Název projektu:
Exploitation of new tool steels and new heat treatments to enhance lifetime and wear resistance of dies (11 CZ 0746 3KA8)
Popis:
A small research company aimed at forming material R&D is looking for a technology in order to enhance lifetime and wear resistance of dies by the applying of new tool steels which have been developed by the company and new heat treatment procedures including deep cryogenic and special thermo-chemical treatments. The objective is to contribute to a nationally funded Israel and Czech Republic project. The partner looked for must be involved in forging and/or the manufacturing of dies and moulds.
The aim of the proposed project is to develop a new generation of forging dies made from new tool steel grades developed by the company recently on which new heat and thermo-chemical treatment techniques such as deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) or DCT followed by nitriding will be applied. Based on results of preliminary tests performed by the company an enhancement of dies lifetime by more than 50% can be expected from the application of the new process chain.
In order to complete the project consortium the company is looking for:
1) End users of forging dies (forging shops) manufacturing big batches of small or medium-sized closed die forgings.
2) Manufacturers of tools focused above all on small or medium-sized dies and moulds.
3) Cooperation with other SMEs interested in enhancing of tools lifetime and wear resistance would also be welcome.
Partners participating in this project would benefit from using the newly developed technologies in their production (they would be the only owners of the proprietary rights).
Technical Specifications / Specific technical requirements:
Forging dies used for closed die forging of small and middle-sized steel parts are required to possess an optimum combination of strength, toughness, resistance to tempering and other properties. In the state-of-the-art technical solutions they are produced from hot working tool steels containing alloying elements like chromium, vanadium, molybdenum, or tungsten. This alloying strategy can be found e.g. in the steels 1.2343, 1.2344 and others.
In the last 2 years, new alloying concepts of steels for forging dies based on the 1.2343 steel were developed by a traditional Czech producer of steel forgings and castings and developer forming machines) in cooperation with the company (leading Czech provider of applied research on metallic materials and forming technologies). By increasing the carbon content, and in some cases increasing the tungsten level and adding niobium, using a sufficient metallurgical procedure and subsequent special process for ingot forging, the hardness, toughness and wear resistance of the steel have been enhanced significantly. Preliminary tests show that lifetime of dies made from such steels can be by 50% longer than that of dies made from conventional 1.2343 steel.
Another way how to improve the wear resistance and lifetime of forging dies is their optimal heat treatment. In the last years an optimized heat treatment procedure of tool steels was developed by the company based on deep freezing (down to -160 °C with a holding time of several hours) performed immediately after standard hardening which (when followed by optimum annealing) leads (apart from the commonly used effect of elimination of retained austenite) to formation of extremely fine carbides enhancing the wear resistance of the tool steel significantly. Forging dies treated using this technique were tested by a Czech automotive leader and their lifetime was enhanced by 40% during this test.
Another positive effect occurs when the hardening procedure containing deep freezing process phase is followed by nitriding. Due to changes in the microstructure of tool steels caused by deep freezing (such as higher density of dislocations and finer martensitic needles) the nitrided layers on steels after deep freezing are significantly thicker and harder than the ones on standardly hardened steels.
The investigation will be aimed at the development of a new generation of forging dies made from the above mentioned new tool steel grades on which new heat and thermo-chemical treatment will be applied.
The aim of the proposed project is to develop a new generation of forging dies made from new tool steel grades developed by the company recently on which new heat and thermo-chemical treatment techniques such as deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) or DCT followed by nitriding will be applied. Based on results of preliminary tests performed by the company an enhancement of dies lifetime by more than 50% can be expected from the application of the new process chain.
In order to complete the project consortium the company is looking for:
1) End users of forging dies (forging shops) manufacturing big batches of small or medium-sized closed die forgings.
2) Manufacturers of tools focused above all on small or medium-sized dies and moulds.
3) Cooperation with other SMEs interested in enhancing of tools lifetime and wear resistance would also be welcome.
Partners participating in this project would benefit from using the newly developed technologies in their production (they would be the only owners of the proprietary rights).
Technical Specifications / Specific technical requirements:
Forging dies used for closed die forging of small and middle-sized steel parts are required to possess an optimum combination of strength, toughness, resistance to tempering and other properties. In the state-of-the-art technical solutions they are produced from hot working tool steels containing alloying elements like chromium, vanadium, molybdenum, or tungsten. This alloying strategy can be found e.g. in the steels 1.2343, 1.2344 and others.
In the last 2 years, new alloying concepts of steels for forging dies based on the 1.2343 steel were developed by a traditional Czech producer of steel forgings and castings and developer forming machines) in cooperation with the company (leading Czech provider of applied research on metallic materials and forming technologies). By increasing the carbon content, and in some cases increasing the tungsten level and adding niobium, using a sufficient metallurgical procedure and subsequent special process for ingot forging, the hardness, toughness and wear resistance of the steel have been enhanced significantly. Preliminary tests show that lifetime of dies made from such steels can be by 50% longer than that of dies made from conventional 1.2343 steel.
Another way how to improve the wear resistance and lifetime of forging dies is their optimal heat treatment. In the last years an optimized heat treatment procedure of tool steels was developed by the company based on deep freezing (down to -160 °C with a holding time of several hours) performed immediately after standard hardening which (when followed by optimum annealing) leads (apart from the commonly used effect of elimination of retained austenite) to formation of extremely fine carbides enhancing the wear resistance of the tool steel significantly. Forging dies treated using this technique were tested by a Czech automotive leader and their lifetime was enhanced by 40% during this test.
Another positive effect occurs when the hardening procedure containing deep freezing process phase is followed by nitriding. Due to changes in the microstructure of tool steels caused by deep freezing (such as higher density of dislocations and finer martensitic needles) the nitrided layers on steels after deep freezing are significantly thicker and harder than the ones on standardly hardened steels.
The investigation will be aimed at the development of a new generation of forging dies made from the above mentioned new tool steel grades on which new heat and thermo-chemical treatment will be applied.
Požadavky na partnera:
Requested Cooperation: Joint further development, Testing of new applications
- Type of partner sought:
1) End users of forging dies (forging shops) manufacturing big batches of small or medium-sized closed die forgings.
2) Manufacturers of tools focused above all on small or medium-sized dies and moulds.
3) Cooperation with other SMEs interested in enhancing of tools lifetime and wear resistance would also be welcome.
- Specific area of activity of the partner:
The SMEs will be expected to support the development of the proposal and the tasks required to support the aim of the project. These will be clarified in discussions with the consortium lead.
Partners must be SMEs. Research organizations and Universities are not required at this stage.
- Task to be performed by the partner sought:
Testing of prototypes, cooperation on design of tools and their treatment technologies.
- Type of partner sought:
1) End users of forging dies (forging shops) manufacturing big batches of small or medium-sized closed die forgings.
2) Manufacturers of tools focused above all on small or medium-sized dies and moulds.
3) Cooperation with other SMEs interested in enhancing of tools lifetime and wear resistance would also be welcome.
- Specific area of activity of the partner:
The SMEs will be expected to support the development of the proposal and the tasks required to support the aim of the project. These will be clarified in discussions with the consortium lead.
Partners must be SMEs. Research organizations and Universities are not required at this stage.
- Task to be performed by the partner sought:
Testing of prototypes, cooperation on design of tools and their treatment technologies.
Obchodní firma/fyzická osoba:
Technologické inovační centrum s.r.o.
Email:
Telefon:
+420 739 570 792
