Ours is a company that has been excelling in metal supply for a very long time. In the UK, we have a reputation for delivering first class products. This includes H13 tool steels as well as many others. There is no minimum order here. Not to mention, we have a friendly, fast, and efficient approach to doing business. As a result, you will enjoy the best experience with us.
Introducing H13
If you have never worked with it before, H13 is a hot-work tool steel. This means it holds its hardness and strength to a greater working temperature than the majority of other steels. These metals exist to provide the capacity to create high-temperature, high-strength components.
In terms of what applications the steels have, 3D printed H13 steel is abrasion resistant. This is at both high and low temperatures. Such properties make this an excellent material for parts like extrusion dies and injection moulds. It is a wonderful choice for a lot more too, such as punches for forming and coining operations, metal forming tools, or any project requiring a hard wearing exterior or high temperature resistance.
The H13 tool steels are heat treatable up to around 50 HRC. It may not be the hardest steel on the market. However, it is very capable in terms of thermal fatigue and heat checking. People typically use it in instances where hot metal or plastic is being moulded and the mould must retain its shape. At the same time, it needs to remain liquid resistant.
Hot working
The big benefit of hot working H13 tool steel is it provides high hardenability. There is also hot toughness, and brilliant wear resistance. The metal has been used extensively in hot shear blades, extrusion tools, stamping dies, and more. This is the most common die steel for hot working.
For H13 forging thickness that is less than 150mm, oil quenching is able to obtain uniform hardness. Although, it is not difficult to cause decarburisation and oxidation, as well as other defects due to Mn and Si elements in the metal. The recommendation here is to utilise salt bath, controlled atmosphere heat treatment. Alternatively, you can employ a coating or vacuum heat treatment to stop decarburisation.
ESR
The H13 tool steels created via electroslag remelting (ESR) can efficiently improve steel’s low densification and microstructure. It can also augment the isotropy of die steel.
However, if you compare to the ESR procedure, the furnace refining of H13 is able to save you 20% to 30% of your production cost. It is still the mainstream smelting approach. You can amplify the service life, performance, and quality of H13 steel here. This is possible with reasonable heat treatment and forging processes.
Annealing
To eradicate the stress of H13 steel forging and lower the hardness for machining, it is necessary to use annealing. You must do this to refine the grain and enhance the structure. Usually, high temperature/isothermal spheroidisation annealing is the best choice.
Tempering
To eradicate stress and enhance the toughness of H13 forgings, you must temper them at high temperatures. You can also use secondary tempering to enhance the life of products like dies. This is because of the secondary hardening of the steel alloy.
Ordering the very best H13 tool steels
At Brindley Metals, we strive to consistently provide our clients with top tier metals. It is the same whether we are providing tool steel or something more exotic. Our prices are also very reasonable, making ours cost effective solutions.
So, if you would like to do business with us, you can contact out team for info. We are happy to offer recommendations for any project, whether you have an interest in H13 tool steels or other metals. Plus, we can provide extra services like machining if you need very specific components.