Die steel is used to make cold die, hot forging die and die casting die steel. Moulds are the main processing tools for manufacturing parts in machinery manufacturing, radio instruments, motors, electrical appliances and other industrial sectors.

• The quality of the mold directly affects the quality of the pressure processing technology, the accuracy of the product, and the production cost.
• The quality and service life of the mold is mainly affected by the mold material and heat treatment in addition to the reasonable structure design and processing accuracy.

Die steel can be roughly divided into (cold work die steel), (hot work die steel) and (plastic die steel) 3 types, used for forging, stamping, cutting, die casting, etc. Due to the different purposes of various molds and complex working conditions, the steel used for molds should have high hardness, strength, wear resistance, sufficient toughness, and high hardenability and other technological properties according to the working conditions of the mold made by it.

1. Cold work dies include cold punching dies, wire drawing dies, drawing dies, stamping dies, thread rolling dies, thread rolling plates, cold forging dies and cold extrusion dies.

Cold work die steel should have high hardness, strength, wear resistance, sufficient toughness, and high hardenability and other process properties according to the working conditions of its manufacture.

Commonly used steels include high carbon low alloy steel, high carbon high chromium steel, chromium molybdenum steel, medium carbon chromium tungsten steel, etc.

2. Hot work die is divided into hammer forging, die forging, extrusion and die casting, including hot forging die, press forging die, stamping die, hot extrusion die and metal die-casting die.

• In addition to being subjected to huge mechanical stress during work, thermally deformed moulds must also be subjected to repeated heating and cooling, which causes great thermal stress.
• In addition to high hardness, strength, red hardness, wear resistance and toughness, hot work die steel should also have good high temperature strength, thermal fatigue stability, thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance. In addition, it also requires high hardenability to ensure consistent mechanical properties throughout the section.
• For die-casting die steel, it should also have the surface layer to withstand repeated heating and cooling without cracks, and withstand the impact and erosion of the liquid die steel metal flow.

Commonly used steels include chromium-manganese steel, chromium-nickel steel, chromium-tungsten steel, etc.

Under normal circumstances, hot work die steel can be selected for injection molding or extrusion molding die.

Cold work die steel can be used for thermoset molding and molds that require high wear resistance and high strength.

3. Plastic molds include thermoplastic molds and thermoset plastic molds.

• Plastic mold steel requires certain strength, hardness, wear resistance, thermal stability and corrosion resistance.
• In addition, good manufacturability is required, such as reduced heat treatment, good processing performance, good corrosion resistance, good grinding and polishing performance, good repair welding performance, high roughness, good thermal conductivity, and stable working conditions, size and shape, etc.

For melamine mold steels, based on powder quality and cost considerations, the three widely used steels in the market are 718#，P20#，P45#.

• 718# steel has very good hardness and high cost. 718# steel is the most popular to use for melamine crockery molds.
• P45# has normal hardness, but lower cost in price.
• If the product requires extremely high hardness, some melamine manufacturers will choose special steel, such as S316 or NAK80.

SHUNHAO Molds Factory always selects suitable mold steel for customers and customizes melamine press die according to the product requirements.

Shunhao Molds Factory has over 18 years of experience in melamine industry and will continue on the way to serve for more and more tableware factories.