DC53 Cold Work Mold Steel

One. Product Description

DC53 Mold Steel is a new type of general cold work mold steel with strength and toughness close to high speed steel.

DC53 Mold Steel is an improvement over alloy tool steel D2 specified in Standard (JIS) G4404. It eliminates the disadvantage of insufficient hardness and toughness of D2 due to high temperature tempering, and is designed to replace D2 for general and precision molds.

DC53 Mold Steel also has excellent processing characteristics and is very suitable as a substrate for PVD surface treatment.

DC53 Mold Steel can also be hot worked with CVD and TD (thermal diffusion) coatings, but post heat treatment is generally recommended.

Two. Quality Standard

(JIS) G4404 Standard Specification for Tool Steel Alloys

Three. Product Specifications

Four. Equivalent Grade of DC53 Mold Steel - For Reference Only

Five. Product Features and Uses

Features:

1. Has uniformly distributed fine carbides.

2. Has good anti-wear and anti-fatigue properties.

3. High temperature resistance supports PVD and nitride surface treatment.

4. Has better machining and grinding properties than most other tool steels.

Use:

1. Ladder punches and stamping molds, concrete sprayer parts, rotor plates, forging molds and brackets, cold forging molds, rolling molds, punching.

2. Bolt heat treatment thread rolling mold and forming mold.

3. Stripper, instrument, injection molding machine screw, lead frame blanking plastic mold.

Six. Product Detailed Information

DC53 is a cold work mold steel that overcomes the weakness of SKD11, which lacks hardness and toughness in high temperature tempering. DC53 mold steel will completely replace SKD11 mold steel in general and precision mold fields. Its toughness is twice that of SKD11, and the toughness of DC53 is more prominent in cold work molds. Made of DC53 mold steel, less cracks and cracks, greatly improving the service life.

DC53 mold steel has evenly distributed fine carbides. It has good wear resistance and fatigue resistance. It is also high temperature resistant and supports PVD and nitride finishes. It has machining and grinding properties superior to most other tool steels.

Heat treatment analysis of DC53 mold steel:

DC53 mold steel is only as good as the heat treatment it receives, and the heat treatment process can be divided into two parts: quenching and tempering.

DC53 mold steel is usually air hardened using a vacuum furnace, but can also be processed using gas or electric furnaces, with or without a controlled atmosphere, when wrapped in stainless steel foil or in a salt bath, hardened by immersing the part in high temperature salt.

Hardening Vacuum Furnace:

Preheat to 300-400°C, then 800-850°C, allow enough time to equilibrate, rise to 1020-1040°C and allow soaking time.

Quenching vacuum furnace:

The high hardenability of this steel allows it to be quenched satisfactorily in a vacuum furnace.

Surface treatment:

Surface treatments such as CVD, PVD, TD and nitriding require relatively high processing temperatures. While this may be an issue with standard D2 steel, the higher overall hardness of DC53 steel at elevated temperatures will allow these finishes to be used successfully.

Tempering:

Double temper according to the hardness and toughness chart below. As with D2 steel, a third temper should be done at 400°C to avoid any chance of delayed grain growth and deformation. This is the heat treatment of choice for most applications as high hardness will be the primary consideration. If maximum toughness is required, double temper between 200 and 300°C (depending on application). Note that materials tempered at lower temperatures should not undergo subsequent high temperature processes such as PVD.

Air hardening DC53 mold steel is best done under vacuum. First, preheat and hold at 800°C (1475°F) to 850°C (1560°F) until the part is heated evenly, then increase the heat to 1030°C (1885°F) for austenitizing, also known as soaking tools. Austenitize for 25 to 30 minutes per inch at temperature (minimum austenitizing time may be as long as 1 hour for smaller parts under 1 inch to be safe) No more than 4 inches in cross-section for thicknesses over 4 inches Inch Austenitizing 10 to 25 minutes per inch, 1.5 in. Rapid cooling at 2 atmospheres (2 bar) or high velocity equivalent prior to inert gas pressure quenching (usually in nitrogen). Longer times are acceptable to be on the safe side, while shorter times are not.

For special applications, DC53 can also be forged in various shapes. Forging temperatures are between 900°C (1650°F) and 1100°C (2,010°F). Annealing after forging is strongly recommended to minimize stress in the part and ensure optimal heat treatment response.

DC53 mold steel can be annealed by heating the part uniformly to 800°C (1475°F) to 850°C (1550°F) for 2 hours, then slowly cooling to a temperature below 500°C ( 930°F). The part can then be removed from the furnace and continued to cool to room temperature in still air. If decarburization is an issue, an annealing vacuum is recommended. To minimize dimensional change, the precoat and post heat treatments need to be as similar as possible.

DC53 mold steel is ideal for supporting a variety of surface treatments including case hardening nitrides (nitriding) diffused into the base tool steel or using physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and thermal diffusion (TD), also Known as thermal reaction, applied to surface diffusion (TRD).

Surface treatment is carried out either on the surface of the base tool steel, also known as case hardening, or in the form of a surface coating. These treatments, while very hard, are also very thin and almost undetectable using traditional hardness testing methods. The Vickers microhardness tester should detect an increase in surface hardness when a diffusion coating is used in combination with a surface coating, however, it does not, by itself, reflect the hardness of the actual surface treatment.

DC53 mold steel is only as good as the heat treatment it receives. The heat treatment process can be divided into two parts: quenching and tempering. DC53 steel is usually air hardened using a vacuum furnace, but can also be processed using a gas or electric furnace, with or without a controlled atmosphere, when wrapped in stainless steel foil or in a salt bath, hardened by immersing the part in high temperature salt.

DC53 mold steel, round bars and flat profiles can be cut to the size you need. Ground rods are also available, providing high quality tool steel precision ground tool rods to the tolerances you require. DC53 mold steel is also available as ground stock/gauge plates in standard and non-standard sizes.

These properties are obtained through its chemistry as well as the unique manufacturing process of ladle refining, vacuum degassing and forging methods. DC53 also has excellent processing characteristics, making it ideal as a PVD finished sub-straight pipe. DC53 can also be heat treated for CVD and TD (thermal diffusion) coatings, but post heat treatment is generally recommended.