||CRU-WEAR is an air-hardening tool steel, heat treatable to HRC 60-65. Designed as an upgrade to D2, it offers better wear resistance, greater toughness and higher attainable hardness. Compared to the chemistry of D2, (D2 = 1.55% carbon, 11.5% chromium, 0.8% vanadium, and 0.9% molybdenum), CRU-WEAR has less carbon and less chromium, but more vanadium and tungsten. Both D2 and CRU-WEAR contain carbides for wear resistance, but CRU-WEAR has more vanadium carbides than D2. Vanadium carbides are harder than chromium carbides and are much more effective in providing wear resistance. Because CRU-WEAR contains less carbon than D2, its overall carbide volume is lower, making it tougher than D2. (Note: Although CRU-WEAR contains fewer total carbides, it has more of the type of carbides that are most effective for wear resistance.) CRU-WEAR’s higher attainable hardness results from the fact that it contains sufficient tungsten and molybdenum to cause a secondary hardening response, (up to HRC 65), which does not occur in D2. Finally, CRU-WEAR tempers at a higher range (900-1050°F) than D2 (400-600°F), so it is more compatible with a wide variety of surface treatments.
Information provided by Specialty Metals.