Tool steels - Implementation

The performance and cost-effectiveness of tool steels used in various industrial fields, such as machining, cold and hot forming, molding of metallic materials, glass packaging, rubber and plastics, extrusion and extrusion of steels, aluminum, copper and titanium alloys, plastics and cellulose pulp, are highly dependent on their processing criteria and application properties. In the first case, these are ease of machining with or without chip removal, ease of texturing or graining of impression surfaces, suitability for heat treatment, grinding and surface treatment. In the second case, we're talking about toughness (ability to withstand high stresses without deformation or sudden breakage), resistance to wear in all its forms (abrasion, adhesion, delamination, etc.) and good resistance to corrosion in aqueous media or molten baths.

The conditions of production (ingot process combined with vacuum or slag remelting, powder metallurgy), forging and annealing techniques, heat treatment and surface treatment make it possible to achieve the necessary compromise between relatively easy processing for very hard materials and good performance under different types of mechanical and thermomechanical stress, possibly in an aggressive environment.

The modeling of in-service stresses on tooling has enabled us to develop tests to characterize properties of use very close to operating conditions. These various tests, which evaluate toughness, resistance to cold and hot deformation, resistance to impact, thermal fatigue and wear, and resistance to corrosion in aqueous or molten bath conditions, are a real help in selecting steel grades for a given application.

This article is part of a series devoted to tool steels, including :

• Tool steels. Chemical composition and structure [M 4 585] ;

• Tool steels. Elaboration and processing [M 4 586] ;

• Tool steels. Classification and development