Tool steels used for forging dies are mostly made from medium and high alloyed steels. In terms of their use at forging these steel grades are divided to grades for hammer dies and steel grades for forging press dies. In case of grades for hammer dies high toughness is required above all and alloying conception depends on it (mostly based on nickel with chromium, molybdenum and possibly vanadium). In case of forging press dies the spectrum of the available properties is wider and individual steel grades are more dissimilar from each other according to usage of specific type of die or forging. Basically in these cases of dies an optimal combination of hot strength, toughness, resistance to tempering and other properties are required. This article presents new alloying conceptions of steel grades for dies concerning the grade 1.2343, which are produced in the company ŽĎAS, a.s. By modification of chemical composition and by corresponding metallurgical processing followed by special forging process very good combination of hardness toughness and abrasion resistance was reached. Dies are tested in production conditions in the forging plant Kovárna VIVA a.s. and the lifetime is on average approx. by 50 – 100% higher then that of the standard tool steel grade X38CrMoV5–1, (W.Nr. 1.2343).
Science Journal 