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Hardened M4 Tool Steel

Hardened SAE-AISI M4 is SAE-AISI M4 steel in the hardened (H) condition. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare hardened SAE-AISI M4 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 28 x 106 psi

Poisson's Ratio

0.29

Rockwell C Hardness

66

Shear Modulus

76 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 2930 °F

Melting Onset (Solidus)

1560 °C 2840 °F

Specific Heat Capacity

440 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F

Thermal Conductivity

25 W/m-K 15 BTU/h-ft-°F

Thermal Expansion

12 µm/m-K

Otherwise Unclassified Properties

Base Metal Price

25 % relative

Density

8.3 g/cm3 520 lb/ft3

Embodied Carbon

14 kg CO2/kg material

Embodied Energy

210 MJ/kg 91 x 103 BTU/lb

Embodied Water

110 L/kg 13 gal/lb

Common Calculations

PREN (Pitting Resistance)

30

Stiffness to Weight: Axial

13 points

Stiffness to Weight: Bending

23 points

Strength to Weight: Axial

72 points

Strength to Weight: Bending

45 points

Thermal Diffusivity

6.9 mm2/s

Thermal Shock Resistance

68 points

Alloy Composition

Iron (Fe)Fe 75.9 to 81.4
Tungsten (W)W 5.3 to 6.5
Molybdenum (Mo)Mo 4.3 to 5.5
Chromium (Cr)Cr 3.8 to 4.8
Vanadium (V)V 3.8 to 4.5
Carbon (C)C 1.3 to 1.4
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