Abstract: It, ageing high speed steel (AHSS) with high cobalt, has a strong ability of age hardening. However, it has two disadvantages, One is short of toughness, the other is its high price because of its too much alloy content especially cobalt. All of these effect on its widespread using. Now there is a new method without the two flows to form this steel in the surface of ingot iron by use of double glow plasma surface alloying technique.In this paper, the following three parts are introduced: the metallurgical process of this surface ageing high speed steel (SAHSS), the micro structure of the alloying layer, the alloy distribution in the layer. By using the designed source pole, the special alloying process, the required surface alloying content, just like the AHSS—Co23W11Mo7 can be achieved in the surface layer. This new method has wide prospect in the fields of tools, moulds and other wear resisting fields.

Key words: SAHSS, metallurgical process, age hardening