Investigation of the effect of shallow and deep cryogenic treatment on wear and impact performance of DIN 1.2344 steel

Hot work tool steels are preferred in different areas of industry due to their high toughness values and high impact resistance at high temperatures. Although there are many studies in the literature on DIN 1.2344 hot work tool steel, which is widely used in hot work tool steels, it has been determined that the studies examining the effects of cryogenic treatment on this material are limited. In this study, hardness, impact, tensile, wear tests were applied on DIN 1.2344 hot work tool steel and microstructure examination was carried out. In the study, the effects of shallow cryogenic treatment (SCT) and deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) at two different waiting times on mechanical properties (microhardness, macrohardness, yield and tensile strength, elongation amount, impact energy) were investigated compared to the conventional heat treated (CHT) sample. Microstructure, surface roughness and wear performance were investigated as a result of wear tests. As a result, it was found that shallow and deep cryogenic treatment provided 1.34%, 9.31% and 13% improvement on wear resistance for SCT-12, SCT-24 and DCT-36, respectively, compared to conventional heat treatment. In terms of impact resistance, the highest value was 2.37% improvement in DCT sample.