MakeItFrom.com
Menu (ESC)

Hardened M2 Tool Steel

Hardened SAE-AISI M2 is SAE-AISI M2 steel in the hardened (H) condition. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare hardened SAE-AISI M2 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

200 GPa 29 x 106 psi

Poisson's Ratio

0.29

Rockwell C Hardness

66

Shear Modulus

77 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)

1610 °C 2940 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1570 °C 2850 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

440 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Conductivity

22 W/m-K 13 BTU/h-ft-°F

Thermal Expansion

10 µm/m-K

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price

24 % relative

Density

8.4 g/cm3 520 lb/ft3

Embodied Carbon

8.8 kg CO2/kg material

Embodied Energy

130 MJ/kg 57 x 103 BTU/lb

Embodied Water

98 L/kg 12 gal/lb

Common Calculations

PREN (Pitting Resistance)

31

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

13 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

23 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

71 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

44 points

Thermal Diffusivity

5.9 mm2/s

Thermal Shock Resistance

76 points

Alloy Composition

Iron (Fe)Fe 78.5 to 83.4
Tungsten (W)W 5.5 to 6.8
Molybdenum (Mo)Mo 4.5 to 5.5
Chromium (Cr)Cr 3.8 to 4.5
Vanadium (V)V 1.8 to 2.2
Carbon (C)C 0.78 to 1.1
Silicon (Si)Si 0.2 to 0.45
Manganese (Mn)Mn 0.15 to 0.4
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

SAE J437: Selection and Heat Treatment of Tool and Die Steels

ASTM A600: Standard Specification for Tool Steel High Speed

Sintering of Advanced Materials: Fundamentals and Processes, Zhigang Zak Fang (editor), 2010

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