Enhancement of H13 Tool Steel Performance for Die-Casting Process Components via Heat Treatment

In the present investigation, H13 tool steels were repeatedly exposed to thermal shock at 5000, 10,000, and 15,000 cycles, similar to actual industrial operations, using an in-house-built thermal shock fatigue cyclic (TSFC) treatment machine. The thermally shocked specimens were then subjected to a novel enhancement heat-treatment process using tempering and quenching techniques. All the TSFC-treated specimens and the enhanced heat-treated specimens were characterized by hardness, tensile, X-ray diffraction, microscopy, magnetic, and wear tests. The intriguing shifts in the values of hardness, mechanical properties, crystal structures, and crack initiations were observed before and after the enhancement heat-treatment process. Superior mechanical properties were obtained at 10,000 cycles of the TSFC H13 steel specimens where the crack initiation was also minimal. Loss in magnetic properties was also observed for TSFC H13 tool steel specimens. Interestingly, after the enhancement heat-treatment process, all the TSFC H13 steel specimens significantly recovered their mechanical properties. Thus, the present thermal fatigue cycles up to 15,000 cycles of 30 s at 670 & DEG;C would be worthy of failure prediction. On the other hand, the novel enhancement heat-treatment process helped to recover the lost mechanical properties of the samples. Therefore, the present study will prolong the life of the die-casting components and significantly cut down the production cost.

Automated summary

In this study, H13 tool steels were subjected to thermal shock fatigue cycles and then underwent an enhancement heat-treatment process. The properties of the specimens were characterized before and after the treatment. Superior mechanical properties were obtained at 10,000 cycles of thermal shock, with minimal crack initiation. After the enhancement heat-treatment process, the mechanical properties of the specimens significantly recovered. This study is important for failure prediction and cost reduction in die-casting components.