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H13 steel

Operational Limitations and Challenges of H13 Tool Steel

H13 tool steel stands as a powerhouse in the hot-work category, widely celebrated for its exceptional combination of hot hardness, toughness, and resistance to thermal fatigue. Its unique properties make it an indispensable material in demanding high-temperature applications such as die casting molds, hot forging dies, and hot extrusion tooling. This widespread adoption underscores its […]

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D2 tool steel flat bar

D2 Tool Steel in Metal Forming: Optimizing Performance for Stamping, Drawing, and Extrusion Dies

Tool steel is a specialized steel designed for machining, forming, and cutting metals and plastics under demanding conditions. Among these, D2 tool steel stands out as the “workhorse” in cold working applications, offering high hardness, excellent wear resistance, and outstanding dimensional stability after heat treatment. This article will delve into the composition and core characteristics

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A2 tool steel

A2 Tool Steel Hardness: The Complete Guide to HRC, Heat Treatment, and Performance

A2 Tool Steel is a prominent air-hardening, medium-alloy cold-work tool steel, recognized for its balanced properties and significant attainable hardness. This steel, part of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) classification system, typically contains carbon, chromium,  molybdenum, and vanadium. These alloying elements contribute to its excellent wear resistance and high hardenability, allowing for air

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D2 steel

D2 Steel Properties: The Ultimate Guide to a High-Performance Tool Steel

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of D2 steel‘s properties, examining its chemical composition and revealing the metallurgical principles that determine its performance. For decades, it has served as a benchmark for performance, a workhorse material prized for its remarkable ability to resist wear and hold a sharp edge through demanding tasks. D2 tool steel

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H13 STEEL

H13 Steel Heat Treatment Guide

H13 steel heat treatment’s purpose is to transform the steel’s microstructure to achieve desired properties such as high hardness, toughness, and superior hot hardness. The heat treatment process for H13, like other tool steels, generally involves four key stages: preheating, austenitizing, quenching, and tempering. What is H13 steel? H13 tool steel is a steel grade

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o1 tool steel

O1 Steel Heat Treatment Guide

O1 tool steel is a popular general-purpose, oil-hardening tool steel known for its good abrasion resistance and sufficient toughness across a wide range of tooling applications. The correct heat treatment process is key to achieving the performance of O1 tool steel. Improper heat treatment can cause O1 tools to fail prematurely. The heat treatment process

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M2 TOOL STEEL

M2 Tool Steel Heat Treatment Guide

The heat treatment of M2 steel plays a significant role in its excellent performance as a cutting tool. The heat treatment of M2 involves transforming the fully annealed microstructure (primarily composed of ferrite and alloy carbides) into a quenched and tempered martensitic microstructure containing carbides, thereby achieving the desired cutting tool properties. This process typically

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H13 STEEL

Understanding H13 Steel Hardness

Introduction H13 steel’s hardness is a key property in its applications. H13 steel is a widely used 5% chromium (Cr) hot-work tool steel, also known as 4Cr5MoSiV1, 1.2344, SKD61, with a carbon content of approximately 0.4%. It belongs to the H group of tool steels, which exhibit resistance to softening at high temperatures. Its characteristics

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p20 tool steel

Understanding P20 Steel Hardness

P20 steel is an AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute) type, medium-alloy mold steel. It is commonly supplied in a prehardened condition, with hardness ranging from approximately 28 to 40 HRC, or around 300 HB, and is also known by DIN 1.2311. The primary uses are Plastic molds, Zinc die-casting dies, and Holder blocks. This article

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