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hot work tool steel

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    Hot work tool steel enables the hot forming of workpieces made of iron and non-ferrous metals and alloy derivatives at high temperatures. They are used in processes such as die casting, extrusion and drop forging as well as in tube and glass manufacturing.

    Tools made from hot work tool steel are not only subjected to constant high temperatures during use, but also to fluctuating thermal loads when the tool surface comes into contact with the material to be machined.

    The importance of tool steel goes far beyond what is commonly thought to be a common phenomenon. Almost everything we surround ourselves with and encounter every day is made with the help of tool steel. Hot work tool steels are used in a wide range of applications and the tools manufactured are used in the most diverse fields.

    These steels enable hot forming of workpieces made of iron and non-ferrous metals and alloy derivatives at high temperatures. They are used in processes such as die casting, extrusion and drop forging as well as in tube and glass manufacturing.

    Tools made from hot work tool steel are not only subjected to constant high temperatures during use, but also to fluctuating thermal loads when the tool surface comes into contact with the material to be machined.

    Combined with wear due to wear or impact, these thermal loads place very specific demands on hot work tool steels. Key requirements are high temperability, high temperature strength, thermal shock resistance, high temperature toughness and wear resistance.

    The use of high-quality hot work tool steel is essential to ensure optimum operating efficiency and high productivity.

    The functionality of hot work tool steels depends on its chemical composition, the technology applied in the production process and the subsequent heat treatment.

    Generally speaking, hot work steels are of medium and high alloy type, and most of them have a low carbon content (0.25% to 0.6%). Hot work steel should have the following physical properties:
    1. Resist deformation at operating temperature.
    2. Impact resistance.
    3. Wear resistance at working temperature.
    4. Resist heat treatment deformation.
    5. Heat resistance check.
    6. Good machinability in annealed state.

    While there are various processes for forming and forming hot metals, such as stamping, piercing, drawing, extrusion, upsetting and swaging, to perform successfully at high temperatures, tools must possess a combination of strength, wear resistance and toughness. Operating temperature is the maximum temperature the tool surface can reach during use. This is always higher than the average temperature reached by the tool. For example, in tools such as extrusion and compression dies, the metal is in continuous contact with the die for a considerable period of time, so localized heating becomes very intense. In hot stamping dies, on the other hand, the contact is intermittent, so heat dissipation tends to equalize the temperature.

    To withstand such service conditions, red hardness and high resistance to softening by tempering or drawing action are the basic criteria for hot work steels. In the entire range of hot work dies, the amount of thermal shock in use is extremely important. In operations such as piercing, the temperature is high and the contact time is long; therefore, to prevent annealing softening, the tool face must be cooled between each piercing operation. Since the most severe heating is on extreme surfaces, this cyclic heating and cooling has the effect of expanding and contracting the surface layers. To withstand this service, the steel must be highly ductile over the entire temperature range encountered in service.