Steel is an alloy made of iron with a lower amount of carbon. Have you noticed the screwdriver you are using? Did you think about how it was made? Hardly, right? The tools we are using in our daily lives are made from tool steels. Tool steels is the combination of carbon and alloy steel with other elements such as tungsten, chromium, vanadium, and molybdenum. Most steel dealers add nickel and cobalt in tool steel to enhance the performance of the steel at high temperatures. In this post let us discuss the detailed classification about the tool steels and their application in various fields.
Water hardening (W-Grades):
It is also known as group W steels. It is the commonly available hardening tool steel and the alloying element found in the steel is carbon. In some cases, chromium is added to increase the wear resistance and hardness of the material. It is brittle compared to other steel products and cannot be used at high temperatures. All the W steels have to undergo water treatment to increase the hardness. It is used in making cold headings, cutting knives and tools.
Air-hardening (A grades):
It is all-purpose and a high carbon steel. It contains alloys of tungsten, chromium, molybdenum, and manganese. The A steels undergo an oil quenching process to increase the strength of the material. Air-hardening steels have high wear resistance and can be used up to 200 degrees celsius. It is used in making knurling tools, drawing and piercing dies, broaches, and many more.
D-type (D-grades):
It is also high carbon steel with high chromium content. It is formulated in a way that they have a high abrasion resistance and exhibits air-hardening tool steel characteristics. It is used in making forging dies, die-casting die blocks, and drawing dies.
Oil-hardening (O grades):
It has higher wear resistance due to the presence of carbon content. The oil-hardening tool steels can be used up to 260 degrees celsius to improve the efficiency of the steel. The disadvantage of the tool steel is that it loses its ductility and toughness when the temperature increases. It is commonly used in making arbors, bushing, thread cutting, collets, and die blanking.
Shock-resisting type (S-grades):
It is designed in a way to resist shock at low or high temperatures. In S type steel a small amount of silicon is added to enhance the tempering resistance of tool steels. It also forms a microstructure to resist the deformation under some tempered conditions. It is commonly used in chisel blacksmiths, battering tools, boiler-shop tools, and chisel cold working.
Therefore, SAIL TMT Bar and tool steel are the backbone for all types of construction works. Hence, consider the tips considered in the post to make a better purchase.