Chemical and Physical Characterization on Metal Alloy Selection for Throwing Knife

Abstract

The materials for making throwing knives are selected to determine the characteristics of the two materials. The materials used are Mild Steel (A36) and SUP 9. The prices of these two materials are different, thus affecting the economic value of the final throwing knife product. Chemical composition, hardness and metallography tests are used to determine the properties of the starting material before heat treatment is carried out on the material. The results after testing showed that the carbon, manganese, chromium, and silicon content in SUP 9 steel was very high compared to that of mild steel. The microstructure image results show that SUP 9 steel is dominated by pearlite and very little ferrite, which causes the hardness of SUP 9 steel (231.8 HVN) to be higher than that of mild steel (164.3 HVN). These characteristics show that SUP 9 steel is very suitable for throwing knives that require high strength.