Development and Application of Die Steels in China

In this paper,basic principles of die materials selection were introduced including the life span of die mainly affected by die materials and heat treatment process.The effect of working conditions,die structures and designing factors on the choice of mould materials were analyzed,and selection of several common mould materials was summarized.Then the development and application of cold die,hot die and plastic die steels were reviewed.The cold die steels failure form are wear,brittle fracture,plastic deformation,clunch,etc.Compared with cold die steels and hot die steels,the plastic dies steels have a higher hardness,a certain amount of heat resistance and corrosion resistance.However,the condition of hot die steels are bad,meanwhile,they have high heat resistance,fine mechanical properties,a certain oxidation resistance and higher useful life period.At last,the future prospects of die steels were discussed.