Grade 420 stainless steel is a high-carbon steel with a minimum chromium content of 12%. Like any
other stainless steel, grade 420 can also be hardened through heat treatment. It offers good
ductility in its annealed state and excellent corrosion resistance properties when the metal is
polished, surface grounded or hardened. This grade has the highest hardness - 50HRC - among all
the stainless steel grades with 12% chromium.
Stainless steel grades that are similar to grade 420 stainless steels include martensitic steels
such as the other versions of grade 420, having vanadium, sulphur and molybdenum in their
composition, and the grade 440 series. Non-standard grade 420C has carbon content that is little
higher than that of grade 420.
Martensitic stainless steels are ones with high hardness and high carbon content. These steels are
generally fabricated using methods that require hardening and tempering treatments. The operating
conditions of martensitic steels are affected by loss of material’s strength at high temperatures,
and decrease in ductility at negative temperatures.
