Tooling Technology

Matrix HighSpeed Steels

Economical Alternative to Powders
If fracturing, chipping and microchipping plague your tooling, consider using a new breed of tool steel.
BY TOM SCHADE

Applications for Matrix High-Speed Steels

Applications Punch MDS1 MDS3 MDS7 MDS9

owder metallurgy offers significant advantages over traditionally melted cold-work and high-speed steels. The ability to produce highly alloyed steels free of segregation, with uniform grain structure and carbide distribution, allows powdered-steel producers to make claims about their steels high performance. If your problems revolve around pure abrasive wear, many of these claims prove true.

Trimming die Bending/drawing die Shear blades Blanking die Slitter knife Roll Woodwork knife Heading die Rolling die Warm-forming die

Looking Beyond Abrasive Wear

In the Japanese tooling industry, it has long been accepted that abrasive wear is not always the cause of premature tool failure. Often, fracturing, chipping and microchippingpopping of individual or groups of carbides from a cutting surfaceare the culprits. Japanese end-users sought a lower-cost material that could address all toughness Tom Schade is vice president of International Mold Steel, Florence, KY; tel. 800/625-6653; www.imsteel.com.
48 METALFORMING / MAY 2004

Japan, these steels are not classified by AISI or JIS standards. Each producer markets its variation under a trade name. Nachi has the MDS series, MDS1, MDS3, MDS7 (matrix high-speed) and MDS9 (high-toughness cold-work). Daido has MH85, MH88 (matrix highwww.metalformingmagazine.com

and fatigue problems, so the Japanese specialty-steel industry searched for a class of wrought alloys to do just that. The research efforts of NachiFujikoshi Corp, Daido Steel Ltd and others resulted in a new series of matrix high-speed steels. As is common in

Charpy Impact Value of MDS Series, M2 and D2

150 MDS1 Charpy impact value (J/cm2) Specimen: 5 x 10 x 5mm (no-notch)

Deflective Strength of MDS Series, M2 and D2

6 MDS1 Bending strength (kN/mm2) 5 MDS9 M2 4 MDS3 MDS7

100

MDS3 50 MDS9 M2 D2 0 MDS7

3 D2 2

55

60 Hardness (HRC)

65

55

60 Hardness (HRC)

65

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

speed) and DC53 (high-toughness coldwork die steel).

Table 1Heattreatment Characteristics of MDS Series Grade

Heattreatment temp. (C) Austenitizing 1100-1150 1080-1160 1100-1180 1020-1050 Tempering 560-640 540-600 540-600 180-200 500-560 Standard hardness (HRC) 56-58 60-64 62-66 58-62 60-64

Carbide Size and Quantity Limit Effectiveness

Consider D2, a low-cost high-hardenability cold-work die steel. Large carbide particles and lack of toughness can limit the life of tools made from D2 in certain applications, and the large carbide particles also compromise machinability and grindability. In the 1980s, Japanese researchers realized that by lowering alloying elements and increased hot-working grain refinement, they could produce super-tough fine-grained cold-work die steels with advantages over D2. Thirty-percent improvement in machinability and grindability, improvements in impact and fatigue strength, and higher hardenability at high draw temperatures caused the Japanese tool industry to gravitate to these steels throughout the 1990s. The Japanese specialty-steel industry then shifted its focus to overcoming the inherent low-fracture resistance of high-speed and powdered steels. The premise behind development of matrix high-speed steels: Carbides were the problem, not the solution. Developers already had shown with the high-toughness cold-work materials that reducing the size and quantity of carbides had
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MDS1 MDS3 MDS7 MDS9 DC53

Transverse Rupture Strength

Transverse rupture strength (KN/mm2) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 MDS1 60HRC MDS3 62HRC MDS7 64HRC PM HSS 62HRC

Fig. 3

Charpy Impact Value

Charpy impact value (J/cm2) 100 80 60 40 20 0 MDS1 59HRC MDS3 62HRC MDS7 64HRC PM HSS 60HRC

Fig. 4
49

METALFORMING / MAY 2004

Tooling Technology
Grindability
Grindability (weight loss of specimen/weight loss of grinding wheel)

benefits. With matrix high-speed steels, alloy elements are resubjected to a solid-solution treatment with a base (matrix), reducing the quantity of carbides. The end result offers high toughness and fracture resistance. Additional benefits include improved machinability and grindability. The trade off is reduced abrasive wear when compared to M2 or powdered steels.

3 Cutting depth: 0.05 mm Peripheral speed: 2000 rpm

Characteristics Defined
ToughnessMatrix high-speed tool steel exhibits high toughness and fracture resistance due to the special characteristics of its microstructure. Fig. 1 shows the Charpy impact value of the MDS series and Fig. 2 shows its deflective strength. When the Charpy impact value is compared at the same hardness, the value is higher for matrix high-speed steel than for M2 or D2. The same can be said for deflective strength. Figs. 3 and 4 show similar results when the matrix formula is compared to high-vanadium (10) powdered high-speed steel. This underscores the retention of the matrix steels wear resistance and improved fracture resistance. MachinabilityBenefits due to fine grain structure and reduced carbides in matrix high-speed steels include improved machinability and grinding after heattreatment. Fig. 5 compares the grinding ratio (test-piece weight reduction divided by grinding-wheel weight reduction) as the indicator of grindabilitya higher ratio indicates improved grindability. Reduced machining and grinding costs significantly reduce tool costs. HeattreatmentMatrix high-speed steels are less sensitive than other high-speed steels to the slower cooling rate of vacuum heattreat furnaces. For example, the center hardness of an M2 100-mm bar loses three points of HRC as a result of slower vacuum-furnace cooling. Matrix high-speed steels do not lose HRC points. Table 1 shows austenitizing and temper temperature ranges as well as expected hardness ranges for MDS steels Wear ResistanceCold-work die steels offer a wide hardness range, extending from HRC 58 to HRC 65. Matrix high-speed formulations contain steels with differing wear-resistance levels. For example, the hardness for one is HRC 58, and HRC 62-64 for another. These levels are controlled by the quantity of the matrix. The results of this control can be seen in Fig. 6, where a lower wear ratio indicates superior wear resistance. Fig. 7 compares abrasive wear resistance to high-vanadium (10) powderedMF metal high-speed steel..
50 METALFORMING / MAY 2004

0 MDS1 58 MDS3 63 MDS7 MDS9 65 62 Hardness (HRC) M2 65 D2 62

Fig. 5

Wear Resistance
10-3 Friction speed (m/sec) 2.86 0.46

Wear ratio (mm3/(m * kg))

10-4

10-5

MDS1 MDS3 MDS7 MDS9 58 63 65 62 Hardness (HCR)

M2 65

D2 62

Fig. 6

Wear Resistance Compared to Powdered-Metal High-Speed Steel (PM HSS)

3 Abrasiveness (mm3/(m * kg))

0 MDS1 58HRC MDS3 63HRC MDS7 65HRC PM HSS 62HRC

Fig. 7

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