Which materials are more suitable for making stamping molds?

There are many materials that can make stamping molds, such as alloy tool steel, high-speed steel, zinc-based alloy, carbon tool steel, steel-bonded cemented carbide, cemented carbide, polymer materials and so on. So which materials are more suitable for stamping parts manufacturers, and are more common? Let's take a look.

At present, most of the materials used to manufacture stamping molds are mainly steel:

1. Carbon tool steel

The most widely used carbon tool steels in stamping molds are T8A, T10A, etc., which are characterized by good processing performance and low price; but poor hardenability and red hardness, large heat treatment deformation, and low bearing capacity;

2. High-speed steel

High-speed steel has the highest hardness, wear resistance and compressive strength among die steels, and has a high bearing capacity. Commonly used in stamping dies are W18Cr4V (code 8-4-1) and W6Mo5Cr4V2 (code 6-5-4-2, Japanese grade SKH51, American grade M2) with less tungsten content, as well as those developed to improve toughness. Carbon-reducing and vanadium-reducing high-speed steel 6W6Mo5Cr4V (code 6W6 or low-carbon M2).

3. High carbon medium chromium tool steel

The high-carbon medium-chromium tool steels used for stamping molds include Cr4W2MoV, Cr6WV, Cr5MoV, etc., which have low chromium content, less eutectic carbides, uniform carbide distribution, small heat treatment deformation, and good hardenability. Dimensional stability. Compared with high-carbon high-chromium steels with relatively severe carbide segregation, the properties are improved.

4. High carbon and high chromium tool steel

Commonly used high-carbon and high-chromium tool steels are Cr12, Cr12MoV, Cr12Mo1V1 (code D2), which have good hardenability, hardenability and wear resistance, and heat treatment deformation is very small. The capability is second only to high-speed steel. However, the segregation of carbides is serious, and repeated upsetting (axial upsetting, radial drawing) and forging are required to reduce the inhomogeneity of carbides and improve the performance.

5. Low alloy steel

Low alloy tool steel is based on carbon tool steel with an appropriate amount of alloying elements added. Compared with carbon tool steel, it reduces the tendency of quenching deformation and cracking, improves the hardenability of steel, and has better wear resistance. The low-alloy steels used to manufacture stamping molds include CrWMn, 9Mn2V, 7CrSiMnMoV (code CH-1), 6CrNiSiMnMoV (code GD), etc.

6. Basic steel

A small amount of other elements are added to the basic composition of high-speed steel, and the carbon content is appropriately increased or decreased to improve the performance of the steel. Such steel grades are collectively referred to as base steel. They not only have the characteristics of high-speed steel, but also have certain wear resistance and hardness, and their fatigue strength and toughness are better than those of high-speed steel. The commonly used base steels in stamping molds are 6Cr4W3Mo2VNb (code 65Nb), 7Cr7Mo2V2Si (code LD), 5Cr4Mo3SiMnVAl (code 012AL), etc.

7. Cemented carbide and steel bonded cemented carbide

The hardness and wear resistance of cemented carbide are higher than that of any other kind of die steel, but the bending strength and toughness are poor. The cemented carbide used for the mold is tungsten and cobalt. For molds with low impact and high wear resistance, cemented carbide with lower cobalt content can be selected. For molds with high impact, cemented carbide with higher cobalt content can be selected.

Steel-bonded cemented carbide is made by adding iron powder with a small amount of alloying element powder (such as chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, vanadium, etc.) as a binder, and using titanium carbide or tungsten carbide as a hard phase, sintered by powder metallurgy. The matrix of steel-bonded cemented carbide is steel, which overcomes the disadvantages of poor toughness and difficult processing of cemented carbide, and can be cut, welded, forged and heat treated. Steel-bonded cemented carbide contains a large amount of carbides. Although the hardness and wear resistance are lower than those of cemented carbide, they are still higher than other steel grades. After quenching and tempering, the hardness can reach 68-73HRC.

More Recommendations:

Metal Stamping Parts Manufacturer

Custom Metal Stamping

CNC Machined Parts

Precision Stamping Products