17-4 stainless steel 17-4 stainless steel SAE type 630 stainless steel (more commonly known as 17-4; also known as UNS 17400) is a grade of martensitic precipitation-hardened stainless steel. It contains approximately 15–17.5% (17) chromium and 3–5% (4) nickel, as well as 3–5% copper. 17-4 can be heat treated to high levels of strength and hardness, and features corrosion resistance and machinability comparable to austenitic 304 stainless. Being martensitic, 17-4 is magnetic. 17-4 is capable of being hardened up to approximately 44 Rc when heat treated to condition H900. Overaging (aging beyond the peak strength condition) improves resistance to stress corrosion cracking. Uses
Martensitic stainless steel and internal clamps). Untempered martensite is low in toughness and therefore brittle. The characteristic body-centered tetragonal martensite microstructure was first observed by German microscopist Adolf Martens around 1890. In 1912, Elwood Haynes applied for a U.S. patent on a martensitic stainless steel alloy. This patent was not granted until 1919. Martensitic stainless steel can be nondestructively tested using the magnetic particle inspection method, unlike austenitic stainless steel. Also in 1912, Harry Brearley of the Brown-Firth research laboratory in Sheffield, England, while seeking a corrosion-resistant alloy for gun barrels, discovered and subsequently industrialized a martensitic stainless steel alloy. The discovery was