W.NR. 1.2344

High wear resistance hot-working steel, also be used for wear resistance and polished plastic moulds.
Steel is easy to machine in the annealed condition and needs a hardening process before final machining.
This steel also shows excellent toughness and high level insensitivity to thermal shock and thermal fatigue. A nitriding surface treatment can be carried out to increase the life of the tooling.

Main applications:
• dies for the pressure casting of light alloys.
• wear resistance plastic moulds.
• tooling for the extrusion of light alloys and steels.
• hot work shear blades.
• rolls for profiling tools (welding area).
• Forging dies.

Hot working tools should be preheated to temperatures in the range 250 – 300°C before use.

Comparable standards

DIN	W.Nr	AISI/ASIM	JIS
X40CrMov5-1	1.2344	H-13	SKD61

Chemical composition (typical; in weight %)

C	Si	Mn	P (max)	S (max)	Cr	Mo	V
0.35-0.42	0.80-1.20	0.25-0.50	0.03	0.03	4.80-5.50	1.20-1.50	0.80-1.15

Critical points

Ac1 860 °C

Ac3 940 °C

Ms 340 °C

Production technology

EAF – LF – VD - Forging – Heat treatment +EFS

US specification

In according to standard EN10228-3 Class 4 and standard SEP 1921 Class E/e

Delivery condition

WW.NR. 1.2344 is delivered in annealed condition (EFS), with hardness max 230 HB (21 HRC)

Physical properties (reference values)

	20°C	100°C	250°C	500°C
Thermal expansion coefficient (10-6/K)	11.3	11.6	12	13
Thermal conductivity (W/mk)	18.8	19	22.9	25.1
Young modulus (Kn/mm2)	212	209	197	175

Heat treatment

TREATMENT		TEMPERATURE	HOLDING TIME (HT)	COOLING	COMMENTS
Annealing		Heat to 850 °C	Min. H.T. for 2 minute /mm	Furnace up to 550°C than in air	-
Stress relieving		Heat to 650-700°C	Min. H.T. for 2 minute /mm	furnace up to 300-350°C	To be carried out after machining, is recommended to eliminate the residual stresses induced by mechanical working
Hardening		Preheating to 350-400°C Second preheating to 750-850°C Heat to hardening temperature to 1000-1020°C	Min. H.T. for 1 minute /mm	Air or pressure gas by vacuum	Quenched hardness 52-56HRC
Tempering		In the range 550 – 600°C for at least 3 h according to hardness requirements and conditions of use. Tempering must be repeated a second time at a temperature equal to or 20°C lower than the previous. Before tempering, the parts must be preheated to 200 – 300°C	Air	Usual service hardness: 44-52 HRC