A2 Tool Steel Heat Treat

The steel is composted of 1 percent carbon 3 percent silicon 6 percent manganese 5 3 percent chromium 1 1 percent molybdenum and 2 percent vanadium.

A2 tool steel heat treat.

A2 steel is an air hardening cold work tool steel. A2 has a fully spheroidized structure and has exceptionally low inclusion levels. Aisi a2 tool steel is high carbon high alloy tool steel designed to have excellent wear resistance and toughness. In this condition most of the alloy content exists as alloy carbides dispersed throughout a soft matrix.

A2 is intermediate in wear resistance between o1 oil hardening tool steel and d2 high carbon high chromium tool steel. This widely used tool steel has low distortion in heat treatment good machinability good toughness for severe service high abrasion resistance and deep hardening properties in large sections. A 5 chromium steel which provides high hardness after heat treatment with good dimensional stability. A2 tool steel is an air hardening cold work chromium alloy die steel that is preferable to o1 tool steel in applications requiring greater size stability machinability and safer hardening.

By james croxon a2 tool steel can be difficult to heat treat. A2 tool steel a2 tool steel is a versatile air hardening tool steel that is characterized by good toughness and excellent dimensional stability in heat treatment. Heat treatment a2 tool steels are heated slowly to 788 c 1450 f and this is followed by increasing the temperature to 954 c 1750 f. These steels must be heat treated to develop their characteristic properties.

It s highly wear resistant and moderately tough. A2 tool steels are further held at 954 c 1750 f for 30 to 45 minutes and finally removed from the furnace and cooled. Like d2 it is incredibly resistant to distortion during heat treating and is moderately machinable and grindable. A2 is also an air hardening tool steel but includes less than half the chromium 4 75 5 50 and a bit less carbon 0 95 1 05 than d2.

By way of example a2 tool steel is annealed by heating to 1550 degrees f soaking for two hours at temperature furnace cooling 50 degrees f per hour to below 1200 degrees f followed by air cooling.