Ovako, a leading producer of engineering steel, with a US sales office located in South Carolina, recently introduced its new Hybrid Steel family. It has the properties of stainless steel, tool steel and maraging steel combined with the production economy of engineering steel, the company states.
The properties of Hybrid Steel are made possible by a combination of secondary hardening and precipitation hardening mechanisms. The new steel is also designed to reduce the number of manufacturing steps required to produce a finished component.
The steel is relatively low in carbon and contains a number of carefully controlled alloying elements, most importantly chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, nickel and aluminum. These enable it to develop its full properties after tempering at elevated temperature (500-600° C). The chromium and aluminum content also aims to improve corrosion resistance.