COLD WORK STEEL
Delivering trusted steel solutions with unmatched quality and service across India.
Description
Cold work tool steels are a class of high-carbon steels engineered with alloying additions such as tungsten, manganese, chromium, and molybdenum. These alloying elements improve hardenability, wear resistance, and toughness, making the steels highly suitable for demanding tooling applications.
One of their key advantages is excellent dimensional stability during heat treatment, which ensures precision and minimizes distortion in finished components. Cold work tool steels also provide cost-effective solutions for manufacturing tools that operate effectively at service temperatures up to 200°C.
This group of steels is further classified into subcategories based on their composition and performance characteristics. Each type demonstrates specific constitutional properties, including enhanced hardness, abrasion resistance, and strength under impact or compressive loads.
Popular Grades
- HCHCR - D2
- HCHCR - D3
- AISI D2
- AISI D3
- DIN 2379
- DIN 2080
Industrial Applications
- Cutting tools – punches, dies, and shear blades
- Forming tools – thread rolling dies, cold extrusion dies, and stamping tools
- Measuring tools – gauges and precision instruments
- Wear-resistant parts – rolls, inserts, and industrial knives
Main Characteristics of Cold Work Tool Steels
- High hardness (can be hardened up to 60–65 HRC depending on grade)
- Good dimensional stability during heat treatment
- Excellent wear resistance for long tool life
- Moderate toughness (lower than hot-work steels)
- Not suitable for high-temperature service (tools may soften above 200 °C)
High-Carbon, High-Chromium (D-series)
- High hardness (can be hardened up to 60–65 HRC depending on grade)
- Good dimensional stability during heat treatment
- Excellent wear resistance for long tool life
- Moderate toughness (lower than hot-work steels)
- Not suitable for high-temperature service (tools may soften above 200 °C)
Product Specifications of Cold Work tool Steel
| AISI/ASTM | Material | Chemistry | Application | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EN | DIN | JIS | C | Si | Mn | P | S | Cr | W | Mo | V | ||
| D2 | X155Cr Vmo V12.1 | 1.2379 | SKD11 | 1.55 | 0.25 | 0.35 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 12 | 0.9 | 0.9 | Shear blades, blanking punches, die chasers, rolls for cold mills treading rolls and chasers, molds for plastic materials. | |
| D3 | X210Cr12 | 1.2080 | SKD1 | 2 | 0.25 | 0.45 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 12 | Rolls for cold strip mills and wire squeezer mills, dies for small metal parts, punching and drawing dies for sinterings. | |||
| A2 | 100CrMoV5-1 | 1.2363 | SKD12 | 1 | 0.25 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 5 | 1 | Blanking dies, rolls, stamping dies etc. | |||
| O1 | 100MNCrW4 | 1.2510 | SKS3 | 0.95 | 0.25 | 1.1 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 | Dies, blanking punches, moulds for plastic materials. | |
Applications of Cold Work Steels
- Punches and dies (blanking, forming, stamping)
- Shear blades and cutting tools
- Thread rolling dies
- Gauges and measuring tools
- Knives and industrial cutting blades
- Cold extrusion tools
supplies cities
- Hyderabad, Ernakulam, Chennai, Secunderabad,
- Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Mysore, Nellore, Kochi,
- Tirupati, Nazarathpet, Kakinada, Kurnool and many
- Agra, Alwar, Ambala, Anand, Bhiwadi, Dehradun,
- Ghaziabad, Haridwar, Rudrapur, Delhi, Faridabad,
- Kanpur, Noida, Gurgaon, Manesar, Kundali,Chandigarh,
- Waluj , Vadodara, Pimpri - Chinchwad, Rajkot, Jaipur,
- Ahmedabad, Pithampur, Surat, Amravati, Vadodara,
- Indore, Bhopal, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Howrah,Kolkata,
- Pune, Thane, Nashik, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur,
- Ambattur, Bangalore, Belgaum, Chittoor, Dindigul,
Conclusion
Cold work tool steels have become important materials used in precision tooling processes that demand high hardness, dimensional stability, and wear resistance at moderate service temperatures. They offer high-performance cutting, forming, and measuring tools that are alloyed with chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, and vanadium. The D2 and D3 grades have higher values due to their resistance to abrasion and stability, hence can be utilised in dies, punches, blades, and in cold extrusion tools. Their hardness-toughness balance guarantees cost-effective long long-lasting solutions to industries like automotive, aerospace, as well as general engineering.
