17-4PH

17-4PH stainless steel is the most widely used of all the precipitation-hardening stainless steels, combining high strength and post-heat treatment hardness with excellent corrosion resistance that, in tests, proved superior to standard grades such as 420, 431 and 410. In fact, the corrosion resistance of 17-4PH is comparable with that of Grade 304.

A chromium-copper Stainless steel standardised as UNS S17400, 17-4PH is highly resistant to stress corrosion, has good machinability, short-term, low temperature heat treatments that minimise warpage and scaling, and is considered to be more cost effective than many high nickel non-ferrous alloys.

Due to the high strength of 17-4PH, its main use is in aerospace and other high technology industries such as offshore, in gears, valves, turbine blades, nuclear waste casks, moulding dies and shafts, as well as having been tested in the petrochemical, petroleum, paper, dairy and food processing industries, and in such applications as boat shafting. The unique combination of properties within 17-4PH makes this alloy an effective solution to many design and production problems.