The heat treating process used to harden steels consists of heating them up to a high temperature (usually 1700/2200°F), then quenching to near room temperature, and finally reheating to some intermediate temperature for tempering (300/1100°F). A characteristic of low...
The maximum practical limit to the amount of carbide-forming elements which may be added to a steel for wear properties depends on the ability to maintain a reasonable distribution of those carbides throughout the steel’s microstructure. When steels are manufactured,...
Choosing for Impact Toughness Wear resistance is the ability of material to resist being abraded or eroded by contact with work material, other tools, or outside influences (scale, grit, etc.) Wear resistance is provided by both the hardness level and the chemistry of...
Properties of Tool Steels — Toughness Toughness, as considered for tooling materials, is the relative resistance of a material to breakage, chipping, or cracking under impact or stress. Toughness may be thought of as the opposite of brittleness. Toughness testing is...
Hardness is a measure of a steel’s resistance to deformation. Hardness in tool steels is most commonly measured using the Rockwell C test. Hardened cold work tool steels are generally about 58/64 HRC (hardness Rockwell C), depending on the grade. Most are typically...
The success of a metal forming tool depends on optimizing all the factors affecting its performance. Usually, operating conditions (applied loads, abrasive environments, impacts, and other factors) determine how well a tool holds up. Most tool failures are related to...
Most punches, dies, stamps, and other metalforming tools require high hardness, usually above about 55 Rockwell C, to perform successfully. However, they are supplied to tool builders in the annealed condition, around 200/250 Brinell (about 20 Rockwell C), to...