Core strategies for optimizing die steel heat treatment process and improving service life
Release time:
2025-07-14
Core strategies for optimizing mold steel heat treatment process and improving service life
Introduction
In the mold manufacturing industry, the heat treatment process directly determines the final performance and service life of mold steel. This article will deeply analyze the optimization path of key heat treatment parameters, provide feasible life improvement solutions, and help enterprises reduce production costs by more than 20%.
Ⅰ. Core Challenges of Heat Treatment of Die Steel
1.Hardness-Toughness Imbalance
Traditional quenching easily leads to surface hardness meeting the standard but insufficient toughness in the core, resulting in chipping under impact conditions (common in Cr12MoV cold working dies)
2.Defects in Organization Control
Retained austenite > 15% will accelerate wear, and carbide segregation will cause early cracking (typical failure case of H13 hot working die steel)
3.Poor Dimensional Stability
Insufficient stress release during heat treatment causes deformation to exceed tolerance after finishing, with a scrap rate of up to 12-18%
Ⅱ. Key Technologies for Optimization of the Fourth-Order Process
▶ Phase 1: Pretreatment Innovation
Double Spheroidizing Annealing Process
Adopting 790℃×2h+730℃×4h step insulation to increase the carbide spheroidization rate to more than 95% (35% higher than conventional processes)
Pulsed Magnetic Field Cryogenic Treatment
Applying a 5T magnetic field in a -196℃ liquid nitrogen environment increases the efficiency of eliminating residual stress by 40%
▶ Phase 2: Precise Control of Quenching
Parameters Traditional Process Optimization Scheme Benefit Comparison
Heating Rate 120℃/h 80℃/h (step heating) Grain size increased by 2 levels
Austenitizing temperature 1020±10℃ 1005±3℃ Grain boundary oxidation reduced by 70%
Hot holding time Calculated by thickness Infrared real-time monitoring Organization uniformity↑45%
▶ Stage 3: Composite tempering technology
Three-cycle deep tempering system
520℃×2h + 560℃×2h + 520℃×2h (air cooling), residual austenite <3%
Plasma-assisted tempering
Nitrogen plasma is introduced during the tempering process to form a 5μm strengthening layer on the surface (microhardness reaches 1100HV)
▶ Phase 4: Surface strengthening synergy
Laser quenching + PCVD composite treatment
Laser scanning (power density 2.5kW/cm²) followed by TiAlN coating deposition, wear resistance increased by 300%
Micro-shot peening stress regulation
0.2mm steel shot impacts the surface at 200m/s, and fatigue life is extended by 4-6 times
III. Empirical data on life improvement
Mold type Original life Optimized life Failure mode improvement
Automobile cover die 150,000 strokes 380,000 strokes Corner wear reduced by 82%
Die casting die (H13) 80,000 molds 220,000 molds Delayed occurrence of thermal fatigue cracks
Precision injection mold 600,000 pieces 1.5 million pieces Dimensional stability ±0.003mm
IV. Intelligent monitoring system integration solution
1.Internet of Things temperature tracking
Implanted thermocouples provide real-time feedback on mold working temperature (accuracy ±1.5℃), dynamically adjust cooling parameters
2.Metallographic AI diagnostic system
Based on deep learning, the organization analysis module automatically determines the quenching martensite content (error <3%)
3. Digital twin life prediction
Establish a stress-wear coupling model, and the life prediction accuracy rate reaches 92%
Conclusion
Through the refined control of the entire heat treatment process and the coordination of surface modification technology, the service life of mold steel can achieve a breakthrough improvement of more than 200%. It is recommended that enterprises establish a material-process-monitoring trinity system, and the average annual cost of a single mold can be reduced by 150,000 yuan. We will continue to share cutting-edge technology demonstration cases to help China's smart manufacturing upgrade.
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