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Hardened A3 Tool Steel

Hardened SAE-AISI A3 is SAE-AISI A3 steel in the hardened (H) condition. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare hardened SAE-AISI A3 to: tool steels (top), all iron alloys (middle), and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.

Mechanical Properties

Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus

190 GPa 27 x 106 psi

Poisson's Ratio

0.29

Rockwell C Hardness

66

Shear Modulus

73 GPa 11 x 106 psi

Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)

2150 MPa 310 x 103 psi

Thermal Properties

Latent Heat of Fusion

260 J/g

Melting Completion (Liquidus)

1450 °C 2650 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1410 °C 2570 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

470 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Conductivity

37 W/m-K 21 BTU/h-ft-°F

Thermal Expansion

12 µm/m-K

Electrical Properties

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume

8.3 % IACS

Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)

9.7 % IACS

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price

6.0 % relative

Density

7.8 g/cm3 480 lb/ft3

Embodied Carbon

4.4 kg CO2/kg material

Embodied Energy

67 MJ/kg 29 x 103 BTU/lb

Embodied Water

78 L/kg 9.3 gal/lb

Common Calculations

PREN (Pitting Resistance)

8.9

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

14 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

25 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

77 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

48 points

Thermal Diffusivity

10 mm2/s

Thermal Shock Resistance

70 points

Alloy Composition

Iron (Fe)Fe 88.7 to 92
Chromium (Cr)Cr 4.8 to 5.5
Carbon (C)C 1.2 to 1.3
Molybdenum (Mo)Mo 0.9 to 1.4
Vanadium (V)V 0.8 to 1.4
Manganese (Mn)Mn 0.4 to 0.6
Silicon (Si)Si 0 to 0.5
Nickel (Ni)Ni 0 to 0.3
Copper (Cu)Cu 0 to 0.25
Phosphorus (P)P 0 to 0.030
Sulfur (S)S 0 to 0.030

All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.

Followup Questions

Further Reading

ASTM A681: Standard Specification for Tool Steels Alloy

Tool Steels, 5th ed., George Roberts et al., 1998

Tool Steels: Properties and Performance, Rafael A. Mesquita (editor), 2016

ASM Specialty Handbook: Carbon and Alloy Steels, J. R. Davis (editor), 1996