Maraging steel

Maraging steels (a portmanteau of "martensitic" and "aging") are steels (iron alloys) that are known for possessing superior strength and toughness without losing malleability, although they cannot hold a good cutting edge. Aging refers to the extended heat-treatment process. These steels are a special class of low-carbon ultra-high-strength steels that derive their strength not from carbon, but from precipitation of intermetallic compounds. The principal alloying element is 15 to 25 wt.% nickel. Secondary alloying elements, which include cobalt, molybdenum, and titanium, are added to produce intermetallic precipitates,. Original development (by Bieber of Inco in the late 1950s) was carried out on 20 and 25 wt.% Ni steels to which small additions of Al, Ti, and Nb were made; a rise in the price of cobalt in the late 1970s led to the development of cobalt-free maraging steels