STRONG, CORROSION-RESISTANT
STAINLESS STEEL This strong, tough, corrosion-resistant
stainless steel improves performance
of equipment in aerospace, medical
instruments, oil drilling, firearms,
and marine applications.
David E. Wert* and Ryan P. DiSabella*
Carpenter Technology Corp.
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania
C
ustom 465 stainless steel is a premium double
vacuum-melted, martensitic, age-hardenable
alloy that offers a unique combination of high
strength, toughness, and corrosion resistance.
It is capable of ultimate tensile strength in excess
of 250 ksi (1722 MPa) when aged at 950°F (H950
condition). This strength is higher than that of any
other historically available precipitation-harden-
able stainless steel long product. Aging temper-
atures ranging from 950 to 1050°F can be selected
to achieve the balance of strength,
toughness, and resistance to
stress-corrosion cracking needed
for specific applications.
The H950 condition is the most
common treatment for achieving
higher strength together with
good toughness and excellent
notch tensile strength. The H1000
condition may be chosen for
higher toughness at a slightly
lower strength level. This condi-
tion provides a superior combi-
nation of strength, toughness,
fabricability, and resistance to
stress-corrosion cracking.
Figure 1 shows the relative
strength and toughness of PH
Partial view of a Black Max motor, stainless steels, while Fig. 2 shows
(left), with cutaway revealing the the relationship between yield
Custom 465 stainless steel drive shaft strength and fracture toughness of
(right). Image courtesy of NQL En- conventional PH stainless steels.
ergy Services. * Member of ASM International
300
Ultimate tensile strength
UTS (ksi)
Fracture toughness KIC
250 Kic (ksi
sq. rt. in.)
200
150
100
50
Custom 630 Project 70+ Custom Carpenter Custom
(17-4) 15-5 450 13-8 455
Fig. 1 — Relative strength and toughness of PH stainless steels.
34
General corrosion resistance of Custom 465
stainless approaches that of Type 304 stainless. In
both the H950 and H1000 conditions, exposure to
5% neutral salt spray at 95ºF (35ºC) (per ASTM
B117) caused no rusting after more than 2000
hours. Double-cantilever-beam tests conducted
in 3.5% NaCl (pH 6) show inherently good resist-
ance to stress-corrosion cracking.
In addition, stress corrosion resistance improves
with increasing aging temperature, making it
comparable to that of Carpenter 13-8 stainless and
Custom 455, but at significantly higher strength,
and its resistance is superior to that of both when
overaged to the same strength level. Fig. 3 shows
the relative strength, general corrosion resistance,
and stress-corrosion cracking resistance of tradi-
tional PH stainless steels.
Service conditions
In today’s competitive business climate, more
manufacturers are focused on the lowest life-cycle
cost, rather than lowest initial cost. This attitude
has created a strong worldwide demand for ma-
terials with high strength and toughness that are
also relatively easy to fabricate and that provide
reliable, long-term service in corrosive environ-
ments. The patented alloy is a corrosion-resistant
upgrade to high-strength alloy steels, and is a
higher-strength upgrade to more conventional
stainless steels. Composition is shown in Table 1,
and typical properties are shown in Table 2. Un-
like alloy steels, Custom 465 stainless requires no
surface coating or metal plating to provide corro-
sion resistance. It thus eliminates the vulnerability
of treated surfaces to cracking and subsequent
corrosion attack.
In addition to the expense of coating or plating,
the environmental issues related to such coatings
and their waste solution disposal are an even
larger problem. For example, the European Union
is considering a ban on cadmium plating. Even if
cadmium plating is not entirely banned, new re-
strictions and regulations could make the disposal
160
Fracture toughness KIC , MPa-m1/2
Custom 465
140
120
17-4
100
80
15-5
60
13-8 Custom
455
1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
Custom Yield strength, MPa
465
Fig. 2 — Relationship between yield strength and frac-
ture toughness of Custom 465 stainless vs. other PH steels.
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES/AUGUST 2006
cost of plating baths prohibitive. Corrosion
Asuperior strength-to-weight resistance 300 UTS (ksi)
ratio has driven the success of General
corrosion
Better 250
several new products beyond Stress
aerospace. The very high levels 200
corrosion

UTS, ksi
of strength that can be achieved Nominal
provide the part designer with 150

the opportunity to either add 100

strength to an existing design, or Lower
to reduce its weight or size. Even 50
with such high strength levels,
Custom 465’s superior fabrica- Custom 630 Project Custom Carpenter Custom Custom
(17-4) 70+ 15-5 450 13-8 455 465
bility has been key to the success
of critical products that could not Fig. 3 — Relative strength and corrosion resistance of PH stainless steels.
be made from alternative high-strength materials. ples for seven years before the alloy was fully ac-
The alloy is typically shipped from the mill in cepted and qualified. It has since been approved
a solution-annealed and cold-treated condition. and used for structural components such as flap
In this condition, Custom 465’s structure is a tracks, slat tracks, actuators, engine mounts, and
highly ductile iron-nickel martensite with low landing gear hardware. Custom 465 alloy is cur-
yield strength and a relatively low rate of work rently covered by the MMPDS-02, AMS 5936, and
hardening. As such, it can easily be formed or ASTM A564 specifications.
shaped via conventional methods before the The alloy can be considered as a corrosion-
simple one-step hardening treatment. resistant replacement for 300M, AISI 4340, and
similar types of steels that must be plated or oth-
Oil and gas drilling erwise coated to provide corrosion resistance. It
Drill rigs for oil and gas exploration are sub- can also be considered as a higher strength re-
jected to severe costs due to lost production when placement for stainless steels such as 15Cr-5Ni,
they are shut down to repair or replace failed 17Cr-4Ni, and Ph13-8Mo stainless steels that have
equipment. Examples of such critical components acceptable corrosion resistance, but less-than-
are the drive shafts for downhole drilling tools. needed strength and toughness.
Shafts made of EN30B or Astralloy alloy steel, tra-
ditional choices for this application, would typi- Medical instruments
cally last no longer than 150 hours in service be- Cold-worked Custom 465 stainless aged at
fore requiring replacement. 900ºF (482ºC) can provide maximum achievable
NQL Energy Services, a large independent tensile strengths approaching 300 ksi (2070 MPa)
drilling tool supplier in Nisku, Alberta, decided for parts with diameters less than 0.75 in. (20 mm).
to make the drive shafts on its Black Max line of This capability has been useful for making sur-
downhole drilling tools from Custom 465 stain- gical and dental instruments and needle wire.
less, as shown in the photo. As a result, the newly While the more conventional ferritic and marten-
designed shafts and mud motors now last up to
1500 hours before replacement is required. Table 1 — Composition of
Custom 465 stainless steel
Aerospace applications
Custom 465 stainless was originally designed Element Weight percent
to help meet demands from the aerospace in- Chromium 11 – 12.5
dustry for materials that could keep aircraft flying Nickel 10.8 – 11.3
for 30 years or more with minimum maintenance. Molybdenum 0.8 – 1.2
Carpenter and partnering aerospace companies Titanium 1.5 – 1.8
discussed and refined goals, and tested alloy sam- Iron Remainder

Table 2 — Typical properties of Carpenter’s PH stainless steels

Custom 630 Carpenter Custom Carpenter Custom Custom
Alloy 17-4 Project 70+ 15-5 450 13-8 455 465
Condition H950 H925 H900 H1000 H950 H950
Yield strength, MPa (ksi) 1069 (155) 1234 (179) 1296 (188) 1413 (205) 1551 (225) 1648 (239)
Ultimate tensile strength, 1172 (170) 1269 ( 184) 1351 (196) 1482 (215) 1620 (235) 1751 (254)
MPa (ksi)
Elongation, % 15 16 14 13 12 14
Reduction in area, % 50 57 56 55 50 63
Fracture toughness KIC , 110 (100) 95 (86) 78 (71) 127 (115) 77 (70) 98 (89)
MPa -m½ (ksi-in. ½ )
Charpy V-notch energy, J (ft-lb) 34 (25) 64 (47) 54 (40) 54 (40) 19 (14) 27 (20)

ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES/AUGUST 2006 35

 sitic stainless steels sufficed for a long time in
making surgical instruments, that landscape has
At changed.
comparable New surgical techniques require instruments
of improved design that do not break, distort, or
strength otherwise fail during surgery. The new alloy’s
levels, combined high strength and toughness has al-
lowed instruments to withstand higher opera-
Custom 465 tional torque loads during surgery. These prop-
provides erties have facilitated the design of the longer and
more than smaller-cross-section instruments that are typi-
cally required for minimally invasive surgeries.
twice the Superior fracture and impact toughness are also
impact key properties for surgical tools. At comparable
resistance of strength levels, it provides more than twice the
impact resistance of either Custom 455 stainless
either or 17Cr-4Ni stainless, two alternative precipita-
Custom 455 tion hardenable stainless steels.
stainless or Instruments are autoclavable and resistant to
oxidation in a steam environment. The alloy also
17Cr-4Ni has been found to be resistant to cleaning and ster-
stainless. ilizing solutions as well as to body fluids, and is
included in ASTM F899, which is the governing
specification for Stainless Steels for Surgical
Instruments.
Although not designed specifically for wear
and edge retention applications, Custom 465
stainless is suitable for instruments such as
scrapers and cutters with superior results when
compared to Custom 455 and 17-4. In addition,
the alloy has served well in suture needles due
to its combination of high strength, ductility, and
corrosion resistance.
Firearms industry
When firearms manufacturer Sturm Ruger &
Co. Inc., Southport, Conn., developed the world’s
first six-shot revolver in a .454 Casull caliber (the
Ruger Super Redhawk), it selected Custom 465
stainless for the cylinder to withstand the enor-
mous pressure generated when firing this pow-
erful cartridge. Designers started with Ruger’s
proven, rugged .44 magnum platform, planning
to modify it to withstand the approximately 62,000
psi pressure produced by the .454 Casull cartridge.
The highest chamber pressure produced by a
typical .44 Magnum cartridge is about 42,000 psi.
Since the diameter of the chambers in the cylinder
had to increase to accommodate the larger .454
cartridge, the cross sections between the cham-
bers were reduced in thickness. In other words,
the design required thinner walls to withstand
50% higher pressure.
To determine whether this was possible, Ruger
fabricated a cylinder from Custom 465 stainless,
then fired hundreds of rounds at a proof stress of
92,000 psi, approximately 50% higher than the
stress produced under standard .454 firing con-
ditions. After this testing, the chambers exhibited
no cracking, scratches, or other signs of fatigue.
The alloy’s full range of properties was required
to actualize this design — high tensile strength,
notch tensile strength, fracture toughness, and
corrosion resistance. The clean micro-structure
produced via premium melting and the inherent
36 ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES/AUGUST 2006
good machinability of the iron-nickel martensite
matrix provided additional advantages in mate-
rial savings and manufacture.
Marine engine shafts
Howard Arneson is known for groundbreaking
marine racing designs such as the famous Arneson
surface drive propulsion system. He knew he was
pushing material limits when he harnessed a 4500-
hp Lycoming gas turbine, like those in U.S. Army
helicopters, to just one propeller shaft in his
newest catamaran racing boat. This is three times
the power load that is normally applied to a ma-
rine propulsion shaft.
Zeiger Industries of Canton, Ohio, was asked
to fabricate the propeller shaft from 17Cr-4Ni PH
stainless steel. The finished shaft measured 40
inches long by 2.5 inches in the center, tapering
down to 17/8 inch at both ends. After careful in-
stallation of the shaft, the powerful racer was
taken for a test cruise on the Pacific Ocean. Fol-
lowing 50 hours of running time at speeds around
100 mph, the shaft broke off, dropping to the
bottom of the sea with its propeller.
A new shaft made from Custom 465 was pro-
duced and placed into the catamaran. The engine
was tested under exceedingly severe loading con-
ditions. The initial test involved accelerating the
catamaran to 100 mph in just 12 seconds, which
was accomplished successfully. The catamaran
was then accelerated to 175 mph, and held for sev-
eral hours at that speed. For approximately four
months, the catamaran was cruised at sustained
high speeds, 50 to 100 miles at a time, several times
a week, without any trace of a problem.
After this extended period of intense service,
the propeller was removed and no marks or signs
of wear were found even where the propeller en-
gages the spline. This serves to illustrate the ad-
vantages of 465 over other PH stainless alloys, as
it matches them in resistance to stress corrosion
cracking while providing markedly higher
strength.
Mill forms
Despite its highly alloyed content, Custom 465
stainless can be produced with consistent prop-
erties, in most long forms : flat, square, and round
bar; wire; rod; strip; and forged billet up to 16 in.
round. The company is also investigating the man-
ufacture of hot rolled plate, having rolled a
number of trial plates. This development could
facilitate the fabrication of parts close to stock size
and reduce the cost of machining parts.
For more information: David E. Wert is Specialist, Stain-
less R & D, and Ryan P. DiSabella is Metallurgist III,
Stainless R & D, Carpenter Technology Corporation,
P. O. Box 14662, Reading, PA 19612-4662; tel: 610/208-
2000.; www.cartech.com.