1.2344 Tool Steel (X40CrMoV5-1 / AISI H13)

How the EN Material Number 1.2344 Is Built

EN 10027-2 assigns every steel a number of a fixed number of digits, which suits data processing better than a descriptive name. The number takes the form 1.XXXX, where the 1. refers to steel and the two digits that follow it are the steel group number. The number 1.2344 therefore carries the group number 23, and the descriptive name for the same material under EN 10027-1 is X40CrMoV5-1. ISO 4957 prints the number and the name in the same row of its grade table, so the ISO 4957 grade list is where the two are read against each other.

Source, Handbook of Comparative World Steel Standards, Third Edition, John E. Bringas, Editor, ASTM International, 2004.

The Tool Steel Grades That Carry a 1.23 Number

The tool steel grades that carry a number beginning 1.23 are listed below with the EN steel name, the Japanese grade, and the American name where ISO 4957 prints one. It is the quickest way to confirm that a number on a drawing belongs to this grade and that a neighbouring number does not.

Two numbers in that list are easy to mix up. 1.2343 is X37CrMoV5-1, the H11 line, a different alloy with a different place in the shop, and 1.2379 is the D2 cold work grade. A drawing that calls up 1.2344 calls up H13, and the H13 tool steel page carries the grade in full with its supply overview.

Source, ISO 4957:1999 (BS EN ISO 4957:2000), Tool Steels, as reproduced in Handbook of Mechanical Alloy Design (G. E. Totten, L. Xie and K. Funatani, eds.), Marcel Dekker, 2004.

Ordering 1.2344 Tool Steel

We supply 1.2344 in round bar, flat bar, plate and forged block. The number is what appears on the order, on the mill certificate and on the goods paperwork, so it is worth quoting it together with the standard the mill works to and the delivery condition required. The tool steel quality verification page shows what we check on a certificate before the batch leaves, including the grade, the heat number and the ultrasonic result.

European mills market the same steel under their own codes, for example W302 at Böhler, GS-344 at Thyssen and 8402 at Assab, and the imported mold steel brand cross-reference lists the codes for this grade with the delivery hardness each mill states. ESR is available on request, and our 1.2344 ESR page for extrusion distributors covers that route and the tooling it is bought for.

Where 1.2344 Tool Steel Is Used

1.2344 is a hot work grade, so it serves tooling that runs hot. Aluminium and magnesium die casting dies take it for its resistance to heat checking and washout, extrusion dies and tooling for the pressure and thermal cycling of the press, hot forging dies for the balance between impact toughness and hot hardness, and hot shear blades, die inserts and core pins for the wear and toughness the smaller components need. The H13 steel properties page sets out the working hardness and the main failure risk for each of those uses, and the hot stamping die steel selection page covers the dies used in press hardening.

The Technical Data Behind 1.2344

The specified chemistry for this grade is on the H13 chemical composition page, with the AISI, DIN and JIS ranges side by side. The H13 heat treatment guide covers annealing, hardening, quenching and tempering with the working hardness for each step, and the hot work tool steel physical properties page carries the thermal and mechanical data for 1.2344 and the grades around it.

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