Design and Development of a Low-Cost Ultra-High Strength Steel for Navy Landing Gear Applications

QuesTek Innovations has applied its computational Materials by Design™ technology to the accelerated design and development of Ferrium® M54, a new low-cost ultra-high strength steel for Navy landing gear applications. The development of Ferrium M54 has been sponsored by an ongoing program administered by Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD. Ferrium M54 alloy development goals have included high strength (235 ksi yield strength and 280 ksi ultimate tensile strength, 1% minima), high fracture toughness (greater than 100 ksi·√in), and excellent stress corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance (K_ISCC greater than 30 ksi·√in at open circuit potential as measured by the ASTM F1624 rising step load method). Relative to incumbent alloys, reduced alloying elements in the Ferrium M54 alloy composition result in significantly lower raw material costs. Results from multiple stages of Ferrium M54’s development will be presented (initial 300 lb. and 1,500 lb. scale prototype ingots, and recent full-scale 12-ton ingots). Efforts on the heat treatment optimization of Ferrium M54 will be summarized, and a synopsis of recent tensile tests, fracture toughness tests, and SCC resistance tests on both prototype- and full-scale ingot material will be presented.