Mechanical Properties and Heat Treatment of Tool Steels
Summary
Tool steels exhibit a unique combination of high hardness, wear resistance and thermal stability, essential for demanding applications such as forging dies, moulds and cutting tools. Their performance is governed by microstructural constituents—primary and secondary carbides dispersed within a martensitic or bainitic matrix—and by the heat-treatment sequence of austenitisation, quenching and tempering. Alloying elements such as chromium, vanadium and molybdenum control carbide type, size and distribution, dictating hardenability and softening resistance at elevated temperatures. Precise control of cooling rate and innovative melting practices refine structural homogeneity, reduce segregation and improve fatigue life. Recent progress in modelling tempering kinetics and carbide coarsening, alongside novel processing approaches, is advancing the design of tool steels with superior strength–toughness balance, enhancing tool longevity and energy efficiency across global manufacturing sectors.
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Mechanical Properties and Heat Treatment of Tool Steels publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in mechanical properties and heat treatment of tool steels across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Tool steel: High-alloy steel designed for cutting, shaping or forming materials under elevated stress and temperature.
Austenitising: Heating process that transforms steel into a face-centred cubic austenite phase prior to quenching.
Martensite: Hard, supersaturated body-centred tetragonal phase formed by rapid quenching of austenite.
Tempering: Reheating of quenched steel to precipitate carbides, reducing brittleness and improving toughness.
Carbide precipitates: Hard particles of carbon-alloy compounds that impede dislocation motion and strengthen steel.
Precipitation hardening: Strengthening mechanism involving fine, uniformly distributed secondary particles formed during tempering.
Electroslag remelting: Refining technique using molten slag to remove inclusions and control solidification structure.
References
- Influence of the grade of hot work tool steels and its microstructural features on the durability of punches used in the closed die precision forging of valve forgings made of nickel-chrome steel. Wear (2023).
- Carbides refinement and mechanical properties improvement of H13 die steel by magnetic-controlled electroslag remelting. Journal of Materials Research and Technology (2022).
- Characterization of Carbide Precipitation during Tempering for Quenched Dievar Steel. Materials (2022).
- Influence of Tempering Time on the Behavior of Large Carbides’ Coarsening in AISI H13 Steel. Metals (2019).
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