Typical Applications of 1.2379 Steel In Industry

1.2379 steel (German DIN standard, corresponding to American D2 steel and Japanese SKD11 steel) is a high-carbon, high-chromium cold-working die steel with excellent wear resistance, high hardness and good dimensional stability. The following are its main application scenarios and specific cases in industry:

1. Mold Manufacturing

1. Cold stamping mold

  • Application scenarios: Precision blanking, punching, and forming of metal sheets (such as auto parts, electronic components, and home appliance housings).
  • Case:
    – Automotive industry: gearbox gear stamping die, brake pad forming die.
    – Electronics industry: mobile phone metal middle frame punching die, connector terminal punching needle.
  • Advantage: High wear resistance extends mold life and reduces downtime and replacement frequency.

2. Cold heading mold

  • Application scenarios: Manufacturing high-strength bolts, nuts, rivets and other fasteners.
  • Case: Automobile engine bolt cold heading die, aerospace titanium alloy fastener forming die.
  • Advantage: High compressive strength, can withstand high pressure impact in cold heading process.

3. Stretching mold

  • Application scenarios: Deep stretching of materials such as stainless steel and aluminum alloy (such as pots, cups, and automobile fuel tanks).
  • Case: Stainless steel thermos cup stretching die, automobile fuel tank shell forming die.
  • Key point: The surface needs to be polished to mirror grade (Ra ≤ 0.1μm) to avoid scratches on the workpiece.

2. Precision Tools & Wear-resistant Parts

1. Shearing tools

  • Application scenarios: Precision shearing of metal sheets, wires, and plastics.
  • Case:
    – Metal slitting knives: used for slitting steel plates and copper strips.
    – Trimming knives: trimming of scrap after stamping of automobile bodies.
  • Process requirements: The hardness of the blade must reach 60-62 HRC, and the edge must be sharp and resistant to chipping.

2. Guide components

  • Application scenarios: mold guide pins, guide sleeves, and precision sliders of mechanical equipment.
  • Case: injection mold guide pins, CNC machine tool linear guide sliders.
  • Advantages: High hardness reduces wear and prolongs the time the equipment maintains accuracy.

3. Gauges and fixtures

  • Application scenarios: Precision measuring blocks, machine tool clamping claws.
  • Case: CMM calibration blocks, CNC machining center carbide workpiece fixtures.
  • Key points: Low-temperature tempering (200-300℃) is required to stabilize the size and prevent deformation.

3. Special Tools & Industrial Parts

1. Powder metallurgy molds

  • Application scenarios: Forming molds for pressing metal powders (such as iron-based and cemented carbide).
  • Case: Carbide blade pressing molds, magnetic material forming molds.
  • Challenges: Need to resist the abrasion of powder particles, and surface nitriding treatment can increase life.

2. Plastic injection molds

  • Application scenarios: Cavity inserts of glass fiber reinforced plastics (such as nylon + 30% glass fiber).
  • Case: Car bumper injection mold inserts, high wear-resistant cores for electronic housings.
  • Processing technology: Surface PVD coating (such as CrN) reduces demoulding resistance.

3. Wear-resistant linings and nozzles

  • Application scenarios: Wear-resistant parts in mining machinery and cement equipment.
  • Case: Ore conveyor linings, sandblasting machine nozzles.
  • Alternative materials: Traditional high manganese steel, but the life of 1.2379 steel is increased by 3-5 times.

4. Special Industry Applications

1. Aerospace

  • Applications: titanium alloy/composite forming dies, high temperature alloy cutting tools.
  • Case: aircraft skin trimming dies, rocket engine parts cold extrusion dies.

2. Medical devices

  • Applications: surgical instrument precision stamping dies, orthopedic implant forming dies.
  • Requirements: materials must undergo biocompatible surface treatment (such as electrolytic polishing).

3. Energy industry

  • Applications: nuclear power plant fuel assembly precision fixtures, wind turbine gear cold forging dies.
  • Key: maintain dimensional stability under radiation or low temperature environment.

5. Material Selection Considerations

  • Advantages:
    – Excellent wear resistance (Cr, Mo, V carbide strengthening).
    – High hardness after heat treatment (58-62 HRC), suitable for precision machining.
  • Limitations:
    – Low toughness, avoid use in high impact load scenarios (such as hammer forging dies).
    – The heat treatment process needs to be strictly controlled (such as multiple tempering), otherwise it is easy to crack.
  • Alternatives:
    – High impact scenarios: choose mold steel with higher toughness (such as 1.2344/H13).
    – Higher wear resistance requirements: upgrade to powder metallurgy steel (such as ASP-23, CPM D2).

Through reasonable material selection and process optimization (such as vacuum heat treatment, surface coating), 1.2379 steel can significantly improve tool life, especially suitable for high-precision, high-wear resistance, medium-load industrial scenarios.

RFQ DIN 1.2379 STEEL