PRELIMINARY BROCHURE

Uddeholm
®
Caldie
 Uddeholm Caldie

© UDDEHOLMS AB
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial
purposes without permission of the copyright holder.

This information is based on our present state of knowledge and is intended to provide
general notes on our products and their uses. It should not therefore be construed as a
warranty of specific properties of the products described or a warranty for fitness for a
particular purpose.
Classified according to EU Directive 1999/45/EC
For further information see our “Material Safety Data Sheets”.

Edition 14, 02.2016

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 Uddeholm Caldie

Uddeholm Caldie®
CHANGING TOOLING ENVIRONMENT
New and more demanding work materials are continuously imple-
mented in the industry. As a consequence of the introduction of AHSS,
Advanced High Strength Steel, the forming tools have to resist higher
stress levels and withstand more adhesive and abrasive wear. Many
times the tool has to be coated in order to fulfil production require-
ments, i.e. the tool material also has to be a good substrate material for
different type of surface coatings.

THE PROBLEM SOLVER

Uddeholm Caldie is the first ESR-grade and developed with main focus
on severe cold work applications.
The excellent combination of compressive strength, wear resistance
and chipping/cracking resistance has been achieved by a well bal-
anced chemistry of matrix type and a clean and homogeneous micro-
structure. Appropriate heat treatment properties and high fatigue
strength make Uddeholm Caldie also to a perfect substrate material for
surface coatings

A VERSATILE TOOL STEEL

The unique properties profile of Uddeholm Caldie include very good
weldability, castability, through hardening properties, machinability and
grindability. This means that Uddeholm Caldie provides many different
options for eco-nomical toolmaking, tool using and maintenance,
especially for larger forming tools.

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Uddeholm Caldie

• Machine knives
GENERAL
• Thread rolling dies
Uddeholm Caldie is a chromium-molybdenum-
• Substrate for surface coatings
vanadium alloyed tool steel which is charac-
terized by:
UDDEHOLM COMPONENT BUSINESS
• very good chipping and cracking resistance
APPLICATIONS
• good wear resistance
Uddeholm Caldie can be used in engineering
• high hardness (>60 HRC) after high tem- applications where high compressive strength
perature tempering has to be combined with high ductility/
• good dimensional stability in heat treatment toughness. Knives for fragmentation of
and in service plastics and metals and roll forming rolls are
• excellent through-hardening properties good examples.
• good machinability and grindability
• excellent polishability
• good surface treatment properties
PROPERTIES
• good resistance to tempering back
The properties below are representative of
• very good WEDM properties
samples which have been taken from the
centre of bars with dimensions 203 x 80 mm
Typical C Si Mn Cr Mo V and Ø 102 mm. Unless otherwise indicated, all
analysis % 0.7 0.2 0.5 5.0 2.3 0.5
specimens have been hardened at 1025°C
Standard (1875°C), gas quenched in a vacuum furnace
specification None
and tempered twice at 525°C (975°F) for two
Delivery
hours to 60–61 HRC.
condition Soft annealed to max. 215 HB

Colour code White/grey

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Hardened and tempered to 60–61 HRC.
Temperature 20°C 200°C 400°C
APPLICATIONS (68°F) (390°F) (750°F)

Uddeholm Caldie is suitable for short to Density,

kg/m3 7 820 – –
medium run tooling where chipping and/or lbs/in3 0.282
cracking are the predominant failure mecha- Modulus of elasticity
nisms and where a high compressive strength MPa 213 000 192 000 180 000
psi 31.2 x 106 27.8 x 106 26.1 x 106
(hardness above 60 HRC) is necessary. This
makes Uddeholm Caldie an excellent problem Coefficient of
thermal expansion
solver for severe cold work applications where per °C from 20°C – 11.6 x 10–6 12.4 x 10–6
the combination of a hardness above 60 HRC per °F from 68°F – 6.4 x 10–6 6.9 x 10–6

and a high cracking resistance is of utmost Thermal

conductivity
importance e.g. as in the blanking and forming W/m °C – 24 28
of ultra high strength steel sheets. Btu in/(ft2h°F) – 174 195
Uddeholm Caldie is also very suitable as a Specific heat
substrate steel for applications where surface J/kg°C 460 – –
Btu/lb°F 0.11
coatings are desirable or necessary.

COLD WORK APPLICATIONS

• Blanking applications where high ductility COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
and toughness are needed to prevent Approximately compressive strength vs.
chipping/cracking hardness is shown in the table below.
• Cold forging and forming operations where Hardness Compressive yield strength,
a high compressive strength combined with HRC Rc0,2 (MPa)
good resistance to chipping/cracking are 58 2230
necessary 60 2350
61 2430

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 Uddeholm Caldie

CHIPPING RESISTANCE STRESS RELIEVING

Relative chipping resistance for Uddeholm After rough machining the residual stresses
Caldie, AISI A2 and AISI D2 is shown below. should be relieved by tempering at 650°C
(1200°F), holding time 2 hours. Cool slowly in
5 the furnace to 500°C (930°F), then freely in air
to room temperature.
4

HARDENING
3 Preheating temperature: 600–650°C (1110–
1200°F) and 850–900°C (1560–1650°F). In
2 case of bigger dimensions (>150 mm cross
section) a third preheating step at 930°C
(1700°F) is recommended.
1
Austenitizing temperature: 1000–1050°C
Caldie AISI A2 AISI D2
(1830–1920°F), normally 1020°C (1870°F), in
case of bigger dimensions (>150 mm cross
section) 1000°C (1830°F).
Holding time: 30 minutes after the tool is
HEAT TREATMENT heated through.
SOFT ANNEALING Note: Holding time = time at hardening tem-
Protect the steel and heat through to 820°C perature after the tool is fully heated through.
(1510°F wait for equalization of the tempera- A holding time of less than recommended time
ture (equalization time related to the size of the will result in loss of hardness.
tool). Then cool in the furnace at 10°C (20°F)
The tool should be protected against decarbu-
per hour to 650°C (1200°F), then freely in air to rization and oxidation during hardening.
room temperature.
Further information can be found in the
Uddeholm brochure “Heat treatment of tool
steels”.

CCT-GRAPH

Austenitizing temperature 1025°C (1880°F). Holding time 30 mintues.

°F °C
2000 1100
Austenitizing tem. 1025°C (1880°F)
Holding time 30 minutes
1800 1000

900
1600 A c = 870°C (1600°F)
1f
A c = 805°C (1480°F)
800 1s
1400 Carbides Pearlite
700 Cooling T
Curve Hardness 800–50
1200 No. HV 10 (sec)

600 1 824 2
1000
500 2 813 140

800 3 803 280

400
Bainite 4 803 1030
600 300
5 792 1596
400 200 6 690 2325
M
100 7 525 5215
200
1 Martensite 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
8 464 13850
1 10 100 1 000 10 000 100 000 Seconds

1 10 100 1 000 Minutes

1 10 100 Hours

0.2 1.5 10 90 600 Air cooling of

bars, Ø mm

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Uddeholm Caldie

QUENCHING MEDIA ductility, a minimum temperature of 540°C

(1000°F) and three tempers is strongly recom-
• Vacuum (high speed gas with sufficient
mended.
overpressure minimum 2 bar)
Tempering at a lower temperature than
• Martempering bath or fluidized bed at 540°C (1000°F) may increase the hardness
approx. 200–550°C (390–1020°F) and compressive strength to some extent but
• Forced air/gas also impair cracking resistance and dimen-
Note: Temper the tool as soon as its tempera- sional stability. However, if lowering the
ture reaches 50–70°C (120–160°F). tempering temperature, do not temper below
In order to obtain the optimum properties for 520°C (970°F). When tempering twice the
the tool, the cooling rate should be as fast as minimum holding time at temperature is
possible with regards to acceptable distortion. 2 hours. When tempering three times the
A slow quench rate will result in loss of minimum holding time is 1 hour.
hardness compared with the given tempering
curves. TEMPERING TABLE
Martempering should be followed by forced
Hardening Tempering temperature
air cooling if wall thickness is exceeding temp. 540°C 550°C 560°C
50 mm (2”).
1000°C*
(1830°F*) 57–59 HRC 56–58 HRC 54–56 HRC
TEMPERING 1020°C
(1870°F) 58–60 HRC 57–59 HRC 55–57 HRC
Choose the tempering temperature according
1050°C
to the hardness required by reference to the (1920°F) 59–61 HRC 58–60 HRC 56–58 HRC
tempering graph below. Temper at least twice
For high dimensional stability min. 540°C (1000°F) and
with intermediate cooling to room tempera-
3 x 1 h should be used.
ture. For highest dimensional stability and *Hardening temp. 1000°C (1830°F) should be used for
cross sections >150 mm (6" thick).

TEMPERING GRAPH
Hardness, HRC Retained austenite %
64 40
Austenitizing
temperature
35
60 1050°C (1920°F)

Austenitizing 30
56 Retained austenite 1050°C (1920°F) temperature
1020°C (1870°F)
25
52
20
Retained austenite 1020°C (1870°F)
48 15

10
44

5
40

200 300 400 500 600 °C

390 570 750 930 1110 °F
Tempering temperature

The tempering curves are obtained after heat treatment of samples with a size of 15 x 15 x 40 mm,
cooling in forced air (T800–500 = 300 sec.). Lower hardness can be expected after heat treatment of tools
and dies due to factors like actual tool size and heat treatment parameters.

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 Uddeholm Caldie

HARDNESS, GRAIN SIZE AND

RETAINED AUSTENITE AS A FUNCTION
SURFACE
OF AUSTENITIZING TEMPERATURE TREATMENTS
Grain size Tool steel may be given a surface treatment
ASTM in order to reduce friction and increase wear
Retained austenite %
10 Hardness, HRC
66 50 resistance. The most commonly used treat-
9 Grain size
Hardness ments are nitriding and surface coating with
8 64 40 wear resistant layers produced via PVD or
7
CVD.
6 63 30
Retained austenite The high hardness and toughness together
5
62 20 with a good dimensional stability makes
4
Uddeholm Caldie suitable as a substrate steel
3
61 10 for various surface coatings.
2
1 60
990 1000 1010 1020 1030 1040 1050 1060°C NITRIDING AND NITROCARBURIZING
1814 1832 1850 1868 1886 1904 1922 1940°F
Austenitizing temperature, 30 minutes Nitriding and nitrocarburizing result in a hard
surface layer which is very resistant to wear
and galling.
The surface hardness after nitriding is
DIMENSIONAL CHANGES approximately 1000–1200 HV0.2kg. The thick-
The dimensional changes have been meas- ness of the layer should be chosen to suit the
ured after austenitizing at 1000°C (1830°F)/ application in question.
30 min. and 1020°C (1870°F)/30 min. followed
by gas quenching in N2 at a cooling rate of PVD
1.1°C/s between 800–500°C (1470–930°F) in a
Physical vapour deposition, PVD, is a method
cold chamber vacuum furnace.
of applying a wear-resistant coating at tem-
Specimen size: 100 x 100 x 100 mm (3.9" x
peratures between 200–500°C (390–930°F).
3.9" x 3.9"). Values for all directions are within
the marked areas.
CVD
Dimensional changes (%) Chemical vapour deposition, CVD, is used for
0,18 applying wear-resistant surface coatings at a
0,16 1020°C (1870°F)
0,14 temperature of around 1000°C (1830°F).
0,12
0,10
0,08
0,06
0,04
0,02
0 1000°C (1830°F)
-0,02
-0,04
-0,06
-0,08
500 520 540 560 580 600°C
932 968 1004 1040 1076 1112°F
Tempering temperature 2 x 2h

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Uddeholm Caldie

END MILLING
CUTTING DATA
Type of milling
RECOMMENDATIONS Carbide
The cutting data below are to be considered Cutting data Solid indexable High
parameters carbide insert speed steel
as guiding values, which must be adapted to
Cutting
existing local conditions. More information can speed (vc)
be found in the Uddeholm publication “Cutting m/min 110–140 100–140 18–231)
f.p.m. 360–460 330–460 60–751)
data recommendation”.
Feed (fz)
mm/tooth 0.01–0.202) 0.06–0.202) 0.01–0.302)
The recommendations in following tables are inch/tooth 0.0003–0.0082) 0.002–0.0082) 0.0003–0.0122)
valid for Uddeholm Caldie in soft annealed
Carbide
condition max. 215 HB. designation
ISO – P20–P30 –
US C6–C5 –

1)
For coated high speed steel end mill vc = 32–38 m/min.
TURNING (105–125 f.p.m.)
2)
Turning with Turning Depending on radial depth of cut and cutter diameter
carbide with high
Cutting data speed steel
parameters Rough turning Fine turning Fine turning

Cutting
DRILLING
speed (vc)
m/min 140–190 190–240 15–20 HIGH SPEED STEEL TWIST DRILL
f.p.m. 460–620 620–785 50–65
Drill diameter Cutting Feed (f)
Feed (f) speed (vc)
mm/rev 0.2–0.4 0.05–0.2 0.05–0.3 mm inch m/min f.p.m. mm/rev i.p.r.
i.p.r. 0.008–0.016 0.002–0.008 0.002–0.012
– 5 –3/16 15–20* 49–66* 0.05–0.10 0.002–0.004
Depth 5–10 3/16–3/8 15–20* 49–66* 0.10–0.20 0.004–0.008
of cut (ap) 10–15 3/8–5/8 15–20* 49–66* 0.20–0.30 0.008–0.012
mm 2–4 0.5–2 0.5–3 15–20 5/8–3/4 15–20* 49–66* 0.30–0.35 0.012–0.014
inch 0.08–0.16 0.02–0.08 0.02–0.12
* For coated high speed steel drill vc = 35–40 m/min.
Carbide (110–130 f.p.m.)
designation
ISO P20–P30 P10 –
US C6–C5 C7 –
Coated carbide Coated carbide CARBIDE DRILL
or cermet
Type of drill
Cutting data Indexable Solid Carbide
parameters insert carbide tipped1)

MILLING Cutting
speed (vc)
FACE- AND SQUARE SHOULDER MILLING m/min 160–200 110–140 60–90
f.p.m. 525–655 360–460 19–295
Milling with carbide
Feed (f)
Cutting data parameters Rough milling Fine milling mm/rev 0.05–0.152) 0.08–0.203) 0.15–0.254)
i.p.r. 0.002–0.0062) 0.003–0.0083) 0.006–0.014)
Cutting speed (vc)
m/min 130–160 160–200 1)
Drill with replaceable or brazed carbide tip
f.p.m. 430–525 525–656 2)
Feed rate for drill diameter 20–40 mm (0.8”–1.6”)
3)
Feed (fz) Feed rate for drill diameter 5–20 mm (0.2”–0.8”)
4)
mm/tooth 0.2–0.4 0.1–0.2 Feed rate for drill diameter 10–20 mm (0.4”–0.8”)
inch/tooth 0.008–0.016 0.004–0.008

Depth of cut (ap)

mm 2–4 0.5–2
inch 0.08–0.16 0.02–0.08

Carbide designation
ISO P20–P40 P10–20
US C6–C5 C7–C6
Coated carbide Coated
carbide
or cermet

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 Uddeholm Caldie

GRINDING ELECTRICAL DIS-

A general grinding wheel recommendation is CHARGE MACHINING
given below. More information can be found in
the Uddeholm brochure “Grinding of Tool — EDM
Steel”. If EDM is performed in the hardened and
WHEEL RECOMMENDATION tempered condition, finish with “fine-spark-
ing”, i.e. low current, high frequency.
Soft annealed Hardened For optimal performance the EDM'd surface
Type of grinding condition condition
should the be ground/polished and the tool
Face grinding
re-tempered at approx. 25°C (50°F) lower than
straight wheel A 46 HV A 46 HV
Face grinding the original tempering temperature.
segments A 24 GV A 36 GV Further information is given in the Udde-
Cylindrical grinding A 60 KV A 60 KV holm brochure “EDM of Tool Steel”.
Internal grinding A 46 JV A 60 IV
Profile grinding A 100 KV A 120 JV

FLAME HARDENING
Use oxy-acetylene equipment with a capacity
WELDING of 800–1250 l/h.
Oxygen pressure 2.5 bar, acetylene pressure
Welding of die components can be performed, 1.5 bar. Adjust to give neutral flame. Tempera-
with acceptable results, as long as the proper ture: 980–1020°C (1795–1870°F). Cool freely in
precautions are taken during the preparation air.
of the joint, the filler material selection, the The hardness at the surface will be 58–
pre-heating of the tool, the controlled cooling 62 HRC and 41 HRC (400 HB) at a depth of
of the tool and the post weld heat treatment 3–3.5 mm (0.12"–0.14").
processes. The following guidelines summa-
rize the most important welding process para-
meters.
More detailed information can be found in
the Uddeholm brochure “Welding of Tool
Steel”.

Welding method TIG MMA

Preheating 200–250°C 200–250°C

temperature (390–485°F) (390–485°F)

Filler material Caldie TIG-Weld Caldie Weld

UTP A696 UTP 69
UTP ADUR600 UTP 67S
UTP A 73G2 UTP 73G2

Maximum
interpass 400°C 400°C
temperature (750°F) (750°F)

Post weld 20–40°C/h (40–80°F/h) for the first

cooling 2 hours and then freely in air.

Hardness
after welding 54–62 HRC 55–62 HRC

Post weld heat treatment

Hardened Temper at 510°C (950°F) for 2 hours
condition
Soft annealed Soft-anneal according to the “Heat
condition treatment recommendations”

Minor repairs can be made at room tempera-

ture with the TIG-method.

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Uddeholm Caldie

RELATIVE COMPARISON
OF UDDEHOLM COLD WORK TOOL STEEL
MATERIAL PROPERTIES AND RESISTANCE TO FAILURE MECHANISMS
Hardness/ Fatigue cracking resistance
Resistance Resistance to Ductility/ Toughness/
Uddeholm to plastic Machin- Grind- Dimension Abrasive Adhesive resistance to gross
grade deformation ability ability stability wear wear chipping cracking

Arne
Calmax
Caldie (ESR)
Rigor
Sleipner
Sverker 21
Sverker 3
Vanadis 4 Extra*
Vanadis 8*
Vanadis 23*
Vancron 40*

* Uddeholm PM SuperClean tool steels

FURTHER
INFORMATION
Please contact your local Uddeholm office for
further information on the selection, heat
treatment, application and availability of
Uddeholm tool steel.

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NETWORK OF EXCELLENCE
Uddeholm is present on every continent. This ensures you
high-quality Swedish tool steel and local support wherever
you are. We secure our position as the world’s leading
supplier of tooling materials.
 UDDEHOLM 02,2016 / STROKIRK KNAPPEN 02.2016
Uddeholm Caldie

Uddeholm is the world’s leading supplier of tooling materials.

This is a position we have reached by improving our customers’
everyday business. Long tradition combined with research and
product development equips Uddeholm to solve any tooling
problem that may arise. It is a challenging process, but the goal is
clear – to be your number one partner and tool steel provider.

Our presence on every continent guarantees you the same high

quality wherever you are. We secure our position as the world’s
leading supplier of tooling materials. We act worldwide. For us it is
all a matter of trust – in long-term partnerships as well as in
developing new products.

For more information, please visit www.uddeholm.com

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