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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW DEVELOPED HOT

WORK TOOL STEEL FOR ALUMINUM EXTRUSION – VEX1
José Britti Bacalhau2
Celso Antonio Barbosa3

Abstract
Aluminum extrusion dies are an important segment of industrial tools, which are
manufactured in steels based on AISI H13. The main properties of steels applied to
extrusion dies are: wear resistance, toughness and tempering resistance. The
present work discusses the characteristics of a newly developed hot work steel to be
used on aluminum extrusion dies. The effects of Cr and Mo contents with respect to
tempering resistance, and the Al addition on the nitriding response have been
evaluated. From forged steel bars, tests on toughness and characterization via
EPMA have been conducted. The proposed contents of Cr, Mo, and Al have
attributed to the new VEX grade a much better tempering resistance than H13, as
well as, a deeper and harder nitrided layer. Due to the unique characteristics, this
new development will provide an interesting alternative to the aluminum extrusion
companies to increase their competitiveness.
Key words: Aluminum extrusion; Extrusion dies; Tool steel; Nitriding.

1
Technical contribution to 68th ABM International Congress, July, 30th to August 2nd, 2012, Belo
Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
2
Materials Engineer, MSc, ABM member, Researcher at Villares Metals S.A., Sumaré, SP, Brazil;
jose.bacalhau@villaresmetals.com.br.
3
Metallurgic Engineer, ABM member, Technology and R&D Director at Villares Metals S.A.,
Sumaré, SP, Brazil; celso.barbosa@villaresmetals.com.br
.

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1 INTRODUCTION

Aluminum extrusion dies are mainly manufactured in standardized hot work tool steel
based on AISI H13. While other segments like forging and aluminum die casting had
many new tool steel developments in the last ten years,(1-3) the aluminum extrusion
industry continues to use H13 and DIN 1.2714 to manufacture their extrusion dies
and support parts. In the past decade, the tool steel producers understood how to
increase the steel’s tempering resistance and toughness by the right balance of
alloying content, as well as control of minor elements in their chemical composition,
especially with respect to Cr, Mo and silicon (Si) contents.(1-3) Nitriding is also largely
used on extrusion dies to increase the die’s lifecycle. The effect of alloying elements
on nitridability of hot work tool steel was also a subject of recent research.(4,5) These
studies showed the effect of Al contents on the nitrided case depth and surface
hardness, respectively. Thus, an opportunity of a hot work tool steel development to
be exclusively used for aluminum extrusion process was given. In this paper, the
comparison of results between AISI H13 and the newly-developed hot work tool steel
grade VEX (Villares Extrusion) is reported.

2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

The chemical compositions of VH13 (AISI H13 – North American Die Casting
Association – NADCA, Specification 207-2006 Premium Quality)(6) and VEX (Villares
Extrusion) hot work tool steels are shown in Table 1. These steels were melted in an
electric-arc furnace, followed by ladle metallurgy treatment, and conventional casting.
The ingots were forged into 10-inch diameter bars, and then annealed to maximum
235 HB.

Table 1. Chemical compositions of hot work tool steels VH13 and VEX; values in weight percent(7)

* Villares Metals trademark; VEX patent pending.

Samples from the center of the bars were cut to perform the steels characterization.
Following the NADCA standard,(6) the samples from both steels were machined and
hardened to 45 HRC by quenching and double tempering.
Four main investigations have been conducted with these samples:
 Tempering resistance, which means the steel resistance to keep its hardness
when exposed to high temperature during long time periods. This test was
performed at 600ºC. The steel’s Rockwell C hardness was measured after
1 hour, 3 hours, 10 hours, 30 hours, and 100 hours at temperature.
 The steels’ nitriding response were evaluated in gas processes - Nitrex®,(8) the
main nitriding parameters were temperature of 530ºC and 8.0 hours nitriding
time. The furnace atmospheres (N2 and H2 gases contents) were selected to
prevent the formation of a compound layer, which is often called white layer.
 Metallographic characterization of the nitreded steels. The main purpose of
this test was to compare the obtained nitrided layer depth in VEX with H13.
 Toughness. Charpy V notch test specimens were cut and machined in the
transverse bar direction.

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Wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (WDS) profile microanalysis was conducted in a

JEOL JXA-8230 Electron Probe Micro Analyser (EPMA). The nitrided layers features
were also evaluated, with respect to micro-hardness profiles. These tests were
conducted based on the DIN 50190 standard.(9)

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Tempering Resistance

It has already been pointed out that new generations of hot work tool steels with
better chromium and molybdenum balance in their chemical composition increase
the steel’s tempering resistance, as indicated by Figure 1. Note that both VH13 and
VEX have an initial hardness of 45 HRC, but after 100 hours at 600ºC, VH13
hardness dropped to 29 HRC while VEX decreased only to 36 HRC. In other words,
it took VH13 only 35 hours to reduce hardness by 9 HRC points, while VEX did not
lose this hardness until 100 hours, which means that VEX has a tempering
resistance almost three times higher than VH13. The tempering resistance is suitable
way to estimate the die’s loss of hardness during service. So extrusion dies
manufactured in steels with higher tempering resistance will remain stronger for a
longer time.

Figure 1. Tempering resistance of VH13 and VEX steels.

3.2 Nitriding Response

One way to understand the steel’s nitridability is by reviewing its hardness profile
after processing. Figure 2 shows VEX and VH13 hardness profiles after gas nitriding.
Higher surface hardness and deeper nitrided layer was formed in VEX. Following
DIN 50190, the VEX case depth was 115µm, and its surface hardness higher than
1,200HV. VH13 had a case depth of 75µm, and 1,050HV surface hardness.

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Figure 2. Hardness profiles of the gas nitrided steels.

The explanation for the deeper nitrided layer is because VEX has a lower amount of
alloying elements in its chemical composition, the sum of %Si + %Cr + %Mo + %V
+ %Al contents in VEX is only 5.6% compared to 8.0% in VH13. Alloying elements
act like obstacles or barriers to atomic nitrogen diffusion, therefore VEX has better
nitridability than VH13. Moreover, it is known that silicon has a high influence on steel
nitridability,(4,5) and VEX has silicon content three times lower than VH13.
On the other hand, the reason for the higher surface hardness in VEX is the change
on the nitrides precipitated type during the nitriding process. In VH13 there is
predominantly chromium nitride (CrN) formation, while in VEX, aluminum nitrides
(AlN) seem to be preferentially formed. It is well known from the literature(10) that
aluminum has more thermodynamic affinity by nitrogen, and its nitrides (AlN) are
harder than CrN.
So, it is possible to expect in the new grade VEX a better die wear resistance in the
aluminum extrusion process (mainly in solid dies) thanks to its good nitriding
response, and a longer production run of extruded parts for each die nitriding cycle.
The WDS profiles microanalysis results are shown in Figures 3 to 5. Figure 3 shows
the nitrogen profiles where it was possible to verify the significant amount of nitrogen
present in both steel surfaces as already expected, because of the nitriding process.
Figure 4 shows a higher presence of chromium only in VH13 surface, and Figure 4
shows the notable presence of aluminum only in VEX surface. This test was done to
confirm the higher thermodynamic affinity of aluminum by nitrogen, and it leads to the
conclusion that AlN precipitates are present instead of CrN in the VEX nitrided layer.

Figure 3. Nitrogen microanalysis profiles.

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Figure 4. Chromium microanalysis profiles.

Figure 5. Aluminum microanalysis profiles.

3.3 Microstructure

The microstructure from the nitrided surface of both steels can be observed in
Figure 6. Comparing the images, the deeper nitrided layer (diffusion layer) in VEX
grade than in VH13 is visible. See the darker surface regions in Figures 6a and 6b,
which represents the enriched nitrogen area.

a) b)

Figure 6. Nitrided microstructures: a) VH13 and b) VEX.

3.4 Toughness

The steels toughness properties, which are very important mainly regarding hollow
extrusion dies, are shown in Figure 7. When compared to the Premium Quality
NADCA standard [6], the minimum average of absorbed energy in Charpy V notch
test is 11.0 Joules (8.0 ft.lbs), where the single minimum value of 8.0 Joules

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(6.0 ft.lbs) was exceeded. So, VEX steel is acceptable, based on these criteria, as
well as H13 produced in Villares, VH13.

NADCA
minimum level.

Figure 7. VEX and VH13 toughness measured by Charpy V tests as predicted in NADCA.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The right balance of Cr and Mo contents in the new VEX steel grade has attributed to
the steel an excellent tempering resistance.
VEX has a deeper and harder nitrided layer than VH13, due to the lower amount of
alloying elements and the addition of Al in its chemical composition.
The nitride case study has shown that the aluminum nitrides precipitates seem to be
formed in the new VEX grade are harder than the chromium nitrides formed in VH13.
The presence of AlN precipitates in VEX surface after nitriding provides an
interesting alternative to the materials already used by aluminum extrusion
companies to increase their performance.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge support by the Heat Treatment Service Center at
Villares Metals (CSTT) for the heat treatments and Combustol for the gas nitriding
treatment.

REFERENCES

1 Mesquita, R. A., Barbosa, C. A., Desenvolvimento de um novo aço ferramenta com

superior resistência a quente, Congresso Anual da ABM, 60, 2005, Belo Horizonte,
Anais, Belo Horizonte: ABM, p. 1, CD ROM, 2005.
2 Mesquita, R. A., Barbosa, C. A., Novo aço ferramenta de alta resistência a quente,
Tecnologia em Metalurgia e Materiais, São Paulo: ABM, Vol. 3, No. 3, s.p, Jan.-Mar.,
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4 Bacalhau, J. B., Salvo, J. G. J., Barbosa, C. A., Correlação entre a composição química
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8 Morawski, C. D., “A common sense approach to nitriding of aluminum extrusion dies,”
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