Materials used in the production of stamping dies include steel, carbide, steel-bonded carbide, zinc-based alloys, low-melting alloys, aluminum bronze, and polymeric materials.
Currently, the main material used to manufacture stamping dies is steel. Commonly used materials for die workpieces include carbon tool steel, low alloy tool steel, high carbon and high chromium or medium chromium tool steel, medium carbon alloy steel , high speed steel, basic steel, hard alloy and alloyed hard alloy steel.
Details follow:
1. Tool carbon steel
T8A, T10A and other carbon tool steels are widely used in molds due to their favorable processing performance and low cost. However, these materials have some disadvantages, such as low hardenability and red hardness, significant deformation after heat treatment and low load capacity.
2. Low alloy tool steel
Low alloy tool steel is a type of carbon tool steel with additional alloying elements. Compared to carbon tool steel, it reduces quenching deformation and the likelihood of cracking, increases hardenability and offers better wear resistance. Some of the low alloy steels commonly used in mold manufacturing include CrWMn, 9Mn2V, 7CrSiMnMoV (code CH-1), and 6CrNiSiMnMoV (code GD).
3. High carbon and high chromium tool steel
Commonly used high-carbon, high-chromium tool steels include Cr12, Cr12MoV, and Cr12Mo1V1 (code D2). These materials have good hardenability and wear resistance and show minimal deformation after heat treatment. They are highly wear-resistant, low-deformation die steels with a load capacity second only to high-speed steel.
However, they have a tendency to segregate the carbide, so repeated upsetting and drawing (axial retorquing and radial drawing) must be carried out to reduce the uneven distribution of carbides and improve their performance.
4. High Carbon Medium Chromium Tool Steel
High carbon, medium chromium tool steels used in molds include Cr4W2MoV, Cr6WV, Cr5MoV, among others. These materials have low chromium content, fewer eutectic carbides, uniform carbide distribution, and minimal heat treatment deformation. They also exhibit good hardenability and dimensional stability. Compared to high-carbon, high-chromium steels, which exhibit pronounced carbide segregation, these materials offer improved properties.
5. High speed steel
High-speed steel is the hardest, most wear-resistant and most compressively resistant among die steels, and has a very high load capacity. High-speed steels commonly used in molds are W18Cr4V (code 8-4-1) and W6Mo5Cr4V2 (code 6-5-4-2, also known as American brand M2) with lower tungsten content, as well as carbon and vanadium steel. fast reduced 6W6Mo5Cr4V (code 6W6 or low carbon M2), which was developed to increase toughness. High-speed steel also requires forging to improve its carbide distribution.
6. Steel base
Base steels are made by adding small amounts of other elements to the base high-speed steel composition and adjusting the carbon content to improve its properties. These steels have the characteristics of high-speed steel, as well as a certain level of wear resistance and hardness, and have better fatigue resistance and toughness compared to high-speed steel.
Basic steels are high-strength, high-toughness cold-working die steels with lower material costs than high-speed steel. Some of the base steels commonly used in dies include 6Cr4W3Mo2VNb (code 65Nb), 7Cr7Mo2V2Si (code LD), and 5Cr4Mo3SiMnVAL (code 012AL).
7. Hard metals and hard metals alloyed with steel
Carbide has greater hardness and wear resistance than any other type of die steel, but has low flexural strength and toughness. The carbide commonly used in molds is tungsten cobalt. For molds with low impact and high wear resistance, low cobalt carbide can be selected. High cobalt carbide is suitable for high impact dies.
8. Hard metal alloyed with steel
Steel-bonded carbide is produced through powder metallurgy, with iron powder and a small amount of alloying element powder (such as chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, vanadium, etc.) serving as a binder, and titanium carbide or tungsten carbide as hard stage.
The steel-bonded carbide matrix is made of steel, which eliminates the low toughness and difficult processing problems associated with carbide and allows cutting, welding, forging and heat treatment.
Alloy steel cemented carbides have a high concentration of carbides, and although their hardness and wear resistance are lower than those of cemented carbides, they still surpass other steels. After quenching and tempering, the hardness can reach 68 to 73 HRC.
What are soft and hard materials in pressing tool?
Soft Material:
Stamping die refers to a die made of steel with a hardness of approximately HRC35, typically using materials such as 45#, A3 or Q235 steel, which have a relatively low hardness.
If hit with a harder material, these dies can form a hole. However, due to their softness, they are known as “soft materials” and are valued for their good seismic performance.
These materials are commonly used to manufacture upper and lower support plates, pads, and mold bases for stamping dies.
Hard Material:
In the stamping die, the referred die steel materials have a hardness (after heat treatment) of approximately HRC 58 to 62 or higher, such as Cr12, Cr12Mo1V1, Cr12MoV, Skd-51, Skd-11 and W6Mo5Cr4V2 (tungsten steel) .
These steel materials are highly hard but also brittle and can break easily if not handled carefully.
They are commonly used to make blades, punches or other parts that require high hardness in the stamping die.
