A2 Tool Steel Heat Treat

A2 is intermediate in wear resistance between o1 oil hardening tool steel and d2 high carbon high chromium tool steel.

A2 tool steel heat treat.

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. Aisi a2 tool steel is high carbon high alloy tool steel designed to have excellent wear resistance and toughness. These steels must be heat treated to develop their characteristic properties. 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.

It s highly wear resistant and moderately tough. 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. A2 has a fully spheroidized structure and has exceptionally low inclusion levels. Heat treatment of tool steels tool steels are usually supplied in the annealed condition around 200 250 brinell about 20 hrc to facilitate machining.

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. It is heat treatable and will offer a hardness in the range 57 62 hrc. A2 steel is an air hardening cold work tool steel. A 5 chromium steel which provides high hardness after heat treatment with good dimensional stability.

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. 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. 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.

The wear resistance properties and cost place a2 between that of o1 and d2 tool steel making it a good all purpose grade for many applications.