Question 1

What is the tensile strength of carbide cutting tool material?

Accepted Answer

Tungsten carbide grades used for cutting tools have transverse rupture strength (TRS) of 350,000–450,000 PSI (2,400–3,100 MPa). Unlike steel, carbide has negligible ductility and fails suddenly under tensile load. This high compressive-to-tensile strength ratio is why carbide tools are designed for compression.

Question 2

How does temperature affect tensile strength?

Accepted Answer

Tensile strength decreases with increasing temperature. Steel at 400°C retains approximately 70% of room-temperature strength. Aluminum at 300°C retains about 20% of room-temperature strength. Superalloys like Inconel maintain 80–90% of strength at 600°C, which is why they're specified for high-temperature applications.

Question 3

Does hardness predict tensile strength accurately?

Accepted Answer

Yes, for carbon and alloy steels. A common approximation: UTS (ksi) ≈ 500 × HRC for steels between 20–40 HRC. Above 40 HRC, use 490 + (HRC − 40) × 300 as a better approximation. ASTM E140 provides the most accurate conversion tables for hardness to tensile strength across different material families.
⚡ Calculated for Carbide-Tooling.com High-Performance Series. View Catalog →

Material	MPa	ksi
A36 Steel	400	58
1018 Steel	440	64
4140 Annealed	655	95
4340 Q&T	1100	160
7075-T6 Al	570	83
Ti-6Al-4V	950	138

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