Cold work
High quality dies
In order to withstand high speeds and enormous stresses, the tool steels used in cold processing metal require high performance in edge retention, fatigue resistance, wear resistance and impact resistance and high heat checking resistance.
Aubert & Duval’s offering
Modern methods for cold processing metals and alloys require the use of increasingly high-performance tooling. Current production constraints demand ever higher speeds and increasingly fragmented production runs to reduce production costs and total tool cost. This affects all cold working methods, from cutting and drawing to cold heading and cold forging. Aubert & Duval’s wide range of grades will enable you to meet all these demands. The choice of grade is an integral part of design optimization, enabling costs to be brought down by reducing tool maintenance and operating costs. By offering alloys that are ideally suited to specific processing techniques, we help you to increase tool performance and reduce production costs; the total cost of the tooling has to be borne in mind.
Cold Work tool steel grade selection
Selecting the right grade depends on the conditions for the tool’s use: it results from a compromise between the following four main properties, depending on the processes used and the stresses encountered:
- Machinability
- Wear resistance
- Resistance to spalling, cracking and breaking
- Resistance to distortion and sinking.
- TA2: martensitic steel with high yield stress, excellent toughness and high hardenability
- SMI: cold work alloy tool steel suitable for drop-stamp dies and shear blades. It presents good ductility suitable for parts subjected to impact, good dimensional stability and good cutting properties.
High Speed Steels
High Speed Steels are high-performance special steels offering high hardness at temperatures up to 500°C and high wear resistance, thanks to alloying elements like tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium and chromium which are able to form carbides. To improve hot hardness, cobalt may also be added. High Speed Steels can be produced either by the conventional route or by powder metallurgy.
Conventional High Speed Steel
Erasteel – a sister company of Aubert & Duval – offers a wide range of high speed steels, with or without cobalt, to meet the requirements of metalworking and wear parts applications.
ASP® Steels for cold work applications
ASP® steels are produced by powder metallurgy through a 3-step process: gas-atomization, Hot Isostatic Pressing and post processing operations such as forging, rolling or drawing. The ASP® range is suitable for a wide range of tooling and component applications. ASP® is a registered trademark of Erasteel, a sister company of Aubert & Duval. Erasteel can offer a wide range of alloys for cold work applications such as punching, blanking, fine blanking, cold forming and forging, thread rolling and rolls for cold forming.
Applications
- Cutting
- Drawing
- Cold heading
- Flow forming
Metal Powders for additive manufacturing
Aubert & Duval provides metal powder for 3D printing of tooling parts, find out more
For specific grades, dimensions or applications contact us