Best practice in heat treatment of large dies made of hot work tool steels

Tool steels are a widely used material for construction of tools designated for shaping and forming of metal, plastic and other elements in mass production. These elements include extruding dies, pressure casting dies, moulds, punches and various other elements for plastic shaping of other materials preheated to temperatures in the range of 250-700 °C (Fig. 1). Since shape stability constitutes the basic requirement any tool has to meet, the material it is made from is expected to withstand loads without any plastic strain while maintaining high abrasion resistance. Additionally, a tool should feature good hardness and strength as well as appropriate ductility and impact strength which condition crack resistance, and these qualities are to be obtained at high working temperatures (up to 700 °C).