Laser surface hardening of AISI H13 tool steel

An attempt was made to improve the surface hardness and wear properties of AISI H13 tool steel through solid solution hardening and refinement of microstructures using a 200 W fiber laser as a heat generating source.The hardness of laser melted zone was investigated.In order to identify the effect of heat input on the laser melting zone,scanning conditions were controlled.The results show that,the hardness of as-received AISI H13 tool steel is approximately Hv 240,and the hardness after laser surface heat treatment is around Hv 480-510.The hardening depth and width are increased with the increase in the heat input applied.Application of experimental results will be considered in tooling industry.

Selective laser melting of Fe-Ni-Cr layer on AISI H13 tool steel

An attempt to fabricate Fe-Ni-Cr coating on AISI H13 tool steel was performed with selective laser melting.Fe-Ni-Cr coating was produced by experimental facilities consisting of a 200 W fiber laser which can be focused to 80 μm and atmospheric chamber which can control atmospheric pressure with N2 or Ar.Coating layer was fabricated with various process parameters such as laser power,scan rate and fill spacing.Surface quality and coating thickness were measured and analyzed.Three different surface patterns,such as typeⅠ,typeⅡand type Ⅲ,are shown with various test conditions and smooth regular pattern is obtained under the conditions as 10 μm of fill spacing,50-350 mm/s of scan rate and 40 μm of fill spacing,10-150 mm/s of scan rate.The maximum coating thickness is increased with power elevation or scan rate drop,and average thickness of 10 μm fill spacing is lower than that of 40 μm fill spacing.

Microstructure and Properties of Low Temperature Composite Chromized Layer on H13 Tool Steel

Low temperature composite chromizing is a process composed of a plain ion-carbonitriding or ion-nitriding at 550-580℃, followed by a low-temperature chromizing in a salt-bath of 590℃. The microstructure and properties of the low temperature composite chromized layer on H13 tool steel were investigated using metallography, X-ray diffraction, microanalysis, hardness and wear tests. It was found that this low temperature process was thermo-dynamically and kinetically possible, and the composite chromized layer on H13 steel, with a thickness of 3-6 μm, consisted of three sub-layers (bands), viz. the outer Cr-rich one, the intermediate (black) one, and the inner, original white layer. After chromizing, the former diffusion layer was thickened. The results of X-ray diffraction showed that the composite chromized layer contained such nitrides and carbides of chromium as CrN, Cr2N, (Cr, Fe)23C6, and (Cr, Fe)7C3, as well as plain α-(Fe, Cr). A high surface microhardness of 1450-1550 HV0.025, which is much higher than that obtained by the conventional ion carbonitriding and ion nitriding, was obtained. In addition, an excellent wear resistance was gained on the composite chromized layer.

Deoxidation of H13 tool steel with CaF_(2)-MgO-CaO-Al_(2)O_(3)-SiO_(2) slags at 1873 K

Laboratory-scale experiments were performed to investigate the deoxidation of H13 tool steel with CaF_(2)-MgO-Al_(2)O_(3)-CaO-SiO_(2) slags at 1873 K.The calculation of thermodynamics and kinetics was also verified through the experimental results.The results show that[Si]-[O]reaction is the control reaction,and with the increase of basicity of slag,the limitation of deoxidation was decreased.The limitation of deoxidation is the lowest for the slag with basicity of 2.0.Under the conditions of the basicity of 2.0 and the content of CaF_(2) more than 50%,the limitation of deoxidation is less than 10×10^(−6),and it does not depend on the contents of Al_(2)O_(3) and CaF_(2) in slags.The mass transport of oxygen in the metal phase is the rate-controlling step,and the slag composition has no effect on the equilibrium time of deoxidation.Based on this finding,the optimized slag composition is designed and it contains the following components:51.5%CaF_(2),20.3%MgO,16.2%Al_(2)O_(3),8.2%CaO and 3.8%SiO_(2).In the case of the optimized deoxidizing slag,the total oxygen content in H13 steel can be reduced from 25×10^(−6) to 6×10^(−6).

Influence of Deep Cryogenic Treatment (DCT) on Thermo Mechanical Performance of AISI H13 Tool Steel

Deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) is one of the most recent processes being used to treat tool steels. It is a supplementary treatment where components are treated below subzero temperatures for several cryo-soaking hours. This paper focuses on to study the effect of deep cryogenic treatment on Thermo mechanical properties of AISI H-13 tool steel. Deep cryogenic treatment at 32 hours of cryo-soaking time is applied and thermo mechanical performance of tool steel was analyzed by using pin on disk high temperature wear testing and stress rupture testings. The microstructural evolutions during DCT were evaluated by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was observed that microstructural modifications like increase in carbide density, fine and uniform martensitic structure during DCT had significantly improved properties.

FLOW STRESS MODEL FOR HARD MACHINING OF AISI H13 WORK TOOL STEEL

An approach is presented to characterize the stress response of workpiece in hard machining, accounted for the effect of the initial workpiece hardness, temperature, strain and strain rate on flow stress. AISI H13 work tool steel was chosen to verify this methodology. The proposed flow stress model demonstrates a good agreement with data collected from published experiments. Therefore, the proposed model can be used to predict the corresponding flow stress-strain response of AISI H13 work tool steel with variation of the initial workpiece hardness in hard machining.

The Effect of Heat Treatment Atmosphere on Hardening of Surface Region of H13 Tool Steel

The main objective of the die heat treatment is to enhance the surface hardness and wear properties to extend the die service life. In this paper, a series of heat treatment experiments were conducted under different atmospheric conditions and length of treatment. Four austenitization atmospheric conditions were studied and although each heat treatment condition resulted in a different hardness profile, it did not affect the results for gas nitriding. All samples subjected to the nitriding process produced similar thicknesses of hardened case layer with average hardness of 70 - 72 HRC if the initial carbon content is not too low. It was shown that heat treatment without atmospheric control results in a lower hardness on the surface since the material was subjected to decarburization effect. The stainless steel foil wrapping around the sample and heat treatment in a vacuum furnace could restrict the decarburization process, while pack carburization heat treatment resulted in a carburization effect on the material.

Application of direct laser metal tooling for AISI H13 tool stee

In the die industry, it is commonly agreed that residual tool life can be successfully extended by timely repair of damaged surfaces. Traditionally, the main repair process is tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding, but a new process called direct laser metal tooling (DLMT) emerges. DLMT is a manual process, of which results depend on the materials of the powders and tools, the laser process and parameters. This technology is a direct-metal freeform fabrication technique in which a 200 W fiber laser is used. AISI H13 tool steel is a suitable material for die casting tools because of the high resistance to thermal fatigue and dimensional stability. In this research, AISI H13 tool steel was melted with metal powder by fiber laser. Before melting AISI H13, the powders were analyzed with XRF equipment. Then, hardness distribution of laser melted zone was investigated. The microstructure in laser melted zone was discussed. In order to identify the effect of particle size of powder on the melted zone, two types of particle sizes of powders were used. Experimental results show that the mold repair process using DLMT can be applied in the mold repair industry.

Erosion problem in tool steel using cold box core-making process

This paper presents the erosion results of the AISI H13 steel impinged by resin-bonded silica sand, using a testing rig that closely simulates the real blowing conditions during industrial core-making. Steel specimens were heat treated to obtain hardness of 294, 445 and 595 HV200 (29, 45 and 55 HRC). Erosion tests were carried out at impingement angles from 20° to 90° and air drag pressures of 1.38, 2.07 and 2.76 bar (20, 30 and 40 psi). The main results are summarized as follows:(i) The harder material, the lower erosion;(ii) the maximum erosion rate is at 30°;(iii) Little difference in erosion rate at impact angle of 60° and 90° for a constant pressure tested regardless of the hardness level;(iv) As the pressure increases, so does the erosion rate, being more sensitive for low impact angles. Finally, a differential form of the general erosion equation is applied on a practical core-making case to evaluate the erosion rate of the H13 steel at 30° and 90° impingement angles.

Effect of Niobium on Microstructure of Cast AISI H13 Hot Work Tool Steel

The effect of niobium addition on the microstructure of cast AISI H13 hot work tool steel was evaluated by using EDX analyzer attached to the scanning electron microscope. The volume percent of eutectic area and eutectic cell size and also volume percent of different carbides of new steel, which is heat treated under different conditions, are also determined. The results show that the a niobium addition modifies the cast structure of Nb-alloyed hot work tool steel, and reduces the size and volume of eutectic cells, and increases the maximum hardness of the steel.

Fatigue-creep interaction based on continuum damage mechanics for AISI H13 hot work tool steel at elevated temperatures

AISI H13 （4Cr5MoSiV1） is one of the commonly used materials for extrusion tool, and it suffers from fatigue-creep damage during the hot extrusion process. Stress-controlled fatigue and creep-fatigue interaction tests were carried out at 500℃ to investigate its damage evolution. The accumulated plastic strain was selected to define the damage variable due to its clear physical meaning. A new fatigue-creep interaction damage model was proposed on the basis of continuum damage mechanics. A new equivalent impulse density for fatigue-creep tests was proposed to incorporate the holding time effect by transforming creep impulse density into fatigue impulse density. The experimental results indicated that the damage model is able to describe the damage evolution under these working conditions.

Low Temperature Plasma Nitriding of H13 Steel for Improved Surface Hardness

AISI H13 steel samples were plasma nitrided to improve their surface hardness using a locally developed combined reactor.Pre-ionized RFICP plasma was employed in combination with DC glow discharge and thermal emission source to achieve the nitride precipitates in iron-matrix under low sample temperature.Thick nitride layers over 150 microns could be realized with low RF power of 100 W under the processing time between 1-20 h and low sample temperature of 300℃.The gas mixtures of H2 and N2 were utilized while the processing pressure and the DC bias to the sample were maintained at 0.5 torr and 300 V,respectively.Scanning electron microscope(SEM),energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS),glancing incident angle X-ray diffractometer(GIXD)and Vickers hardness test were employed to characterize the properties of sample surfaces.Significant increases of surface hardness to over 1,000 HV were observed after treatment.

Strain-induced Microstructure Refinement in a Tool Steel Subjected to Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment

A nanostructured surface layer has been fabricated on an AISI H13 tool steel by means of surface mechanical attrition treatment （SMAT）.Strain-induced refinement processes of ferrite grains and carbide particles have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy （TEM） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） in the SMAT surface layer.Grain refinement of ferrite is found to be dominated by dislocation activities and greatly facilitated by a large number of carbide particles at a depth 〉20 μm.The comparisons with microstructure refinement processes in other SMAT ferrite steels indicate that a larger volume fraction of carbide particles with a lower shear strength is expected to facilitate the refinement process of ferrite grains.