Effect of Deep Cryogenic Treatment (DCT) on AISI H13 Tool Steel

In the recent years, there has been a remarkable increase in the use of deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) for enhancing performance of tool steels. It is a supplementary treatment where components are treated below subzero temperatures for several cryo-soaking hours. This paper focuses on to study the effect of deep cryogenic treatment and cryo-soaking time on microstructural and mechanical properties of AISI H-13 tool steel. Deep cryogenic treatment at different cryo-soaking time (16-48 hours) were applied and tool steel performance was analyzed by using mechanical, fatigue and wear tastings. The microstructural evolutions during DCT were evaluated by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was observed that microstructural modifications like increase in carbide density, fine and uniform martensitic structure during DCT had significantly improved properties which were influenced by cryo-soaking time.