Regression-based CVN-K_IC Models for hot work tool steels

Dies and tools used in hot metal forming (extrusion, forging, rolling, etc.) are exposed to high pressures, elevated temperatures, and thermo-mechanical fatigue. The most common mode of in-service die failure is fatigue fracture (brittle failure through crack propagation). Reliable determination of fracture toughness of the die material is thus critically important. However, as die steels have a combination of high-hardness and high-strength, and are used at elevated temperatures, standard plane-strain fracture toughness (K_IC) testing methods become impracticable. Alternate testing procedures such as the Charpy impact energy (CVN), together with empirical/semi-empirical correlations of K_IC to other data, are then more viable and economical. Experimental data (values of K_IC, CVN, and HRC) of H13 steels have been collected through an exhaustive literature search. This data set has been augmented through in-house experimentation: samples variously heat treated (different tempering temperatures and times, and both air-cooling and oil-quenching), and tested at different working temperatures. Linear and quadratic models are proposed for determination of fracture toughness, based on experimental (in-house) and published values of Charpy impact energy (CVN) and Rockwell hardness (HRC), both at room and at elevated temperatures.