The effect of ausforming on the strength, toughness and hardness of several tool steels containing high carbon and high alloying elements (SKH 2, SKH 4A, SKH 9, SKD 1 and SKD 11 type steels in JIS) were examined by static-bending and hardness tests.
The results obtained were as follows:
(1) In tool steels containing high carbon and high alloying elements, there was a tendency that the increase in toughness by ausforming was more remarkable than that in strength, and the effect of ausforming varied with the carbon content and alloying elements in the steels.
(2) The effect of ausforming was hardly observed in the SKD 1 specimen, but in SKH 9, remarkably observed in both strength and toughness.
The 50%-ausformed SKH 9 specimen had the maximum bending stress of 400 kg/mm
2, the yield stress of 300 kg/mm
2 and the absorbed energy of 750 kg-mm which was about 7 times as large as that of the unausformed specimen.
(3) In the ausformed SKH 9 and SKD 11 specimens, their hardness tempered at 300°∼400°C temperatures increased with the increasing reduction of rolling, and by a 50% reduction the secondary hardening became indistinct in the hardness-tempering temperature curve.
(4) Optical micrographs showed that there was no remarkable difference between the ausformed and unausformed specimens, except for cracking of carbides which had already existed at the austenitizing temperature.
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