A review on the multi-scaled structures and mechanical/thermal properties of tool steels fabricated by laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

The laser powder bed fusion(LPBF) process can integrally form geometrically complex and high-performance metallic parts that have attracted much interest,especially in the molds industry.The appearance of the LPBF makes it possible to design and produce complex conformal cooling channel systems in molds.Thus,LPBF-processed tool steels have attracted more and more attention.The complex thermal history in the LPBF process makes the microstructural characteristics and properties different from those of conventional manufactured tool steels.This paper provides an overview of LPBF-processed tool steels by describing the physical phenomena,the microstructural characteristics,and the mechanical/thermal properties,including tensile properties,wear resistance,and thermal properties.The microstructural characteristics are presented through a multiscale perspective,ranging from densification,meso-structure,microstructure,substructure in grains,to nanoprecipitates.Finally,a summary of tool steels and their challenges and outlooks are introduced.

Microstructure,Properties and Crack Suppression Mechanism of High-speed Steel Fabricated by Selective Laser Melting at Different Process Parameters

To enrich material types applied to additive manufacturing and enlarge application scope of additive manufacturing in conformal cooling tools,M2 high-speed steel specimens were fabricated by selective laser melting(SLM).Effects of SLM parameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties of M2 high-speed steel were investigated.The results showed that substrate temperature and energy density had significant influence on the densification process of materials and defects control.Models to evaluate the effect of substrate temperature and energy density on hardness were studied.The optimized process parameters,laser power,scan speed,scan distance,and substrate temperature,for fabricated M2 are 220 W,960 mm/s,0.06 mm,and 200℃,respectively.Based on this,the hardness and tensile strength reached 60 HRC and 1000 MPa,respectively.Interlaminar crack formation and suppression mechanism and the relationship between temperature gradient and thermal stress were illustrated.The inhibition effect of substrate temperature on the cracks generated by residual stresses was also explained.AM showed great application potential in the field of special conformal cooling cutting tool preparation.

Influence of Rare Earth Elements on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Cast High-Speed Steel Rolls

The influence of rare earth （RE） elements on the solidification process and eutectic transformation and mechanical properties of the high-V type cast, high-speed steel roll was studied. Test materials with different RE additions were prepared on a horizontal centrifugal casting machine. The solidification process, eutectic structure transformation, carbide morphology, and the elements present, were all investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectrometry （SEM-EDS）. The energy produced by crack initiation and crack extension was analyzed using a digital impact test machine. It was found that rare earth elements increased the tensile strength of the steel by inducing crystallization of earlier eutectic γ-Fe during the solidification process, which in turn increased the solidification temperature and thinned the dendritic grains. Rare earth elements with large atomic radius changed the lattice parameters of the MC carbide by forming rare earth carbides. This had the effect of dispersing longpole M C carbides to provide carbide grains, thereby, reducing the formation of the gross carbide and making more V available, to increase the secondary hardening process and improve the hardness level. The presence of rare earth elements in the steel raised the impact toughness by changing the mechanism of MC carbide formation, thereby increasing the crack initiation energy.

Sprayformed Hot Work Steels for Rapid Tooling

The present work compares microstructures of hot work steels made by different processes, that is, by sprayforming,by casting, and a commercially supplied H13 steel. Material benefits are recognized by sprayforming hot working tools such as die inserts for hot forging. The sprayformed hot work steels present a fine and homogeneous microstructure,which implies that, at a similar toughness level, the sprayformed steel can be higher alloyed, so that the thermal fatigue and wear resistance at elevated temperatures can be improved. A series of steels with higher vanadium content than commercial hot work steels are developed. There are no segregation and carbide network problems usually encountered in conventional ingot/forging processed high-vanadium steels. Microstructure and hardness of the new sprayformed steels are studied under different heat treatment conditions. It is justified that these sprayformed steels can be directly used for tooling without high temperature hardening. Sprayforming the tool steels onto a precision ceramic mould is demonstrated to extend the technoeconomical benefits, so that a net shape production tool can be rapidly made.Features of the rapid tooling process are also discussed.

Precipitation and decomposition behaviors of carbides in AISI M2 high-speed steel with nitrogen and mischmetal

The behaviors of the precipitation and decomposition of carbides in AISI M2 high-speed steel modified by nitrogen and mischmetal were investigated using DSC, XRD, SEM and TEM. The as-cast microstructure of the experimental steel consists of dendrites of iron matrix, networks of eutectic carbides and secondary carbides. The average distance between networks is about 34 μm. The carbides mainly include M_2C, M(C,N) and M_6C, and their relative contents are 58.5%, 30.3% and 11.2%, respectively. The average spacing between the M_2C fibers is 1.5 μm. The decomposition of M_2C occurs from 897.2 to 1221.5 ℃(heating rate of 200 ℃/h). Some precipitated carbide particles occur in the M_2C matrix after holding for 15 min at 1100 ℃. With increasing holding time, the carbide fibers neck down more and more obviously until they are broken down. The spectral peaks of M_2C almost disappear after holding for 60 min. The spectral peaks of M_6C gradually strengthen with the holding time, and the relative content of M_6C increases to 79.8% after holding for 60 min. After holding for 180 min, the carbide fibers disappear, and the decomposition products consist of fine carbide particles(about 300 nm) and short rod-like carbides(about 3.5 μm).

Inconel 617 and Stellite 6 alloys for tooling in thixoforming of steels

Thermal fatigue and high temperature wear are the two principle failure mechanisms for thixoforming dies.Samples of Inconel 617 and Stellite 6 alloys were submitted to thermal cycling under conditions which approximate thixoforming of steels and to sliding wear tests at 750 °C.The experimental results thus obtained were compared with those of the X32CrMoV33 hot work tool steel.The Inconel 617 and Stellite 6 samples are much more resistant to oxidation and to softening than the hot work tool steel, providing a superior resistance to thermal fatigue cracking.The wear resistance of the Inconel 617 and Stellite 6 alloys at 750 °C is also markedly superior.The adhesive oxides growing slowly on Inconel 617 and Stellite 6 alloys sustain the wear action without spalling and are claimed to be responsible for the superior wear resistance of these alloys at 750 °C.

PREDICTION OF FLOW STRESS OF HIGH-SPEED STEEL DURING HOT DEFORMATION BY USING BP ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

The hot deformation behavior of TI (18W-4Cr-1V) high-speed steel was investigated by means of continuous compression tests performed on Gleeble 1500 thermomechan- ical simulator in a wide range of tempemtures (950℃-1150℃) with strain rotes of 0.001s-1-10s-1 and true strains of 0-0. 7. The flow stress at the above hot defor- mation conditions is predicted by using BP artificial neural network. The architecture of network includes there are three input parameters:strain rate,temperature T and true strain , and just one output parameter, the flow stress ,2 hidden layers are adopted, the first hidden layer includes 9 neurons and second 10 negroes. It has been verified that BP artificial neural network with 3-9-10-1 architecture can predict flow stress of high-speed steel during hot deformation very well. Compared with the prediction method of flow stress by using Zaped-Holloman parumeter and hyperbolic sine stress function, the prediction method by using BP artificial neurul network has higher efficiency and accuracy.

Effect of melting rate on microsegregation and primary MC carbides in M2 high-speed steel during electroslag remelting

Large-size primary MC carbides can significantly reduce the performance of M2 high-speed steel.To better control the morphology and size of primary MC carbides,the effect of melting rate on microsegregation and primary MC carbides of M2 steel during electroslag remelting was investigated.When the melting rate is decreased from 2 kg·min^(-1) to 0.8 kg·min^(-1),the columnar dendrites are gradually coarsened,and the extent of segregation of Mo and V is alleviated,while the segregation of Cr becomes severe.At 2 kg·min^(-1),the number of primary MC carbides per unit area with the sizes in the range of 2 μm to 6 μm accounts for about 75% of all MC carbides,while the carbides are mainly concentrated on the size larger than 8 μm at 0.8 kg·min^(-1).Thermodynamic calculations based on the Clyne-Kurz (simplified to C-K) model shows that MC carbide can be precipitated in the final solidification stage and a smaller secondary dendrite arm spacing caused by higher melting rate (2 kg·min^(-1) in this experiment) facilitates the refinement of primary MC carbides.

C-Curves of Tool Steels for Annealing and Their Application

TTT diagrams,CCT diagrams and critical points of steels H13,S7,S5 for annealing were measured and investigated by means of Formastor-Digital full-automatic phase transformation dilatometer in order to make their annealing technology reasonable and scientific.The basis is provided for making a new annealing technology scientifically.The new technology improves the quality of annealed materials,saves energy and increases productivity.

AlTiN and AlTiON-coated hot work tool steels for tooling in steel thixoforming

X32CrMoV33 hot work tool steel samples coated with AlTiN and AlTiON were submitted to thermal cycling under conditions that approximate thixoforming of steels and to sliding wear tests at 750 ℃,measured to be the cavity surface temperature shortly after the steel slurry is forced into the thixoforming die.AlTiN and AlTiON coatings provide adequate protection against oxidation of the tool steel substrate,but fail to avoid thermal fatigue cracking.This is attributed to the extensive softening of the substrate,the thermal expansion mismatch between the hot work tool steel and the coatings and residual compressive stresses inherited from the deposition process.The impact of AlTiN and AlTiON coatings on the high temperature wear resistance,on the other hand,is favourable.The improved wear resistance is attributed to the stable,protective surface oxide films.

The Influence of Method of Carburizing and Nitrocarburizing on the Microstructure and Properties of Tool Steels.

The paper presents the results of wear and metallography tests of tool steel grades: ASTM A681, Chl2M and CH12FS per COST, AMS 6437E i BS X46Crl3, all surface hardened by the Carbo process (carburizing) and by the NiCar process (nitrocarburizing). The thermo-chemical treatment was conducted in powder pack for a duration of 6 h (carburizing) and for 4 h in the case of nitrocarburizing. Factors investigated were: morphology, depth and microhardness of the cases obtained, their microstructure, as well as phase composition. Wear tests were conducted by the three cylinder-cone method. Wear velocity was 0.58 m/s, unit load was 50 MPa and 400Mpa, wear path was 3470 m. Oil SAE30 was applied at the rate of 30 drops per minute.

Microstructure simulation of rapidly solidified ASP30 high-speed steel particles by gas atomization

In this study, the microstructure evolution of rapidly solidified ASP30 high-speed steel particles was predicted using a simulation method based on the cellular automaton-finite element （CAFE） model. The dendritic growth kinetics, in view of the characteristics of ASP30 steel, were calculated and combined with macro heat transfer calculations by user-defined functions （UDFs） to simulate the microstructure of gas-atomized particles. The relationship among particle diameter, undercooling, and the convection heat transfer coefficient was also inves- tigated to provide cooling conditions for simulations. The simulated results indicated that a columnar grain microstructure was observed in small particles, whereas an equiaxed microstructure was observed in large particles. In addition, the morphologies and microstructures of gas-atomized ASP30 steel particles were also investigated experimentally using scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The experimental re- suits showed that four major types ofmicrostructures were formed： dendritic, equiaxed, mixed, and multi-droplet microstructures. The simu- lated results and the available experimental data are in good agreement.

Laser Surface Hardening of Tool Steels—Experimental and Numerical Analysis

This research work is focused on both experimental and numerical analysis of laser surface hardening of AISI M2 high speed tool steel. Experimental analysis aims at clarifying effect of different laser processing parameters on properties and performance of laser surface treated specimens. Numerical analysis is concerned with analytical approaches that provide efficient tools for estimation of surface temperature, surface hardness and hardened depth as a function of laser surface hardening parameters. Results indicated that optimization of laser processing parameters including laser power, laser spot size and processing speed combination is of considerable importance for achieving maximum surface hardness and deepest hardened zone. In this concern, higher laser power, larger spot size and lower processing speed are more efficient. Hardened zone with 1.25 mm depth and 996 HV surface hardness was obtained using 1800 W laser power, 4 mm laser spot size and 0.5 m/min laser processing speed. The obtained maximum hardness of laser surface treated specimen is 23% higher than that of conventionally heat treated specimen. This in turn has resulted in 30% increase in wear resistance of laser surface treated specimen. Numerical analysis has been carried out for calculation of temperature gradient and cooling rate based on Ashby and Easterling equations. Then, surface hardness and hardened depth have been numerically estimated based on available Design-Expert software. Numerical results indicated that cooling rate of laser surface treated specimen is high enough to be beyond the nose of the CCT diagram of the used steel that in turn resulted in a hard/martensitic structure. Numerically estimated values of surface temperature, surface hardness and hardened depth as a function of laser processing parameters are in a good agreement with experimental results. Laser processing charts indicating expected values of surface temperature, surface hardness and hardened depth as a function of different wider range of laser processing parameters are proposed.

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.

Effect of inclusion size on the high cycle fatigue strength and failure mode of a high V alloyed powder metallurgy tool steel

The fatigue strength of a high V alloyed powder metallurgy tool steel with two different inclusion size levels, tempered at different temperatures, was investigated by a series of high cycle fatigue tests. It was shown that brittle inclusions with large sizes above 30μm prompted the occurrence of subsurface crack initiation and the reduction in fatigue strength. The fracture toughness and the stress amplitude both exerted a significant influence on the fish-eye size. A larger fish-eye area would form in the sample with a higher fracture toughness subjected to a lower stress amplitude. The stress intensity factor of the inclusion was found to lie above a typical value of the threshold stress intensity factor of 4 MPa.m^1/2. The fracture toughness of the sample with a hardness above HRC 56 could be estimated by the mean value of the stress intensity factor of the fish-eye. According to fractographic evaluation, the critical inclusion size can be calculated by linear fracture mechanics.

WEAR AND LIFE OF PCBN TOOLS WHEN DRY-CUTTING BEARING STEEL GCr15

The wear forms and reasons of PCBN tools when dry-cutting bearing steel GCr15are studied systematically. The effect law of the workpiece hardness on PCBN tools is gained andtool wearing with the quickest speed at the workpiece critical hardness is proved. The life equationat two kinds of workpiece hardness demonstrates that the effect of the cutting speed on the PCBNtool life is less than that of carbide tools and ceramic tools.

Experimental Study on Hard Turning Hardened GCr15 Steel with PCBN Tool

This paper discusses experimental results of turnin g experiments on GCr15 bearing steel hardened to 60～64 HRC. The objective was to d etermine the effect of the cutting parameters on cutting force, chip morphology and resultant workpiece surface quality, more specifically surface texture, micr ostructure alterations, changes in microhardness and residual stresses distribut ion. The changing rules of the main cutting force was shown in this paper which feature a increasing tendency with the improvement of the workpiece hardness wit hin the cutting parameter scope. The rule of cutting force changing with the wor kpiece hardness is accord to the traditional metal cutting theory. Stress value decrease with increasing cutting speed and workpiece hardness. The comparison of the machined surface roughness and harden layer depth of machined surface for d ifferent hardness is shown in Fig.1. The machined surface roughness is the worst when the workpiece hardness is around 50HRC. When the workpiece hardness is ove r 50HRC, the surface roughness value shows a descending tendency with the additi on hardness. The machined superficial harden layer depth shows an increasing ten dency with the improvement of the workpiece hardness. When the workpiece hardnes s is 50HRC the machined superficial harden layer depth is tiptop. When the workp iece hardness is over 50HRC the depth changes little with the addition of workpi ece hardness. The remnant stress status of the machined surface is shown in Fig. 2, which is press stress status both in surface and in base for less cutting par ameters under two kinds of cutting condition. But experiment results show that t ensile stress can be produced under uncomfortable cutting conditions. The deform ation created by the chip formation is reduced whereduce with [TPP126A,+35mm77mm,Z,PY#]Depth from surface (μm) ■ v=200m/min,f=0.24mm/r,ap=0.8mm,60HRC ● v=200m/min,f=0.15mm/r,ap=0.5mm,60HRC Fig.1 The subsurface residual stress between the two experimentsHardness (HRC) Fig.2 The surface finish vs. workpiece hardness the workpiece hardness is improved.

Microstructural evolution of a heat-treated H23 tool steel

The microstructure and the stability of carbides after heat treatments in an H23 tool steel were investigated. The heat treatments consisted of austenization at two different austenizing temperatures （1100℃ and 1250℃）, followed by water quenching and double-aging at 650℃, 750℃, and 800℃with air cooling between the first and second aging treatments. Martensite did not form in the as-quenched micro- structures, which consisted of a ferrite matrix, M6C, M7C3, and MC carbides. The double-aged microstructures consisted of a ferrite matrix and MC, M6C, M7C3, and M23C6 carbides. Secondary hardening as a consequence of secondary precipitation of fine M2C carbides did not occur. There was disagreement between the experimental microstructure and the results of thermodynamic calculations. The highest double-aged hardness of the H23 tool steel was 448 HV after austenization at 1250℃ and double-aging at 650℃, which suggested that this tool steel should be used at temperatures below 650℃.

Effect of deep cryogenic treatment on the formation of nano-sized carbides and the wear behavior of D2 tool steel

The effect of deep cryogenic treatment on the microstructure, hardness, and wear behavior of D2 tool steel was studied by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, hardness test, pin-on-disk wear test, and the reciprocating pin-on-fiat wear test. The results show that deep cryogenic treatment eliminates retained austenite, makes a better carbide distribution, and increases the carbide content. Furthermore, some new nano-sized carbides form during the deep cryogenic treatment, thereby increasing the hardness and improving the wear behavior of the samples.