MATERIALS DATABASE

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14C28N is a premium martensitic stainless chromium steel developed by Sandvik for applications demanding a superior combination of edge performance, corrosion resistance, and ease of sharpening. Its optimized chemical composition typically includes approximately 0.62% Carbon (C), 14.0% Chromium (Cr), 0.11% Nitrogen (N), 0.2% Silicon (Si), and 0.2% Manganese (Mn). The carbon content contributes significantly to its high hardness and excellent edge retention, while the high chromium content, complemented by nitrogen, ensures outstanding corrosion resistance. The addition of nitrogen also promotes a fine grain structure and further enhances corrosion resistance. This steel is renowned for its ability to achieve a very fine, sharp edge and maintain it, coupled with good toughness for a steel of its hardness, making it highly versatile.

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5Cr13MoV is a Chinese martensitic stainless steel, often considered a budget-friendly option for cutlery and tools. Its composition typically includes approximately 0.45-0.55% Carbon, 12.0-14.0% Chromium, 0.15-0.30% Molybdenum, and 0.10-0.20% Vanadium, along with smaller amounts of Manganese and Silicon. The high chromium content provides good corrosion resistance, while the carbon, molybdenum, and vanadium contribute to decent edge retention and wear resistance through the formation of carbides. It offers a good balance of properties for its cost, being relatively easy to sharpen and maintain, though its edge retention is not as high as premium steels. It is heat-treatable to achieve desired hardness levels.

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9Cr18MoV is a high-carbon martensitic stainless steel, primarily developed in China. It is characterized by its excellent balance of properties, offering high hardness, good wear resistance, and strong corrosion resistance. The high chromium content (typically around 18%) forms a protective passive layer, while the significant carbon content (around 0.9%), along with additions of Molybdenum and Vanadium, contributes to its ability to achieve high hardness and maintain a sharp edge. Vanadium forms fine carbides that enhance wear resistance and grain refinement, and Molybdenum further improves corrosion resistance, particularly pitting resistance, and high-temperature strength. It is often considered a Chinese equivalent to steels like 440B or 440C, depending on the specific composition and heat treatment.

AEB-L is a high-carbon, low-chromium stainless steel, originally developed by Uddeholm (Sweden) for razor blades. It is renowned for its exceptionally fine grain structure and very small, evenly distributed carbides, which allow it to achieve and maintain an extremely keen and stable edge. This fine microstructure contributes to its excellent toughness for its hardness level, making it less prone to chipping compared to some other high-hardness steels. While its corrosion resistance is good, it is not as high as some super-stainless steels, requiring reasonable care. It is also known for being relatively easy to sharpen to a very high degree of polish.

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AR-RPM9 is a proprietary spray-form stainless steel developed by Artisan Cutlery and CJRB, primarily engineered for knife blade applications. Although initially promoted with an emphasis on its 'nine elements' and powder metallurgy characteristics, it is essentially a spray-formed variant of 9Cr18MoV steel. This composition is closely related to 440C stainless steel but differentiates itself through its unique manufacturing process. The spray-forming technique yields a significantly finer and more uniform microstructure, characterized by smaller, rounder carbides compared to conventionally produced 9Cr18MoV or 440C. This microstructural refinement substantially enhances its toughness, making it more resistant to chipping, while simultaneously preserving excellent corrosion resistance and good edge retention. A key attribute of AR-RPM9 is its balanced performance profile – offering good toughness, high corrosion resistance, and relative ease of sharpening – all at an accessible price point, positioning it as a popular choice for value-oriented yet capable knives.

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CPM S90V is a high-performance martensitic stainless steel produced by Crucible Industries, utilizing their proprietary Crucible Particle Metallurgy (CPM) process. This powder metallurgy process ensures a very fine and uniform distribution of its high alloy content, particularly its exceptionally high vanadium content (approximately 9%). This high vanadium forms a significant volume of extremely hard vanadium carbides within the steel matrix, which are the primary contributors to its unparalleled wear resistance and superior edge retention. It also contains a substantial amount of chromium (around 14%) providing significant corrosion resistance. While offering top-tier performance for demanding applications, its extreme hardness and high carbide volume make it notoriously difficult to grind, sharpen, and polish, often requiring diamond abrasives. Proper heat treatment is crucial to optimize its balance of hardness and toughness.

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D2 is a high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel, known for its excellent wear resistance and good toughness. It is an air-hardening steel, meaning it can be hardened by cooling in air after austenitizing, which contributes to good dimensional stability during heat treatment. Its high chromium content (typically 11-13%) provides moderate corrosion resistance, superior to many other tool steels but not considered stainless. The high carbon content (typically 1.4-1.6%) combined with chromium forms a significant volume of hard carbides, which are responsible for its exceptional wear resistance. However, these carbides also make it somewhat difficult to machine and grind. It exhibits high compressive strength and retains a good cutting edge.

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M390 is a premium martensitic chromium steel produced by Bohler-Uddeholm using a powder metallurgy process. It is renowned for its exceptional wear resistance, high hardness, and very good corrosion resistance, making it a 'super steel' in many applications. Its high chromium content contributes to its excellent corrosion resistance, while the high vanadium and carbon content provide superior wear resistance and edge retention. The powder metallurgy process ensures a fine, uniform grain structure, which enhances its toughness and grindability for a steel of its hardness and wear resistance.

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Nitro-V is a nitrogen-enriched stainless steel developed by New Jersey Steel Baron (NJSB) in collaboration with Latrobe Specialty Steel. It is an evolution of AEB-L steel, with the primary additions being nitrogen and vanadium. The nitrogen content significantly enhances its strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance, while vanadium contributes to a fine grain structure and improved wear resistance. This combination results in a steel known for its excellent balance of properties: high corrosion resistance, good edge retention, and impressive toughness. It is also relatively easy to sharpen compared to many other high-performance stainless steels, making it a popular choice for various cutting tools.

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CPM S35VN is a premium martensitic stainless steel produced by Crucible Industries using the Crucible Particle Metallurgy (CPM) process. This powder metallurgy technique results in a very fine and uniform carbide distribution, which significantly enhances the steel's properties. It was developed as an upgrade to S30V, offering improved toughness (approximately 15-20% greater) and easier grindability and polishing, while maintaining excellent wear resistance and edge retention. The addition of Niobium (Nb) contributes to a finer grain structure and improved toughness, while Vanadium (V) provides superior wear resistance and Chromium (Cr) ensures very good corrosion resistance. It strikes an excellent balance between toughness, edge retention, and corrosion resistance, making it a highly sought-after material for high-performance cutting tools.

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S45VN is a premium, high-performance martensitic stainless steel produced by Crucible Industries using the Crucible Particle Metallurgy (CPM) process. It was developed as an upgrade to S35VN and S30V, offering an optimized balance of properties. Its chemistry includes higher Niobium, Vanadium, and Carbon, with added Nitrogen and a slightly reduced Chromium content compared to S35VN. This composition results in superior toughness, enhanced edge retention, and improved corrosion resistance. The CPM process ensures a very fine and uniform carbide distribution, which contributes significantly to its excellent wear resistance and grindability, making it a highly desirable material for demanding applications.

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Stainless steel is an iron alloy with a minimum of 10.5% chromium content by mass. The chromium forms a passive layer of chromium oxide on the surface, which prevents further corrosion and gives the steel its 'stainless' properties. Other alloying elements like nickel, molybdenum, titanium, and manganese are added to enhance specific properties such as ductility, strength, and resistance to various forms of corrosion (e.g., pitting, crevice corrosion). It is known for its excellent corrosion resistance, high strength-to-weight ratio, good formability, aesthetic appeal, and hygienic properties. There are several main families: Austenitic (e.g., 304, 316) known for ductility and corrosion resistance; Ferritic (e.g., 430) known for magnetic properties and moderate corrosion resistance; Martensitic (e.g., 410, 420) known for high strength and hardness after heat treatment; Duplex (e.g., 2205) combining properties of austenitic and ferritic steels for superior strength and corrosion resistance.

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