HSS High Speed Steels
Uddeholm’s High Speed Steel Portfolio
High Speed Steels (HSS) are a collection of alloyed tool steel grades, engineered to maintain hardness, wear resistance, and cutting performance even at elevated temperatures generated during the chip formation process. Their defining characteristic is red hardness, the ability to retain hardness above 500°C, which allows cutting tools to operate at far higher processing speeds.
Uddeholm and its role in HSS development
Uddeholm has a long tradition of manufacturing steel grades within the High Speed Steel segment used in a wide selection of applications. Uddeholm steels are used in metal cutting processing operations, cold work tooling, and precision manufacturing, where consistent quality and long tool life is critical. Typical HSS grades are made for products in chip formation applications like milling, drilling, threading, and turning. The characteristics of the mix of elements create steel grades that make HSS ideal in drills, taps, end mills, saw blades, broaches, hobs, and other cutting processing tools.
Uddeholm’s HSS product portfolio contains Uddeholm Vanadis steel grades such as Uddeholm Vanadis 23, Uddeholm Vanadis 30, and Uddeholm Vanadis 60. Powder Metallurgy HSS are manufactured by a third‑generation powder metallurgy production process. It is produced by atomizing molten steel into fine powder, consolidating it under high pressure (HIP) to ingots which are then forged and rolled into round and rectangular bars. The Uddeholm Vanadis family offers a high alloy content, superior toughness, and uniform carbides. This makes the Uddeholm Vanadis collection suitable for highly demanding cutting tool applications.
Composition and Key Properties
Uddeholm Vanadis grades contain high alloyed elements, resulting in a superior quality material due to great cleanliness, hardness and wear resistance. HSS grades are built around a matrix of iron, carbon, and strong carbide‑forming elements like tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, chromium, and cobalt.
HSS are not one single material; they are a combination of alloying elements forming steel grades such as Uddeholm Vanadis 23, Uddeholm Vanadis 30, and Uddeholm Vanadis 60.