TOOLING MATERIAL
Ferrous materials used in stamping operations may
be classified as
1. Wrought tool and die steel
2. Wrought and cast carbon and low-alloy steels
3. Plain and alloyed cast irons
4. Plain and alloyed ductile (nodular) irons.
TOOLING MATERIAL
• Tool steels find wide application in the
stamping of the large volumes of small
and medium sized parts and as inserts in
larger dies.
• Tool steels are designed especially to
develop high hardness levels and abrasion
resistance.
TOOLING MATERIAL
• Both through heat treatment and through
the existence of hard, stable and complex
chromium, tungsten, molybdenum and
vanadium carbides.
Wrought carbon and low-alloy steels
• These are readily weldable and
responsive to a wide variety of heat
treatment are used for machine parts,
keys, bolts, retainers and support tooling.
• They are casehardened or quenched and
tempered to increase wear resistance and
strength.
Cast Steels
• These dies are used for large drawing and
forming dies where maximum impact
toughness is required.
• Carbon levels of 0.35% and higher, cast-
alloy steel dies can be effectively flame-
hardened at points of wear, thus
increasing their resistance to wear.
Cast Irons
• These are used for Shoes, plates, dies,
adaptors and other large components,
they are alloyed and hardened sheet metal
drawing and forming dies.
• They have the advantage of good
machinability, low initial cost and ability to
be cast into difficult and complicated
shapes.
Cast Irons
• They have high compressive strength and
good resistance to galling and the alloy
cast iron dies can be hardened to increase
wear resistance in selected area.
Ductile (nodular) iron
• They retain the casting advantages of cast
iron, but because the free graphite is
representing spheroidal shape rather than
flake this material develops toughness,
stiffness and strength levels approaching
those of steels.
• They can be flame hardened to improve
resistance to wear.
• Almost all the ferrous die materials can be
hardened, softened, strengthened or
toughened by heat treatment
Availability and selection of Tool
and Die steels
• The steels are identified by letter and
number symbols.
• The letter represents the group of steel
involved. Example: W, O, A, H, D, S, T, M
& L.
• The number indicates a separation of one
grade or type from another. Example: D2,
D3
Availability and selection of Tool
and Die steels
• Hardness is proportional to wear
resistance, but this is not always true, for
wear resistance usually also increases as
the alloy content particularly the carbon
content.
• The toughness of steel on the other hand
is with a few exceptions, inversely
proportional to the hardness and increases
markedly as the alloy content or the
carbon content is lowered.
COUNTRY STANDARDS
• BELGIUM = NBN
• BULGARIA = BDS
• CZECHOSLOVAKIA = CSN
• FRANCE= AFNOR
• GERMANY= DIN
• GREAT BRITAIN= B.S.
• HUNGARY= MSZ
• ITALY= UNI
• INTERNATIONAL= ISO
• JAPAN= JIS
• POLAND= PN
• ROMANIA= STAS
• RUSSIA= GOST
• SPAIN= UNE
• SWEDEN= SIS
• USA= SAE ; AISI ; UNS
• INDIA=IS
Availability and selection of Tool
and Die steels
• W- Water hardening
• O - Oil hardening
• A – Air hardening
• H – Hot working
• D – High carbon, High Chromium die steels
• S – Shock resisting
• T – Tungsten-base high speed
• M – Molybdenum-base, high speed
• L – Special purpose, low alloy.
Recommended Tool Steels and Hardness
• The Table shown below gives the press
operations and recommended tool steels
and operating hardness levels.
• The steel have been arranged in order of
increasing wear resistance.
• For maximum life between sharpenings,
the last steel listed under each application
should generally be selected.
Recommended Tool Steels and Hardness
APPLICATION AISI Steel type, Hardness (Rc)
Group
Blanking Dies O, A, W 58 - 60
and Punches
(Short Run)
Blanking Dies A, D 60 – 62
and Punches M 61 - 63
(Long Run)
Bending Dies O, A, D 58 - 60
Coining Dies S 52 – 54
W 57 – 59
D 58 - 60
Recommended Tool Steels and Hardness
APPLICATION AISI Steel type, Hardness (Rc)
Group
Drawing Dies H 52 – 54
W, O 58 – 60
D 60 - 62
Dies – Cold Extrusion W 59 – 61
D 60 – 62
M 62 – 64
- Embossing W, L, O, A, D 58 – 62
L 58 – 60
-Lamination D, A, M 60 - 62
M,D 60 – 62
-Sizing W 59 - 61
Punches – Embossing S 58 – 60
-Trimming W, D, O, A 58 – 60
- Notching M 58 – 60
Characteristics of Tool and Die Steel
W, Water hardening tool steels:
• W1 and W2 are available at low cost.
• W2 contains vanadium and is more uniform in
response to heat treatment, it is of a finer grain
size with a higher toughness.
• They are shallow hardened.
• They are quenched in water or brine and should
be applied where movement in hardening is not
important.
Characteristics of Tool and Die Steel
O, Oil hardening tool steels:
• Steels O1and O2 are also known as Manganese
oil-hardening tool steels.
• They are of low cost.
• These steels have less movement in hardening
when quenched in oil compare to water
hardening steels.
• For special applications type O6, which contains
free carbon in the form of graphite.
Characteristics of Tool and Die Steel
A, Air-hardening Tool Steels:
• These steels have minimum movement in
hardening and has higher toughness than
the oil-hardening die steels, with equal or
greater wear resistance.
• A2 & A8 steels are available in this type.
• Type A8 is the toughest steel in this group,
but its low carbon content makes it less
wear resistant than A2.
Characteristics of Tool and Die Steel
D, High Carbon High Chromium die steels:
• For long-run dies these steels are used.
• Grade D2 contains 1.5% carbon is of moderate
toughness and intermediate wear resistance.
• D3, D4 and D7 contains additional carbon are of
very high wear resistance and lower toughness.
• Selection based on the length of run, machining
and grinding problems.
• D2 and D4 contains molybdenum are air
hardening and have minimum movement in
hardening.
Characteristics of Tool and Die Steel
S, Shock-resistance tool steels:
• These steels contains less carbon and have
higher toughness.
• Employed in heavy cutting or forming operations
• S1, S5 and S7, T1and T15, M1, M2,M4, M7 and
M42 steels are available.
• S5 is oil-hardening type of silicomanganese
steel and is economical than steel S1.
• T and M, Tungsten and Molybdenum High-
speed steels.
Characteristics of Tool and Die Steel
S, Shock-resistance tool steels:
• T1 and M2 steels have higher toughness
combined with excellent wear resistance.
• Steel T15 is the most wear resistance of
all steels in the list
• M4 is slightly greater in wear resistance
than steel D4.
• These steels are difficult to machine and
grind than the high-speed steels.
Characteristics of Tool and Die Steel
L, Low alloy tool steels:
• These are effective as die materials.
• Steel L6 is a chromium-nickel steel.
• The large sizes are quenched in water for
hard case and soft core, with and
attendant high overall toughness.
• In small sizes it may be oil-quenched.
Characteristics of Tool and Die Steel
H, Hot working steels:
• Die casting dies, extrusion dies, hot
forming dies and hot drawing mandrels are
typical hot-work applications.
Heat Treatment of Die Steels
Room
Influence of Heat Treatment on Die Life
• Each type of die steels must be handled slightly
differently from any other for optimum results
i.e., different temperature, different heating and
cooling rates and variable tempering procedures
must be used.
• The harder the given die, the longer it will wear,
while the softer the die, the tougher it becomes.
Within limits, heat treatment can be used to
adjust these variables to best advantage.
Influence of Heat Treatment on Die Life
• Double or Triple tempering is a requirement for
tool service application.
1. First temper affects the martensite formed in
the quench and conditions the austenite so
that it transforms upon air cooling from the
temper.
2. Double temper is to affect the martensite which
forms after the first temper.
3. Triple tempering relinquishes any retention of
austenite and promotes part toughness.
Influence of Heat Treatment on Die Life
• Many steels are sensitive to slight
overheating with their toughness dropping
off considerably, yet the hardness may be
virtually unaffected.
• Such symptoms as undue size changes,
abnormal response to tempering or a
decrease in magnetism are indicators of
over heating.
Control of Surface Chemistry
• Scaling occurs when dies are heated in furnaces
having no protective atmospheres, surface
decarburization to a considerable depth can
occur because of the oxidizing effects of free
oxygen, water vapor or carbon mono oxide.
Typical decarburizing rates are 0.25 to 0.76mm
per hour. Therefore Dies are required sufficient
over size.
• Molten salt baths provide decarburization
protection for die steels.
Control of Dimension Change
• Dimensional change occurs during the
hardening operation on dies because the
hardened steel occupies a greater volume than
the annealed steel from which it comes.
Changes vary from zero to approximately three
parts per thousand.
• Air hardening tool steels provides less than one
part per thousand.
• Tool Steel D2 called “Zero size change” by an
austenite-martensite balance control obtained
by multiple tempering.
Die design steps for successful heat
treatment
• Tools cannot be designed on the basis of
dimensions alone. The designer must consider the
type of steel, which will be used, with particular
regard as to whether the steel will be hardened by
quenching in water, oil or air.
•Generally, Liquid-hardened tools must be
conservatively, while air-hardened tools can tolerate
some features which would be improper for liquid
quenching. The design of a tool must take into
account the equipment available for heat treatment.
Die design steps for successful heat treatment
The following rules are offered for guidance in die design:
1. Avoid sharp corners wherever feasible, using the
largest fillets possible. On some tools it is possible to
fillet corners and then grind the fillet out after
hardening.
2. Avoid extreme section changes or heavily unbalanced
masses. Use a two-piece assembly if possible.
3. Holes must be designed to provide for effective internal
quenching if the internal surface must be hard or there
should be packed before hardening to prevent non-
uniformity of cooling the quench.
4. Blind holes should be avoided and should be drilled
through if possible.
Die design steps for successful heat treatment
5. Locate holes as follows:
a. Holes near the edges of the dies should be located so
that the wall between the hole and the die edge is
greater than the hole diameter.
b. Holes near the corners of the dies should be located so
that the wall between the hole and the die edge is equal
to two times the hole diameter or greater.
c. Adjacent holes in dies should be located so that the
wall between the holes is greater than the thickness of
the die.
d. Stagger holes, rather than placing them in line.
Die design steps for successful heat treatment
6. Avoid deep scratches, tool marks and deep
stamp marks.
7. Order stock large enough to allow for
machining to remove decarburised surface.
Repairing Dies by Welding
Basically three welding methods are used for die
repair. The American Welding Society classifies
them using the following lettering system.
1. SMAW – Shielded Metal Arc Welding or Stick
Welding
2. GMAW - Gas Metal Arc Welding, also known
as MIG
3. GTAW - Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, also
called TIG or Heliarc Welding.
Repairing Dies by Welding
•The SMAW or Stick welding is the most popular method since it
is extremely versatile. This method also offers a wide selection of
filler metal analysis.
•The GMAW or MIG (Metal inert gas) process is usually superior
in terms of speed and quality. The filler metals are available as
either solid or tubular wire. The tubular wire filler metal offers the
widest range of alloy selection.
•The GTAW or TIG (Tungsten inert gas) process offers the
operator optimum control and inclusion free welds. The selection
of bare metal filler rods is somewhat limited.
Die welding applications
• In die welding, wear resistance alloys are
applied to the surface of dies to increase service
life, avoid downtime, or to rebuild or repair dies,
which have been damaged in service.
• Welding is also used to correct machining errors
and to increase the wear resistance of die
surfaces.
• Varying degrees of hardness, toughness and
wear resistance are available in welding alloys
depending upon the application.
Die Welding Materials
• Tool steel welding materials are normally
heat treatable alloys.
• These are water, oil and air hardening steels.
• The difficulty is dictated by the alloy content
of the base metal.
• Usually steels with higher Carbon contents
require higher preheats before welding, more
care during welding and consideration of
tempering after welding.
Die Welding Materials
• Alloys for SMAW welding have a wire core
covered with a flux coating, which may
also contain alloy constituents, including
rare earth elements(M2O3).
• Alloying elements in the flux coating are
passed across the arc and form a
homogenous weld deposit.
Die Welding Materials
• GMAW arc welding alloys for fully and
semi-automatic MIG welding are available
in tubular and solid wire products.
• This process requires an external
shielding gas.
• Additional alloying elements can be
incorporated in the tubular flux.
• Solid MIG welding wire does not provide
additional alloying.
Die Welding Materials
• GTAW alloys are made of bare wire cut to
914mm long.
• Small diameter sizes are available at
permit the operator the utmost control for
precise build-ups and contours.
• All basic tool steel alloys are available.
Base metal
• All base metals with carbon content higher
than 0.35% should be preheated and post-
heated to decrease brittleness in the base
metal near the heat-affected zone
because of the likelihood of cracking.
• Cast iron dies can be welded. But the
method of application of the weld differs
from that steel because cast-iron melts at
a lower temperature.
Base metal
• Cast Iron die Welding: It involves the
grinding out the area to be repaired and
preheated, a deposition of nickel alloy
weld is made followed by the desired
welding material required to obtain the
needed surface properties.
• Where a very high strength bond with the
cast-iron must be obtained, the iron may
be studded with mild steel threaded
inserts.
Base metal
• Large, broken, Iron die-castings can be
repaired by brazing.
• Preparation by machining or grinding is
required to provide a large area of
adhesion of the braze material.
• Careful preheating and post-heating is an
absolute necessity. Charcoal is an
excellent preheating fuel source for
occasional repairs on large castings.
Welded Trim Edges
• The dies used to trim large, irregularly
shaped drawn panels are made of gray
cast-iron. The dies are constructed by
1. Tool steel inserts are fastened in a
pocket milled.
2. Provide a tool steel cutting edge on the
gray iron port by welding.
Welded Trim Edges
Success in producing a cutting edge by the
welding method depends upon the following
strict procedures in preheating, welding
materials, welding techniques, peening and
cooling.
1. A U-groove is first ground or machined around
the post
2. To avoid producing a layer of metal, while
chilled iron under the weld, the casting must be
pre-heated to 400oC
3. A layer of unique nickel alloy weld is deposited
first to act as a buffer for the hard weld
material that forms the cutting edge.
To relieve the tensile stress that would occur
upon cooling, the weld is upset by careful
peening with a pneumatic hand tool between
each pass.
The final cutting edge is built up with air hard
weld and after cooling to room temperature is
carefully welded.
Welded Trim Edges
Tool steel insert Tool steel insert
fastened welded
Gas Nitriding
• It produces a Hard, Wear-resistance case
on steels.
• Gas nitrides steels are need not be
tempered back excessively at the nitriding
temperatures.
• Hot-work steels and a high-carbon, high-
chromium steels are preferred for nitriding.
• High speed steels form an exceptionally
brittle nitrided case and gas nitriding is not
used for these steels
Gas Nitriding
• It is carried out for a period of 10-72hrs.
• It produces a case depth of 0.05 to 0.46mm
• While deep-nitrided cases are used, caution
must be exercised to avoid production of a
white layer on the surface of a nitrided case or
else provision must be made for carefully
grinding the white layer away before the tool is
used.
• Gas nitriding of tool steels has largely been
supplanted by Ion-nitriding as well as the
Titanium nitride (TiN) and Titanium Carbide
(TiC) coatings.
Chrome Plating
• A thin chromium plate is often applied to
forming and drawing dies in order to
increase wear resistance and reduced
galling.
• This chromium plated surface has a very
low coefficient of friction with excellent
non-galling characteristics.
• The usual practice is to apply a layer of
chromium 0.013 to 0.021mm thick to a
very finely ground or polished surface.
Chrome Plating
• It is also used for repair of worn dies to
increase the total production life of the
dies.
• By plating on draw dies, the amount of
lubricant needed is often reduced or
eliminated.
• Welding and oil stoning will destroy the
plating.
Ion Nitriding
• It is surface hardening process.
• Uses range from improving the wear resistance
of small tool die steel sections to large iron alloy
drawing punches weighing 10 to more tons.
• It is an alternate to hard chromium plating to
reduce surface friction as well as metal pickup
when drawing zinc-coated steel.
• Performs hardening by changing the material
composition through the penetration and
diffusion of nitrogen into metal.
Titanium Nitride and Titanium Carbide coating
• Titanium nitride (TiN) and Titanium Carbide
(TiC) improves the life of the tools by acting as a
chemical and thermal barrier to diffusion and
fusion.
• The coatings are very thin, typically 0.002 to
0.008mm in thickness and quite hard.
• The coatings are quite lubricous, serving to
lower the co-efficient of friction between the tool
and the work piece to resist galling.
Cryogenic Treatment
• This treatment will maintains hardness
while actually improving the toughness
and fatigue strength of hardened tool
steel.
• This occurs due to the continued
transformation of retained austenite into
the more desirable martensite, at
temperatures ranging from -84o to -184oC
Cryogenic Treatment
• Size change is negligible but can occur if
the material is not properly heat treated.
• It will not correct the poor heat treatment
practices.
• Multiple draw or tempers could not be
eliminated.
• It must begin almost immediately after
heat treatment to be effective, it is often
performed between the last two draws.
Powder Metallurgy Process
• The powder metallurgy process provides a
much more uniform steel than can produced by
casting the steel into ingots.
• Cast tool steel ingots have all of the problems
of segregation of alloying constituents upon
cooling that are associated with mild steel ingot
production.
• Material produced by the powder metallurgy
process exhibits improved grindability in a heat
treated condition and Annealed material also
exhibits excellent machinability.
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