Cold Work Tooling
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UDDEHOLM TOOL STEELS FOR COLD WORK TOOLING STEEL FOR COLD WORK TOOLING 1 © UDDEHOLMS AB No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes without permission of the copyright holder. This information is based on our present state of knowledge and is intended to provide general notes on our products and their uses. It should not therefore be construed as a warranty of specific properties of the products described or a warranty for fitness for a particular purpose. Classified according to EU Directive 1999/45/EC For further information see our “Material Safety Data Sheets”. Edition: 13, 08.2016 2 STEEL FOR COLD WORK TOOLING Selecting a tool steel supplier is a key decision for all parties, including the tool maker, the tool user and the end user. Thanks to superior material properties, Uddeholm’s customers get reliable tools and components. Our products are always state-of-the- art. Consequently, we have built a reputation as the most innovative tool steel producer in the world. Uddeholm produce and deliver high quality Swedish tool steel to more than 100,000 customers in over 100 countries. We secure our position as a world-leading supplier of tool steel. Wherever you are in the manufacturing chain, trust Uddeholm to be your number one partner and tool steel provider for optimal tooling and production economy. Quite simply, it pays to go for a better steel. CONTENTS Introduction 4 To ol steel fundamentals 5 To ol steel selection 12 To ol making 15 Surface treatment 19 Product programme 21 The Uddeholm tool steel grades for cold work tooling 23 – Executions and products 25 – Chemical composition 26 STEEL FOR COLD WORK TOOLING 3 To ol design, the method of tool manufacturing, Introduction the tooling material and the work material are all Rows of presses continuously producing the same part of the package in trying to optimize produc- components were a common sight in earlier tivity and to reduce costs. times. Unplanned production halts due to tooling To ols are the final link in the hardware chain. problems were not so serious because high levels To obtain optimum productivity, tool steel that of work in progress were held. Repairs or new can meet today’s demands and a knowledge of tools could be quickly made by dedicated in- tool steel selection are necessary. house tool rooms from stocks of one or two steel. On the whole, work materials were simpler and the operating speeds of presses were slower. Thus major tool failures did not occur so often. Production technology has, however, advanced very considerably. Equipment and plant are being scrutinised these days because greater accuracy and higher productivity are a must. Much greater emphasis has been placed on profit and reducing Roof rail production costs. High speed presses producing Uddeholm Caldie components just-in-time from more difficult work Uddeholm Sleipner materials on tools manufactured off-site is be- Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Vanadis 8 coming more common. A-pillar Uddeholm Vancron 40 Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Uddeholm Vancron 40 Door beams Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Uddeholm Vancron 40 Crash box Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Uddeholm Vancron 40 Front side member Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Uddeholm Vancron 40 Bumper reinforcement Uddeholm Caldie Sill re Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Ud Uddeholm Vancron 40 Udde Uddeholm V Uddeh Uddeho 4 STEEL FOR COLD WORK TOOLING To ol steel fundamentals DEMANDS ON COLD WORK TOOLING Choosing the right tool steel for the application We at Uddeholm can help the tool user in a becomes more and more important as the number of very important ways. demands on the tool increase. What are these Our world wide marketing organization is able demands? to provide a well balanced programme of high • The tool must have sufficient wear resistance. quality tool steel. This programme not only • The tool must perform reliably and not fail due includes a number of standard grades but also to premature chipping, cracking or plastic grades specifically designed to meet the high deformation. requirements now placed on much cold work tooling. An optimal tooling economy—the lowest We can help the tool user to choose the right possible tooling cost (including maintenance) per tool steel for the application. We do this by part produced—can only be achieved if the selecting the tool steel grade after identifying the correct tool steel for the application in question reasons for the tool failure. A selection made in is used. this way will result in lower tooling costs, lower maintenance costs and a less downtime. Roof bow Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra C-pillar Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Uddeholm Vancron 40 Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Uddeholm Vancron 40 B-pillar Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Uddeholm Vancron 40 Waist reinforcement Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Cross member Uddeholm Caldie Recliner Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vancron 40 Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Seat frame Seat track Uddeholm Caldie Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Caldie inforcement Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra Uddeholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vanadis 8 Uddeholm Vanadis 4 Extra deholm Caldie Uddeholm Vancron 40 Uddeholm Vanadis 8 eholm Sleipner Uddeholm Vancron 40 Vanadis 4 Extra holm Vanadis 8 lm Vancron 40 STEEL FOR COLD WORK TOOLING 5 TOOL MATERIAL HEAT TREATMENT TOOL DESIGN TOOL PRODUCTION TOOL MAINTENANCE WORK MATERIAL PRODUCTION CONDITIONS Figure 1. Factors influencing tool life in cold work applications. TOOL PERFORMANCE ABRASIVE WEAR The performance of a cold work tool depends on This type of wear dominates when the work many factors. These are shown in Figure 1. material is hard and/or contains hard particles The performance of a tool is often monitored such as oxides or carbides. by examining the quality of the parts it produces. These hard particles scour the tool surface as In most applications, there are special require- shown schematically in Figure 2. An example of ments on surface finish and dimensional toler- a punch worn by abrasive wear is shown in ances etc. for the parts being produced. A worn Photo 1 on page 8. down or damaged tool usually results in rejection Abrasive wear is dominant with such work of the parts and the tool must be reconditioned materials as hardened steel, ceramics and wood. or replaced. The tool steel properties that are important The work material itself has a fundamental for good resistance to abrasive wear are: influence on the failure mechanisms. The most • high hardness frequent failure mechanisms in cold work tooling • high volume of carbides are shown in Figure 3. • high hardness of the carbides • large carbide size RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAILURE MECHANISMS AND TOOL Direction of movement STEEL PROPERTIES “Cutting particle” In recent years a lot of work has been carried out in this field, especially for the cold work tool ▲ steel. A better understanding of the important relationship between failure mechanisms and the To o l ▲ Work tool steel properties has been attained and our material knowledge of this is reviewed as follows. Wear Figure 2. Schematic representation of abrasive wear. 6 STEEL FOR COLD WORK TOOLING ADHESIVE WEAR AND GALLING Wear Adhesive wear or galling is a material transfer from one metallic surface to another when they slide over each other and is caused by the proc- ess of micro-welding (solid phase welding). The metallic surfaces are never absolutely smooth—they consist of microscopic asperities. Bonding can occur between the two surfaces at these asperities and this may be stronger than the basic strength of the weaker of the two Chipping materials in contact. If there is a relative motion between these two surfaces, the weaker of the two materials in contact will fail and material from it will be transferred to the other contact- ing surface. The situation for a tool and production ma- terials is shown in Figure 4. If the microweld fractures on the tool side, small fragments of the tool steel will be torn out of the tool surface and this leads to adhesive wear. If the microwelds Plastic deformation break on the production material side, the frag- ments of production material will gall onto the tool surface. Adhesive wear may also be the origin of chipp- ing. A fatigue mechanism gradually takes over from the adhesive wear dominant in the early stages. Microcracks start to nucleate and these will start to deepen and spread. The cracks can then Cracking/total failure initiate a large scale spalling (chipping) or even lead to a catastrophic failure. An example of a punch worn by adhesive wear is shown in Photo 2 on page 8. Fatigue cracks can be clearly seen. Adhesive wear and galling are normally associ- ated with soft, adhesive metallic work materials such as aluminium, copper, stainless steel and low carbon steel. However, galling is also a problem Galling Direction of movement ▲ ▲ Microwelds ▲ To o l ▲ Work material = Possible shear fracture = wear Figure 3. The most frequent failure mechanisms Figure 4. Schematic representation of adhesive wear. in cold work tooling. STEEL FOR COLD WORK TOOLING 7 encountered during the manufacture of compo- CHIPPING nents from high strength production materials Chipping often occurs after the tool has been in such as the advanced high strength steel. service for a relatively short time. This failure Adhesive wear and galling can be decreased by mechanism is one of low cycle fatigue.