Ferrium® M54™

Ferrium M54 is a new lower-cost, ultra-high strength (293 ksi or 2,020 MPa UTS) and high fracture toughness (115 ksi-√in or 127 MPa-√m) VIM/VAR steel (typical properties) with excellent fatigue resistance, robust thermal processing, and high resistance to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). M54 was computationally designed to be a lower-cost, drop-in replacement for AerMet® 100 (AMS 6532), yet offer equivalent-or-better properties; M54 contains approximately 50% less cobalt than AMS 6532. M54 can also be considered when upgrading from Maraging 250, 4340, 300M (BS S155) or other steels to improve performance, or reduce weight or volume. M54 is covered by SAE AMS 6516. S-basis design allowables for M54 were approved for use in MMPDS during 2012, and it is anticipated that A- and B-basis design allowables will be approved for use in MMPDS in 2013.

M54 can be considered for demanding applications, including where superior fatigue resistance and SCC resistance is advantageous. For example, aerospace and defense applications can include landing gear, rotorshafts, driveshafts, arresting tailhooks and hookshanks, actuators, armor, munitions, gun barrels, and blast-resistant or impact containment devices. Energy industry applications can for example include lifting shafts, driveshafts, couplings or collars, while racing applications can include driveshafts, crankshafts, and connecting rods.

Want corrosion-resistant ultra high-strength steel? See Ferrium S53.

Want a tough, strong core but greater surface hardness? See carburizing-grades Ferrium C61 or Ferrium C64.

Benefits

Benefits of using M54 vs. AMS 6532, Maraging 250, 4340, 300M or other high-strength steels can include:

• Reduce the cost for parts currently using AMS 6532, while also gaining improved material properties. In adition to containing about 50% less cobalt than AMS 6532, M54 has robust thermal processing windows to reduce manufacturing waste/re-work.
• Improve the durability, or reduce the size and weight, of parts currently using 4340, Maraging 250, 300M or other alloys, by leveraging the superior fracture toughness, fatigue resistance and other properties of M54.
• Reduce the occurrence of difficult-to-predict SCC failures of parts currently using AMS 6532, 4340, Maraging 250, 300M or other alloys, and related expenses for part condemnation and equipment failure/downtime. M54 has demonstrated approximately 400% greater resistance to SCC than AMS 6532 at OCP, as measured by ASTM F1624.

Licensed Supplier / M54 Price and Availability

As shown at left please directly contact our commercial production/sales licensee Latrobe Specialty Metals Company for M54 material pricing, availability and information.

Technical Assistance

If you have a specific application engineering or technical question that is not answered by our licensee's resources and the additional information below, then feel free to Contact Us.

Design and Development Background

We computationally designed M54 in direct response to solicitation N07-032 from the U.S. Navy Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) for industry to offer materials that could improve upon AMS 6532.

In July 2012 we announced a NAVAIR-funded SBIR Phase II contract to demonstrate M54 steel for use in U.S. Navy aircraft tailhooks.

In June 2012 S-basis design allowables for M54 were approved for use in the Metallic Materials Properties Development and Standardization (MMPDS) handbook. It is also anticipated that A- and B-basis design allowables will be approved for use in MMPDS during 2013.

In May 2012 a formal machining study of M54 will be completed. The results are expected to be available in 2012. Initial feedback indicates that in general M54 machines faster than AMS 6532 for major material removal turning operations.

In 2011 SAE International issued AMS 6516 specification for M54.

In 2011 we co-authored a technical paper that evaluated protection schemes for ultrahigh-strength steels (including M54) for landing gear applications. The paper concluded that a cadmium, chromate, primer and paint protection scheme on M54 did not show as much evidence of breakdown as the same scheme on either 300M or 4340 after 500 hours of salt fog testing per ASTM B117; comparative data for zinc-nickel protection performance was also presented (see below).

In 2011 we completed a NAVAIR-funded SBIR Phase II program to further design and develop M54 as a lower-cost, high-performance landing gear steel.

In 2011 we completed a NAVAIR-funded SBIR Phase I program that will in part evaluate M54 as a material for use in tailhook components, used to abruptly arrest and stop aircraft landing on aircraft carriers.

In 2010 we announced that Latrobe Specialty Steel Co. is the initial firm licensed to commercially produce and sell M54.

_{Note: AerMet is a registered trademark of CRS Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Carpenter Technology Corp.}