AOBO STEEL: Your Trusted Supplier of D3 Tool Steel

Reliable D3 Tool Steel for Manufacturers

Our company, Aobo Steel, is a professional D3 tool supplier and stockist. We maintain a standing inventory of D3 round bars.

What is D3 tool steel? D3 steel exhibits high strength, good hardenability, and excellent wear resistance. It undergoes minimal distortion during quenching. However, it has poor impact toughness and is prone to brittle fracture. It quickly forms uneven eutectic carbides and has poor thermal conductivity and high-temperature plasticity.

D3 steel’s excellent wear resistance makes it a popular choice for manufacturing cold stamping dies and punches, cold cutting tools, drill bushings, gauges, drawing dies, embossing dies, thread rolling plates, deep drawing dies, and thread rolling dies. These applications demand high wear resistance and typically involve lower impact loads.

D3 tool steel is a widely used high-carbon, high-chromium cold work tool steel. D3 is the designation under the ASTM A681 standard. Similar grades in other common standards include Germany/W-Nr. 1.2080, USA/ASTM T30403, Japan/JIS SKD1, and Czech Republic/CSN 19436.

D3 tool steel Applications

D3 tool steel is excellent for jobs requiring strong wear resistance and hardness. It works well in harsh, abrasive conditions. Some of its typical applications include:

Blanking and Punching Dies: D3 steel makes tools subject to high stress and wear, including blanking dies, punching dies, and forming dies.
Shear Blades: High hardness and toughness make it suitable for shearing softer metals.
Rolls and Slitting Tools: Manufacturers frequently choose D3 steel for rolling and slitting operations where high wear resistance is crucial.
Cold Work Tooling: Manufacturers use D3 tool steel for tools in heavy cold working processes, such as hobbing dies and forging dies.

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Fast Delivery, Factory Direct

We pride ourselves on delivering your materials quickly and directly from our factory to your door. No middlemen, no delays—just fast and reliable service. We understand that time is of the essence when it comes to completing your projects, so we make sure to expedite our delivery process and get your materials to you as soon as possible.

Introduction to D3 tool Steel

D3 steel chemical composition

Element	Carbon (C)	Chromium (Cr)	Molybdenum (Mo)	Vanadium (V)	Manganese (Mn)	Silicon (Si)	Phosphorus (P)	Sulfur (S)
Percentage (%)	2.00 – 2.35	11.00 – 13.50	≤ 0.40	≤ 0.35	≤ 0.60	≤ 0.60	≤ 0.03	≤ 0.03

D3 tool stee heat treatment

1. Preheating Treatment Process Specifications

	Process Parameters
General Annealing After Forging	Heating temperature: 850 ~ 870°C, holding time: 4 ~ 5h, cooling rate: <30°C/h, furnace cooling to below 500°C, air cooling after furnace, hardness after annealing: ≤229HBW, microstructure after annealing: granular pearlite + carbides
Isothermal Annealing After Forging	Heating temperature: 830 ~ 850°C, holding time: 2 ~ 3h, furnace cooling to 720 ~ 740°C, holding time: 3 ~ 4h, furnace cooling to below 550°C, air cooling after furnace, hardness after annealing: ≤269HBW, microstructure after annealing: granular pearlite + carbides

2. Quenching

a)Recommended Quenching Specifications

Process	Quenching Temperature (°C)	Cooling Method	Hardness HRC
Recommended Quenching Specifications	950 ~ 980	Oil Cooling	≥60

b)Performance Comparison under Different Heat Treatment Processes

Heat Treatment Process	Hardness (HRC)	Impact Toughness a_k’ (J/cm²)	Retained Austenite (Volume Fraction, %)	Die Life (×10⁵ pieces)	Wear Amount (mg)
980°C Heating, Oil Quenching	66.5	14.1	13.2	4	—
980°C Heating, 180°C Tempering 50 min	65.8	15.8	—	5	—
980°C Heating, 270°C Tempering 3h	65.5	15.9	—	6	11.9
980°C Heating, 270°C Tempering 4h	60	17.7	15.02	—	—
980°C Heating, 270°C Tempering 5h	59	16.8	—	—	—
980°C Heating, 180°C Pre-tempering 35 min, 270°C Tempering 3h	64.6	14.6	—	12-15	8.2
980°C Heating, 180°C Pre-tempering 35 min, 270°C Tempering 4h	46.2	14.9	—	12-28	—
980°C Heating, 180°C Pre-tempering 35 min, 270°C Tempering 3h (Repeated)	63.8	15.2	—	—	—

c)Relationship between Quenching Temperature and Hardness

Quenching Temperature (°C)	Hardness (HRC)
875	54.5
900	57
925	60
950	62.5
975	65
1000	66
1050	64
1100	59.5

3. Tempering

a)Recommended Tempering Process Specifications

Purpose of Tempering	Heating Temperature (°C)	Tempering Time (hours)	Number of Tempering Cycles	Hardness (HRC)
Relieve stress, stabilize structure	180 ~ 200	2	1	60 ~ 62
Relieve stress, reduce hardness	320 ~ 350	2	1	57 ~ 58

b)Relationship between Tempering Temperature and Hardness

Tempering Temperature (°C)	Not Tempered	200	300	400	450	500	550	600	650
Hardness (HRC)	65	63	62	60	60	60	59.5	57.1	44

Comprehensive Support

Enjoy 24-hour service responses, customizable solutions such as cutting to specification, and support for independent third-party testing. We’re here to ensure your experience is seamless. Our team of experts is always available to assist with any questions or concerns.

What are the D3 tool steel equivalents? DIN 1.2080 and JIS SKD1

1.2080 and SKD1 are steels similar to D3 from the German and Japanese standard systems, respectively, and they can be used interchangeably. They are high-carbon, high-chromium ledeburite steels with high strength. They possess good hardenability, small quenching deformation, and good wear resistance. The hardness after quenching is at least 60 HRC. Due to the carbon content in the steel being up to 2.30%, the steel becomes hard and brittle, resulting in poor impact toughness. It can barely withstand large impact loads and is prone to brittle fracture, and moreover, it tends to form inhomogeneous eutectic carbides.

They are the most common type of tool steel in China and are also a type of mold steel that our company keeps in regular stock. Because the content of expensive alloys is not high, their price is basically the lowest among tool steels.

Introduction to DIN 1.2080 steel

1.2080 Chemical Composition

Carbon (C)	Chromium (Cr)	Manganese (Mn)	Silicon (Si)	Phosphorus (P)	Sulfur (S)
2.00 – 2.20%	11.00 – 13.00%	0.20 – 0.40%	0.10 – 0.60%	≤ 0.030% (max)	≤ 0.030% (max)

1.2080 Mechanical Properties:

Hardness: 58-64 HRC (Rockwell Hardness)
Impact Toughness: 28 J/cm²
Modulus of Elasticity: 190-210 GPa
Poisson’s Ratio: 0.27-0.30

Introduction to JIS SKD1 steel

SKD1 Chemical Composition

Carbon (C)	Chromium (Cr)	Manganese (Mn)	Silicon (Si)	Vanadium (V)	Phosphorus (P)	Sulfur (S)
1.40 – 1.60	11.00 – 13.00	0.20 – 0.40	0.10 – 0.40	0.15 max	≤ 0.030	≤ 0.030

SKD1 Physical Properties

Property	Value
Density	7.75 g/cm³
Thermal Conductivity	20.0 W/m·K
Hardness (After Heat Treatment)	58 – 64 HRC
Tensile Strength	950 – 1200 MPa
Modulus of Elasticity	210 GPa