Improving Die Life in Hot

Forging Dies Application

JEFF LEE
TECHNICAL MANAGER
VHPM PACIFIC
 Classification by temperature

Classification according to forging temp. vs

recrystallisation temp.
Cold Forging Warm Forging Hot Forging

~Room temp.  Recrystallisation temp. > Recrystallisation temp.

T < 0.3Tm 0.3Tm < T < 0.5Tm 0.5m < T < 0.75Tm

550-950C (steel) >1000C (steel)

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For most metals, recrystallisation occurs between 0.4Tm and 0.6Tm.
 Temperature effect on recrystallisation

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 Hot forging temp. ranges for various metals

Alloy group Forging temperature

Aluminum alloys (least difficult) 400-550C

Copper alloys 600-900C

Carbon and low-alloy steels 850-1150C

Martensitic stainless steels 1100-1250C

Austenitic Stainless steels 1100-1250C

Nickel alloys 1000-1150C

Titanium alloys 700-950C

Molybdenum alloys 1150-1350C

Nickel-base superalloys 1050-1200C

Tungsten alloys (most difficult) 1200-1300C

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 Comparison of forging process

Process
Criteria
Cold Warm Hot
Formabiility Low Moderate Good

Forming Loads High Moderate Moderate

Forming Rate Slow Moderate Fast

Dimension Precision Good Moderate to Good Poor

Surface Finish Good Moderate Poor

Material Conservation Moderate Good Poor

Die Cost Moderate to High High Moderate

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Die Life 10,000->200,000 Parts 10,000-30,000 Parts 2,000->10,000 Parts
 Hot forging
Forging temperature over Ac1  metallurgical structure is changed (heat
treatment are generally needed)
Low dimensional precision
Bad surface quality with scales
For large and complex parts (only possible forging process to use)

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 Hot forging

Hammer forging
Very short contact time and very rapid rate of increase of force with time
(impact loading).
Impact toughness and ductility are important properties for die steel
Wear resistance is the secondary important property (particularly in small
dies)

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 Hot forging

Press forging
The contact time under pressure is much longer, and the impact load is much
lower than in hammer forging
Heat resistance and elevated temperature wear resistance of the die steel are
relatively more important
It is important that the die surface is not excessively chilled by lubrication for
larger dies to avoid premature heat checking or even thermal shock cracking

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 Forging machines and key data

Speed Contact Time Die Surface Heat

Machine Capacity
(m/s) (ms) Temp. Penetration
Gravity Drop Hammer 120 kJ 3.6-4.8

Power Drop Hammer 1150 kJ 3.0-9.0 5-15 450C 14 mm

Counterblow Hammer 1250 kJ 4.5-9.0

Screw Press 35,000 tons* 0.6-1.2 ~580C 6 mm

30-600
Mechanical Press 16,000 tons 0.06-1.50 ~620C 7 mm

Hydraulic Press 80,000 tons 0.06-0.30 ~770C 12 mm

Multiply by 100 to get kg.m, by 0.73 to get 103 lbf.ft

1 kJ = 1 kN.m
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* Friction-drive press 4000 tons, hydraulic-drive press up to 35,000 tons.
 Properties of tool steels

Material What is it? How is it Main contribution

properties measured
Hardness Resistance to deformation By indentation in a hardness Heat-treatment and chemical
machine. HRC, HB, HV etc. composition

Temper back resistance Resistance against softening at Hardness measurement at a Chemical composition
high temperatures constant high temperature

Hot-yield strength Resistance against plastic Tensile (pull sample apart) Chemical composition
deformation at elevated testing at different
temperatures temperatures

Creep strength The ability of a material to Apply a constant load at Chemical composition
withstand a constant force at elevated temperatures and
elevated temperatures force material to creep

Ductility Resistance to crack initiation Measure energy absorption Production process quality
when hitting a test sample with Heat-treatment
a pendulum. Un-notched
Charpy test

Toughness Resistance to crack propagation Measure energy absorption Production process quality
when hitting a test sample with Heat-treatment
a pendulum. Charpy-V test

Thermal conductivity The materials heat transfer Measured by Dilatometer, Chemical composition and alloy
ability Calorymeter and Laser flash, element distribution
(ʎ= 𝐶𝑝 𝑥 𝐷 𝑥 ƿ)
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 Typical forging die failures
CRACKING
 Deep cavities, radii, notches
HOT WEAR
 Areas with strong material flow
THERMAL FATIGUE
 Flat areas with a lot of heat contact
and high exposure to cooling
PLASTIC DEFORMATION
 Weak section, outer radii

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 Typical forging die failures

Forging Failure Mechanisms in

Press Forging

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 Typical forging die failures

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 Wear “Acting like welding torch”
 Material related causes
 Low hardness
 poor quality heat treatment
 No surface treatment
 Design of work & tool material
 Complicated flow patterns
 Design of the billets and pre-forging steps Main demands on the material
causes unnecessary material flow during  High hardness
forging (convex radius and flash area)
 Temper back resistance
 Process related properties
 Oxide scale gliding at the cavity surface
 Too low forging temperature
14  Long contact times
 Surface treatment

Nitriding
The cavity in forging dies is quite often surface treated in order to enhance
wear resistance.
However, the nitrided layer is very brittle and may crack or spall when
subjected to mechanical loading, especially impact loading.
Before nitriding, the tool should be hardened and double tempered, the latter
at a temperature at least 25–50°C above the nitriding temperature.
Nitriding to layer thicknesses >0.3 mm is not to be recommended for forging
dies.
The underlying steel can not resist the propagation of such surface cracks if
the layer thickness is too great and the entire die may fail catastrophically.

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 Bending strength as a function of nitriding depth.

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 Avoid too thick a nitrided layer
0.3 mm maximum nitride layer
thickness is a general recommendation.
This maximum value should be
decreased if the impression has very
sharp radii or if the die steel is used at
high hardness.
The formation of the so-called “white
layer” should be avoided because of
brittleness.

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 “Temporarily mechanical or thermal overloading of the die”
Gross cracking
 Gross cracking is more frequent in hammer blocks than in press tooling
 Material related causes
 Too high hardness of die material
 Poor quality heat treatment
 Surface treatment
 Tool related causes
 Small radii and thin walls
 EDMing residuals
 Solid blocks instead of inserts
 Process related causes
Main demands on the material
 Insufficient preheating of the die
 Low temperature of the work material  Toughness
 Uncontrolled cooling, spraying  Ductility
 Improper alignment/support the tool
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 Overloading, e.g. work material temperature too low
 Heat treatment

8407 Supreme, 44 HRC, 250 x 200 x 300mm

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 Impact test

8407 Supreme, 44-46 HRC

S-T, core, bar size 762 x

305 mm
Quenching speeds in °C/min
from 800 to 500°C

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 For a good performance you need both a good die steel and a good heat
treatment

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 EDM

Avoid EDM- layer on the die cavity surface

Initial EDM, avoiding ”arcing” and excessive stock
removal rates.
Finish with ”fine-sparking”, i.e. low current, high
frequency
Grind or polish EDM surface
Temper the tool at 15-25°C lower than the
original tempering temperature

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 Dovetail slot
Cut block along with the
fibber direction
Dovetails have
sufficiently large radii
and be properly finished
Grinding marks should
be tangential and not
axial

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 Plastic deformation
 Plastic deformation is quite common at small
convex radii, or when long thin tooling
components e.g. punches, are subjected to high
bending stresses
 Material related causes
 Insufficient strength
 Insufficient hardness
 Design related causes
 Not allowing for higher hardness dies
 Process related properties
 Too long contact time between forging material Main demands on the material
and die
 Hot-yield strength
 Billet and tool temperature
 Tempering-back resistance
24  Creep strength
 “Combination of thermal cyclic stress, tensile stress and plastic strain”

Thermal fatigue cracking

Excessive temperature changes during the forging cycle.
Material related causes
 Insufficiant thermal-fatigue resistance
Process related properties (high ΔT)
 Uncontrolled surface spraying
 Overheated tool Main demands on the material
 Uncontrolled preheating of the die  Temper back resistance
 Hot yield strength
 High ductility / toughness
 High creep strength
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 Thermal fatigue cracking
Temperature
difference at die
surface
Preheating of the die
(temperature and way
of heating)
 Time at peak
temperature
Cooling of the die
surface

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 Thermal fatigue test

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 General die material properties
Sufficient hardness and ability to retain this at elevated temperatures—temper
resistance  wear, plastic deformation, thermal fatigue cracking
Enhanced level of hot tensile strength and hot hardness  wear, plastic
deformation, thermal fatigue cracking
Good toughness and ductility at low and elevated temperatures  gross
cracking, thermal shock cracking, thermal fatigue cracking
 It is important that the die steel exhibits adequate toughness/ductility in all
directions.

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 Properties you need for forging tool steel
Temper back
resistance

Hot yield strength

Depends on the chemical composition of the
Creep strength material

Thermal
conductivity

Ductility
Depends on the quality of the process. Cleanliness,
Toughness microstructure and consistency of the material

Thermal Depends on the atomic lattice and is similar for all

29 expansion martensitic steels
 Manufacture and maintenance of forging die

Heat treatment
To develops its optimum combination of hardness, toughness, heat resistance
and wear resistance.
Proper choice of austenitizing temperature, cooling conditions during
hardening and tempering temperature and time.
For forging dies, where toughness is of the utmost importance, it is essential
that the cooling rate during hardening is sufficiently rapid that undesirable
microconstituents can be avoided.
EDM’d dies should always be given an additional temper at about 25°C below
the previous tempering temperature.

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 ASSAB product programme for forging applications
Chemical Composition Supplied
ASSAB Grade Standard
C Si Mn Cr Mo V Ni Hardness

 250 HB
ALVAR 14 1.2714 0.55 0.3 0.7 1.1 0.5 0.1 1.7
36-43 HRC
8407 2M 1.2344 0.39 1.0 0.4 5.3 1.3 0.9 – ~180 HB

FORMVAR – 0.35 0.2 0.5 5.0 2.3 0.6 – <229 HB

8407 SUPREME 1.2344 0.39 1.0 0.4 5.2 1.4 0.9 – ~180 HB

QRO 90 SUPREME – 0.38 0.3 0.8 2.6 2.3 0.9 – ~180 HB

DIEVAR – 0.35 0.2 0.5 5.0 2.3 0.6 – ~160 HB

UNIMAX – 0.50 0.2 0.5 5.0 2.3 0.5 – ~185 HB

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 Production line

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 Advantages of ESR
Improved solidification microstructure
 removed porosities and shrinkage voids
More homogeneous material
Cleaner material
 Removed non-metallic inclusions
 Intensive desulphurisation
 Reduced gas content (N, H, O)

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 Microstructural influence on the ductility

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 Material properties of H11 in the centre region

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 Difference between Uddeholm ESR and conventional
production
High ductility is very
important for highly
stressed hot work dies
especially forging dies

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 Difference between Uddeholm ESR and conventional
production

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 Thermal fatigue test

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 Product mapping

Unimax®
Resistance to hot wear and

QRO® 90 Supreme
plastic deformation

Formvar® Dievar®
H13 8407 Supreme
ESR
H11
8407 2M
ESR

Alvar 14

Resistance to gross cracking

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 Dievar
 Highest toughness and ductility in all
directions
New global rating > April 2019
 Guaranteed Avg toughness of 25 J as
delivered (H13 has 10.6 J)
 Excellent ESR tool steel to avoid
cracking
 Perfect substrates for coating and
nitriding
 Excellent material for all sizes of
complex forging dies
 High hot yield strength
 High creep strength
40  High temper resistance
 Temperback resistance at 600°C

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 Hot yield strength at 550°C

1000
Hot yield strength Rp 0,2, (MPa)

900
Dievar
800
ESR H13
700

600
44 HRC 46 HRC 48 HRC 51 HRC
Hardness
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 Creep strength vs AISI H13 at 550°C and 500Mpa
6

4
Strain [%]

H13
3

2 Dievar
1

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Hours
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 Heat checking resistance
20 – 700°C/air/800 cycles, thermal
fatigue testing, depth of cracks.
200
Dievar
Depth of cracks in

175
150 AISI ESR H13
125
µm

100
75
50
25
0
40 HRC 42 HRC 44 HRC 46 HRC 48 HRC 50 HRC 52 HRC
Hardness
44
 Unimax
Recommend for press forging
ESR tool steel with capability to reach
58HRC
Good toughness and ductility
Excellent tool steel to delay wear issues
Perfect substrate for coating and
nitriding
At a recommended hardness of 48 -58
HRC, Unimax resists abrasive wear and
significantly increases the life of the
forging die.
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 Unnotched testing

46
 Unimax

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 8407 2M
Excellent quality for non-ESR
Excellent through hardening properties
Excellent machinability
A safe choice in press forging in a world of below average H13 steels

8407 Supreme
Excellent toughness and ductility in all directions
Excellent through hardening properties
Excellent machinability
ESR produced
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Good choice for complex large dies
 QRO 90 Supreme
Excellent weldability, machinability
Good thermal conductivity
Good wear resistance
Great hot creep strength
Best temper back resistance of any ASSAB steel

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 Formvar
Good temper resistance
Good high-temperature strength
Excellent hardenability
Good dimensional stability throughout heat treatment and coating operations

Alvar 14
Good resistance to high thermal stresses
Good stability in hardening
The good toughness and ease of machining make this a good choice for basic
hammer forging needs.

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 Qualitative comparison of different die failures
ASSAB Grade HOT WEAR PLASTIC PREMATURE HEAT
DEFORMATION CRACKING CHECKING
Dievar
*Unimax
8407 2M
8407 Supreme
QRO 90 Supreme
Formvar
Alvar 14
 Alvar 14 at ~40 HRC, *Unimax at ~55 HRC, and all other grades at ~45 HRC
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 TOOL STEEL SELECTION CHART

Application ASSAB Grade Hardness (HRC)

Hammer forging
Solid die blocks* ALVAR 14 36 - 43
Inserts** DIEVAR 44 - 52
8407 SUPREME 40 - 50
8407 2M 40 - 48
Press forging
Dies** DIEVAR 44 - 52
8407 SUPREME 40 - 50
*Normally, no nitriding
FORMVAR 44 - 52
** Can be nitrided
8407 2M 38 - 48
0.15-0.20 mm nitriding
QRO 90 SUPREME 44 - 48
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UNIMAX 52 - 57
www.assab.com

ASSAB is a trademark of voestalpine High Performance Metals Pacific Pte. Ltd.

The presentation and the information contained herein are only for guidelines, any specific
advice required, please contact ASSAB. For contact details, please visit www.assab.com.