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Tool steel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tool steel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tool steel refers to a variety of carbon and alloy steels that are particularly well-suited to be made into tools. Their
suitability comes from their distinctive hardness, resistance to abrasion and deformation and their ability to hold a
cutting edge at elevated temperatures. As a result tool steels are suited for their use in the shaping of other materials.
With a carbon content between 0.5% and 1.5%, tool steels are manufactured under carefully controlled conditions
to produce the required quality. The presence of carbides in their matrix plays the dominant role in the qualities of
tool steel. The four major alloying elements in tool steel that form carbides are: tungsten, chromium, vanadium and
molybdenum. The rate of dissolution of the different carbides into the austenite form of the iron determines the high
temperature performance of steel (slower is better, making for a heat resistant steel). Proper heat treatment of these
steels is important for adequate performance.[1] The manganese content is often kept low to minimize the possibility
of cracking during water quenching.
There are six groups of tool steels: water-hardening, cold-work, shock-resisting, high-speed, hot-work, and special
purpose. The choice of group to select depends on cost, working temperature, required surface hardness, strength,
shock resistance, and toughness requirements.[2] The more severe the service condition (higher temperature,
abrasiveness, corrosiveness, loading), the higher the alloy content and consequent amount of carbides required for
the tool steel.
Tool steels are used for cutting, pressing, extruding, and coining of metals and other materials. Their use, such as the
production of injection molds, is essential, due to their resistance to abrasion, which is an important criterion for a
mold that will be used to produce hundreds of thousands of moldings of a product or part.
The AISI-SAE grades of tool steel is the most common scale used to identify various grades of tool steel.
Individual alloys within a grade are given a number; for example: A2, O1, etc.

Contents
1 Water-hardening group
2 Cold-work group
2.1 Oil-hardening: the O-series
2.2 Air-hardening: the A-series
2.3 High carbon-chromium: the D-series
2.4 1.2767 type
3 Shock-resisting group
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4 High speed group

5 Hot-working group
6 Special purpose group
7 Comparison
8 See also
9 References
10 Bibliography
11 External links

Water-hardening group
W-group tool steel gets its name from its defining property of having to be water quenched. W-grade steel is
essentially high carbon plain-carbon steel. This group of tool steel is the most commonly used tool steel because of
its low cost compared to others. They work well for small parts and applications where high temperatures are not
encountered; above 150 C (302 F) it begins to soften to a noticeable degree. Its hardenability is low, so Wgroup tool steels must be subjected to a rapid quenching, requiring the use of water. These steels can attain high
hardness (above HRC 66) and are rather brittle compared to other tool steels. W-steels are still sold, especially for
springs, but are much less widely used than they were in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This is partly because
W-steels warp and crack much more during quench than oil-quenched or air hardening steels.
The toughness of W-group tool steels are increased by alloying with manganese, silicon and molybdenum. Up to
0.20% of vanadium is used to retain fine grain sizes during heat treating.
Typical applications for various carbon compositions are for W-steels:
0.600.75% carbon: machine parts, chisels, setscrews; properties include medium hardness with good
toughness and shock resistance.
0.760.90% carbon: forging dies, hammers, and sledges.
0.911.10% carbon: general purpose tooling applications that require a good balance of wear resistance and
toughness, such as rasps, drills, cutters, and shear blades.
1.111.30% carbon: files, small drills, lathe tools, razor blades, and other light-duty applications where more
wear resistance is required without great toughness. Steel of about 0.8% C gets as hard as steel with more
carbon, but the free iron carbide particles in 1% or 1.25% carbon steel make it hold an edge better.
However, the fine edge probably rusts off faster than it wears off, if it is used to cut acidic or salty materials.

Cold-work group
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The cold-work tool steels include the O-series (oil-hardening), the A-series (air-hardening), and the D-series (high
carbon-chromium). These are steels used to cut or form materials that are at low temperatures. This group
possesses high hardenability and wear resistance, and average toughness and heat softening resistance. They are
used in production of larger parts or parts that require minimal distortion during hardening. The use of oil quenching
and air-hardening helps reduce distortion, avoiding the higher stresses caused by the quicker water quenching.
More alloying elements are used in these steels, as compared to the water-hardening class. These alloys increase
the steels' hardenability, and thus require a less severe quenching process and as a result are less likely to crack.
They have high surface hardness and are often used to make knife blades. The machinability of the oil hardening
grades is high but for the high carbon-chromium types is low.

Oil-hardening: the O-series

This series originally included an O2 type and an O7 type, but only O1 remains in production.
Grade
O1

Composition
0.90% C, 1.01.4% Mn,
0.50% Cr, 0.50% W

Notes
It is a very good cold work steel and also makes very good knives and
forks. It can be hardened to about 57-61 HRC.

Air-hardening: the A-series

The first air-hardening grade tool steel was mushet steel, which was known as air-hardening steel at the time.
Modern air-hardening steels are characterized by low distortion during heat treatment because of their highchromium content. Their machinability is good and they have a balance of wear resistance and toughness (i.e.
between the D- and shock-resistant grades).[3]

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Grade

Tool steel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Composition

Notes

A2[4]

1.0% C, 1.0% Mn, 5.0% A common general purpose tool steel; it is the most commonly used variety of
Cr, 0.3% Ni, 1.0% Mo, air-hardening steel. It is commonly used for blanking and forming punches,
0.150.50% V
trimming dies, thread rolling dies, and injection molding dies.[3]

A3[5]

1.25% C, 0.5% Mn,

5.0% Cr, 0.3% Ni, 0.9
1.4% Mo, 0.81.4% V

A4[6]

1.0% C, 2.0% Mn, 1.0%

Cr, 0.3% Ni, 0.91.4%
Mo

A6[7]

0.7% C, 1.82.5% Mn,

0.91.2% Cr, 0.3% Ni,
0.91.4% Mo

A7[8]

2.002.85% C, 0.8%
Mn, 5.005.75% Cr,
0.3% Ni, 0.91.4% Mo,
3.95.15% V, 0.51.5
W

A8[9]

0.50.6% C, 0.5% Mn,

4.755.50% Cr, 0.3%
Ni, 1.151.65% Mo,
1.01.5 W

This type of tool steel air-hardens at a relatively low temperature

(approximately the same temperature as oil-hardening types) and is
dimensionally stable. Therefore it is commonly used for dies, forming tools,
and gauges that do not require extreme wear resistance but do need high
stability.[3]

0.5% C, 0.5% Mn,

0.951.15% Si, 4.75
[10]
5.00% Cr, 1.251.75%
A9
Ni, 1.31.8% Mo, 0.8
1.4% V
1.251.50% C, 1.6
2.1% Mn, 1.01.5% Si,
A10[11]
1.552.05% Ni, 1.25
1.75% Mo

This grade contains a uniform distribution of graphite particles to increase

machinability and provide self-lubricating properties. It is commonly used for
gauges, arbors, shears, and punches.[12]

High carbon-chromium: the D-series

The D-series of the cold-work class of tool steels, which originally included types D2, D3,D6, and D7, contains
between 10% and 13% chromium (which is unusually high). These steels retain their hardness up to a temperature
of 425 C (797 F). Common applications for these tool steels include forging dies, die-casting die blocks, and
drawing dies. Due to their high chromium content, certain D-type tool steels are often considered stainless or semistainless, however their corrosion resistance is very limited due to the precipitation of the majority of their chromium
and carbon constituents as carbides.
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Grade
D2

Composition

Notes

1.5% C, 11.013.0% Cr;

additionally 0.45% Mn,
0.030% P, 0.030% S, 1.0%
V, 0.9% Mo, 0.30% Si

D2 is very wear resistant but not as tough as lower alloyed steels. The
mechanical properties of D2 are very sensitive to heat treatment. It is
widely used for the production of shear blades, planer blades and industrial
cutting tools; sometimes used for knife blades.

1.2767 type
ISO 1.2767, also known as DIN X 45 NiCrMo 4, AISI 6F7, and BS EN 20 B, is an air-hardening tool steel with
a primary alloying element of nickel. It possesses good toughness, stable grains, and is highly polishable. It is
primarily used for dies in plastic injection molding application that involve high stresses. Other applications include
blanking dies, forging dies, and industrial blades.[13]

Shock-resisting group
The high shock resistance and good hardenability are provided by chromium-tungsten, silicon-molybdenum, siliconmanganese alloying. Shock-resisting group tool steels (S) are designed to resist shock at both low and high
temperatures. A low carbon content is required for the necessary toughness (approximately 0.5% carbon).
Carbide-forming alloys provide the necessary abrasion resistance, hardenability, and hot-work characteristics. This
family of steels displays very high impact toughness and relatively low abrasion resistance and can attain relatively
high hardness (HRC 58/60). In the US, toughness usually derives from 1 to 2% silicon and 0.5-1% molybdenum
content. In Europe, shock steels often contain 0.5-0.6 % carbon and around 3% nickel. 1.75% to 2.75% nickel is
still used in some shock resisting and high strength low alloy steels (HSLA), such as L6, 4340, and Swedish saw
steel, but it is relatively expensive. An example of its use is in the production of jackhammer bits.

High speed group

Hot-working group
Hot-working steels are a group of steel used to cut or shape material at high temperatures. H-group tool steels
were developed for strength and hardness during prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures. These tool steels
are low carbon and moderate to high alloy that provide good hot hardness and toughness and fair wear resistance
due to a substantial amount of carbide.[1] H1 to H19 are based on a chromium content of 5%; H20 to H39 are
based on a tungsten content of 9-18% and a chromium content of 34%; H40 to H59 are molybdenum based.

Special purpose group

P-type tool steel is short for plastic mold steels. They are designed to meet the requirements of zinc die
casting and plastic injection molding dies.
L-type tool steel is short for low alloy special purpose tool steel. L6 is extremely tough.
F-type tool steel is water hardened and substantially more wear resistant than W-type tool steel.

Comparison
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AISI-SAE tool steel grades [14]

Defining property AISI-SAE grade Significant characteristics
Water-hardening
Cold-working
Shock resisting

W
O

Oil-hardening

Air-hardening; medium alloy

High carbon; high chromium

S
T

Tungsten base

Molybdenum base

Hot-working

H1H19: chromium base

H20H39: tungsten base
H40H59: molybdenum base

Plastic mold

High speed

Special purpose

Low alloy

Carbon tungsten

See also
Crucible Industries
List of steel producers
Silver steel

References
1. Verhoeven, John. Steel Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist. ASM International. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-87170-858-8.
Retrieved 9 November 2014..
2. Baumeister, Avallone, Baumeister. "6". Marks' Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers, 8th ed. McGraw
Hill. pp. 33, 34. ISBN 9780070041233.
3. Oberg et al. 2004, pp. 466467.
4. AISI A2, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-12-25, retrieved 2010-12-25.
5. AISI A3, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-12-25, retrieved 2010-12-25.
6. AISI A4, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-12-25, retrieved 2010-12-25.
7. AISI A6, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-12-25, retrieved 2010-12-25.
8. AISI A7, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-12-25, retrieved 2010-12-25.
9. AISI A8, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-12-25, retrieved 2010-12-25.
10. AISI A9, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-12-25, retrieved 2010-12-25.
11. AISI A10, Efunda, archived from the original on 2010-12-25, retrieved 2010-12-25.
12. A-10 Tool Steel Material Information, archived from the original on 2010-12-25, retrieved 2010-12-25.
13. Plastid Mould Steel / Cold Working Steel, archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-27, retrieved 2010-11-27.
14. Oberg et al. 2004, p. 452.

Bibliography
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Degarmo, E. Paul; Black, J T.; Kohser, Ronald A. (2003), Materials and Processes in Manufacturing
(9th ed.), Wiley, ISBN 0-471-65653-4.
Oberg, Erik; Jones, Franklin D.; McCauley, Christopher J.; Heald, Ricardo M. (2004), Machinery's
Handbook (27th ed.), Industrial Press, ISBN 978-0-8311-2700-8.

External links
Software to compare different tool steel grades based on their properties: Steel-guide EU based on A.I.S.I.
norm (http://www.steel-guide.eu) and Steel-guide GB based on British Steel norm (http://www.steelguide.co.uk).
Suggested tool steel selections for various purposes
(http://web.archive.org/web/20061121035638/http://www.pvsteel.com/docs/Tsb-093.pdf)
Comparison of tool steel standards (http://www.westyorkssteel.com/steel-specifications/internationalstandards/tool-steel/)
Tool Steel Chemical Composition (http://www.sousacorp.com/ts-comp.htm)
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