AMS 5936 / UNS S46500 / Custom 465 Stainless Steel

Custom 465 stainless steel (UNS S46500) is a premium double vacuum-melted, martensitic, age-hardenable alloy that offers a unique combination of high strength, toughness, and corrosion resistance. finding myriad applications in diverse industries. While the alloy continues to meet the special and exacting needs of aerospace manufacturers, it also has found application in marine equipment, firearms, hand tools, oil and gas drilling, and the medical industry among others.

 

General corrosion resistance of Custom 465 stainless approaches that of 304 stainless. In both the H950 and H1000 conditions, exposure to 5% neutral salt spray at 95ºF (35º C) (per ASTM B117) caused no rusting after over 2000 hours. Double-cantilever-beam tests conducted in 3.5% NaCl (pH 6) show Custom 465 stainless to possess inherently good resistance to stress corrosion cracking.

 

Its stress corrosion resistance, furthermore, improves with increasing aging temperature. It is comparable to that of 13Cr-8Ni stainless and Custom 455 stainless steels, but at significantly higher strength – and its resistance is superior to that of both when overaged to the same strength level.

Custom 465 stainless was originally designed to help meet demands from the aerospace industry for materials that could keep aircraft flying for 30 years or more with minimum maintenance. It has since been approved and used for structural components such as flap tracks, slat tracks, actuators, engine mounts, and landing gear hardware. Custom 465 alloy is currently covered by the MMPDS-02, AMS 5936, and ASTM A564 specifications.

 

Custom 465 stainless can be considered as a corrosion resistant replacement for 300M, AISI 4340, and similar types of steels that must be plated or otherwise surface coated to provide corrosion resistance. It can also be considered as a higher strength replacement for stainless steels such as 15Cr-5Ni , 17Cr-4Ni, and 13-8 stainless steels currently in use that have acceptable corrosion resistance, but less-than-desired strength and toughness.