The status of hot work mold steel development

The Status of Hot Work Mold Steel Development
Hot work mold steels have been developed to withstand the combination of heat, pressure, and abrasion associated with hot forming processes.
To achieve this, these steels are heat treated to develop specific combinations of high temperature strength, wear resistance, and softening resistance at high temperatures. Strong carbide forming elements such as chromium, molybdenum, and vanadium are often added to this group of steels.
1. Thermodur 2383 Supercool
Thermodur 2383 Supercool is a special hot work tool steel characterized with nickel alloy powder by an optimized alloying system aiming at balancing key properties like hardness, toughness, and thermal conductivity. In comparison to conventional grades 1.2343 (H11), 1.2344 (H13) and 1.2367, it exhibits significantly higher thermal conductivity, which in turn leads to significantly reduced cycle times in mold/forming applications, according to the company.
It is particularly well suited for die casting processes as it offers the optimal balance of high temperature strength and toughness. This enables the tool steel to resist thermal cracking under severe pressures and also withstand sudden mechanical and thermal loads during the HPDC process without breaking.
In addition to this, CS1 exhibits a high toughness at a working hardness of 56 HRC, which helps improve thermal shock resistance. This premium grade also demonstrates impact energy values of 23 J, which exceeds the NADCA-requirements for 1.2344 (at 45 HRC) by an impressive 600 %.
2. NAK80
NAK80 is a super clean, Vacuum-Arc Remelted age hardened mold steel with uniform grain structure and dimensional stability. It has no pin holes, inclusions or witness lines and never needs stress relieving during heavy machining.
The Vacuum-Arc Remelted processing process virtually eliminates the chemical segregation of alloying elements that occurs in other remelted or quenched steels, resulting in a clean, homogenous, high hardness steel ideal for texturing and photo etching. This steel also offers superior nickel, chrome, titanium, and other coatings due to its unique chemistry that responds well to ion nitriding.
A high hardness mold material is necessary to ensure that molds have a long life, particularly in gate, runner, and parting line areas. Class 1 and class 2 molds require a hardness around HRC50, while class 3 and class 4 molds are generally made of pre-hardened steels like S136H, 2316H, 718H, or NAK80. These pre-hardened steels can be heat treated before the molds are manufactured, allowing for easy die cutting and reducing the mold manufacturing period.
3. DHA-WORLD
Hot work mold steel is alloyed with chromium, tungsten, molybdenum and stainless steel powders, and other elements to withstand high working temperatures. This material is regularly used in forging and die castings applications, extrusion tooling, shearing, and plastic molds.
The status of hot work mold steel development is currently undergoing several major changes. The most recent is the introduction of DHA-WORLD, a new general use hot work mold steel capable of high hardenability and high toughness, in Plate and Block forms.
This is the first general use cold work die steel to offer such high strength and toughness. It has achieved this by a combination of optimum alloy design and production process, as well as finely dispersed carbides. This resulted in a die steel that has excellent service performance, ease of manufacture, and resistance to galling and wear. It is also easy to machine and has good dimensional stability for geometry control during heat treating.
4. H13
AISI H13 hot work mold steel is used in the manufacture of injection molds with nickel metal powder due to its good combination of high hardness, wear resistance, toughness, resistance to high operating temperatures and thermal fatigue, and fairly low material cost. This alloy is one of the most commonly fabricated tools in plastic and die-casting molding processes.
However, its high hardness and toughness also make it a challenge to machine. Consequently, it can often require specialized holders and cutting tools, along with extremely slow feed rates, which in turn can increase the processing time required for parts.
In addition, the high temperatures and stresses associated with SLM-manufactured H13 parts can lead to cracking and delamination. This can seriously limit the durability of the parts, especially when they are exposed to high pressures and temperatures.
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