills of wide application are made of steel of this brand. HSS drills made of M1 alloy are more flexible and less susceptible to shock loads, but the level of their redness is less, than tools, made of M2 steel.
M2
This is the most common material, from which tools for various purposes are made. HSS-steel products of this brand, which are used to perform high-performance machine work, differ in high redness resistance, the parameters of their cutting edges are stored longer, than tools from high-speed steels of other brands.
M7
This alloy is used for the production of powerful drills, which require not only high flexibility, but also exceptional reliability. By means of drills on HSS metal, made of an alloy of this brand, make holes in solid and thick sheet material.
M50
This is material, which is used to make drills, which work complete with portable equipment. In these conditions, the breakage of the tool due to its significant bending is a very important problem. The HSS drill from M50 steel alloy does not possess such redness resistance, as tools from high-speed steels of other brands.
M35
This alloy, which is also referred to as HSSE, due to the high content of cobalt has a higher redness, than high-speed steel grade M2. Meanwhile, the high content of this element in the HSSE steel reduces its resistance to shock loads.
M42
This is steel, which contains the maximum amount of cobalt, so it is often called Super Cobalt. Tools from HSS-steel of this brand differ not only in high redness, but also exceptional abrasion resistance. Due to these characteristics, steel of this brand is successfully used for the production of tools, by means of which it is necessary to carry out processing of narrow and difficult materials.
The content of tungsten in the composition of HSS-steels allows you to endow the product, which of them are made, redness.
This is the quality, that the cutting edge of the tool retains its hardness even at the temperature of red incandescence - 530 °. Even higher redness resistance (as well as increased wear resistance) have high-speed steel alloys, in the chemical composition of which contains cobalt (HSS Co). The cutting edges of HSS category drill bits are able to maintain their hardness at higher temperatures.
Legend
Deciphering the chemical composition of steels, belonging to the category HSS, difficult, as their designation does not contain any detailed data. Usually, in catalogs on the tool, made of steels of this category, there is information about materials, for processing which it can be used. To relatively accurately determine the chemical composition of HSS steels, it is necessary to use special equipment or solve this problem by experience.
Probably, it is a German analogue of high-speed steel HSS M2
It is better to understand the characteristics and material of the tool, on which the HSS marking is applied, helps knowledge of the following data.
HSS
The letter R is often added to such an abbreviation. These are drills, differing in the least stability. They undergo roller rolling and heat treatment.
HSS G
This designation is applied to drills, the cutting part of which can be ground with a borazon (CBN). HSS G tools are the most common, they are characterized by increased stability. in addition, drill on metal, on which such designation is put, creates the least beat when performing processing with it.
HSS with the letter E
This designation indicates that, that the material of the product contains cobalt. The tool marked HSSE is optimal for processing complex materials, as well as materials, characterized by high viscosity. As mentioned above, an analogue of the HSSE designation is the M35 marking. There are also international analogues of the HSSE designation (HSS-Co5 і HSS-Co8), by which you can accurately determine, how much cobalt is contained in the steel alloy.
Steel of this brand is extremely difficult to cut by a Bulgarian
HSS G Title
This designation indicates that, that the surface of the tool is sprayed with titanium nitride. Due to this, the hardness of the surface layer of the product increases (about 2300 HV), and its heat resistance (to 600 °).
HSS G TiAIN
Titanium nitride is sprayed on the surface of the tool with this designation, alloyed with aluminum. The hardness of the surface layer of such a drill due to this coating increases by about 3000 HV, and thermal stability - on 900 °.
HSS E-VAP
Products with this designation can be used to process stainless steel. Less shavings stick to their surface, therefore they break less often and provide high quality of processing.
It is not uncommon to find tools labeled HSS 4241, which are used mainly for processing of wood products, plastic and aluminum. As for the designation Super HSS, then each manufacturer invests in it their ideas about the quality of the tool.
The video shows a test of a HSS W18 steel knife.