Products
Characteristics
Designation
Strength
max. 240 HB
(≈ max. 800 N/mm²)
Chemical composition
Thermal conductivity at 100 °C
18 W/(mK)
Character
Low corrosion, high-alloy, low-deformation steel for through hardening with excellent properties for mirror polishing as well as good photo etching, good machinability, high wear resistance and high dimensional stability
Application
Machining
Polishing:
Can be polished in the annealed and hardened state; good preliminary surface preparation work is decisive for a good polish
Etching:
Good photoetching (graining)
EDM:
In the hardened and tempered condition, treat again for stress relief about 20 °C below the last tempering temperature
Unusual:
Nitriding, hard chrome plating
Use
Mould plates and mould inserts for working with chemically aggressive plastics; because of excellent polishability, suitable for optical and medical products
Heat treatment
Soft annealing:
750 to 800 °C, about 2 to 5 hours
Slow, controlled cooling inside the furnace of 10 to 20 °C per hour to 650 °C
Further cooling in air, max. 200 HB
Hardening:
1,000 to 1,050 °C
Maintain curing temperature for 15 to 30 minutes
Quenching in oil / compressed gas / hot bath
Obtainable hardness: 53–56 HRC
Tempering:
Slow heating to tempering temperature immediately after hardening
Minimum time in furnace: 2 hours per 20 mm part thickness
Tempering twice is recommended
Technical tip
- Cold-work steel must be tempered several times after hardening (max. 52 HRC). Demanding ‘maximum hardness’ often leads to material breakage.
- Max. mould temperature: 200 °C
- Not corrosion-resistant until after hardening
- ESR grade guarantees an extremely pure and homogeneous microstructure
