What materials are generally used to make moulds for cars

By examining the criteria for automotive mould design, the practical performance of various commonly used mould materials is presented, and the cost and service life of mould materials are compared. The results show that a wise choice of mould materials can reduce costs, shorten manufacturing cycles, facilitate maintenance and reduce the labour intensity of tensioners.

As the mould industry continues to develop, moulds are being used more and more extensively in the defence and machinery industries as well as in the production of everyday goods. China's mould industry has experienced rapid development, but the manufacturing level of moulds and the use of performance compared with the world's developed countries, there is still a big gap. More than 90% of the body-in-white parts of modern motor vehicles are mass produced using stamping moulds.

According to the service life requirements of automotive cold stamping moulds: under normal use and maintenance conditions, 500,000 qualified parts can be produced in multiple batches and small batches. Therefore, the performance and quality of the die material has a great influence on the die life. For this reason, mould steel producers pay great attention to the research and development of mould materials, and have been developing rapidly.

1. The current situation of mould materials

 In recent years, China's mold steel production technology development is faster, used in the manufacture of cold stamping die materials are mainly divided into the following categories:.

 (1) high carbon low alloy cold work die steel, such as: 9SiCr, 7CrSiMnMoV, 8Cr2MnWMoVS, etc.

 (2) wear-resistant cold work tool steel, such as: 6Cr4W3Mo2VNb, Cr12, Cr12MoV, Cr12Mo1V1, etc.

 (3) impact resistance cold work tool steel, such as: 4CrW2Si, 5CrW2Si, 6CrW2Si, etc.

 (4) cold work die with high-speed steel, such as: W6Mo5Cr4V2, W12Mo3Cr4V3N, W9Mo3Cr4V, etc.

2. The use of automotive mold materials performance

(1) the use of cutting die material requirements

For thin plate punching die material requirements with high wear resistance and hardness, while the thick plate punching die in addition to high wear resistance, compressive yield point, in order to prevent mold fracture or chipping, should also have a high fracture resistance, toughness.

 (2) drawing, shaping die material requirements

 The requirements of mould work parts material has high wear resistance and hardness, certain toughness and good cutting performance, good anti-adhesion (anti-bite), and heat treatment deformation should be small.

According to the current situation of moulds for the production of stamping parts in automotive plants, the main materials used for automotive moulds are: molybdenum-chromium cast iron, Cr12MoV and cast air-cooled steel.