Mechanical Engineering

The newly developed, patent pending, BÖHLER E185 AMPO is an AM powder, fulfilling the highest demands from various industries, ranging from motorsport to engineering components and any kind of prototype applications. This low alloyed steel with easy printability and the possibility for surface treatments (e.g. case hardening or nitriding) was developed especially for the demands of the 3D printing industry. The material shows an excellent combination of strength and toughness.

BÖHLER K105 is a 12% ledeburitic chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2601 (X165CrMoV12). This commonly used tool steel is highly resistant to abrasive wear. Compared to modern cold work tool steels, BÖHLER K105 has the advantage of simple heat treatment with lower hardening temperatures and single tempering. The improved tempering resistance of BÖHLER K105 compared to the conventional tool steel 1.2080 also enables nitriding treatment of tools.

BÖHLER K110 is a 12% ledeburitic chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2379 (X153CrMoV12, D2). This tool steel combines the advantages of conventional 12% ledeburitic chromium steels with those of advanced tool steels. In the group of 12% ledeburitic chromium steels, BÖHLER K110 offers the best combination of wear resistance, compressive strength and toughness, for which reason it is used in virtually all cold work applications. Its advantageous tempering behavior with a pronounced secondary hardness maximum also enables the use of advanced coatings. This also makes BÖHLER K110 suitable for complex tools requiring a high degree of dimensional stability and shape stability.

BÖHLER K340 ISODUR belongs to the group of 8% chromium steels. This tool steel is produced using the electro-slag remelting (ESR) process developed by BÖHLER. This re-melting technology ensures the lowest micro and macro segregation as well as excellent purity and uniformity of the material. Compared to conventional 12% chromium steels, BÖHLER K340 ISODUR offers significantly better toughness, hardening response and higher resistance to adhesive wear. This material is therefore used in virtually all cold work applications in situations where tool steels like 1.2379 are insufficient in terms of adhesive wear resistance and toughness. K340 ISODUR also features better machinability and reduces the risk of stress cracking during electrical discharge machining.

BÖHLER K360 ISODUR belongs to the group of 8% chromium steels. This tool steel is produced using the electro-slag remelting (ESR) process developed by BÖHLER. This re-melting technology ensures the lowest micro and macro segregation as well as excellent purity and uniformity of the material. The alloy composition with higher molybdenum and vanadium content makes BÖHLER K360 ISODUR even more wear resistant than BÖHLER K340 ISODUR. Compared to tool steels like 1.2379 (D2), this combination of better toughness and wear resistance offers significant advantages for punching and cutting tools.

BÖHLER K490 MICROCLEAN is a high-performance cold work tool steel with a balanced property profile, manufactured using powder metallurgy. This powder metallurgical tool steel offers an outstanding combination of high wear resistance, compressive strength, toughness and very good machinability. Thanks to the resulting flexibility, BÖHLER K490 MICROCLEAN is used in virtually all cold work applications, and in many cases this material is the first choice for newly developed tools. The commonly used hardening temperatures of BÖHLER K490 MICROCLEAN also enable shared heat treatment with popular cold work tool steels (1.2379, D2), making it very economical in terms of heat treatment.

BÖHLER K600 corresponds to the material 1.2767 (45NiCrMo16). With its high nickel content, this material offers a very good combination of through hardenability and toughness. This results in a high resistance to impact and shock loads. BÖHLER K600 is used for a wide range of tools where high toughness is required. The material is used for forming and bending tools, cold shear blades for thick materials and for reinforcement rings. Due to its good polishability, BÖHLER K600 is also used for embossing tools, plastic molds and mold inserts for injection molding.

BÖHLER K888 MATRIX – This MATRIX steel offers an excellent combination of high toughness and high compressive strength. MATRIX materials have high toughness, which is a critical factor in many applications. However, the hardness achievable with commonly used MATRIX steels often limits the potential applications. BÖHLER K888 MATRIX breaks through this barrier and offers the best of both worlds of matrix steels and high alloy tool steels. BÖHLER K888 MATRIX is a unique problem solver in situations where high compressive strength and toughness are required. Its advantageous tempering behavior with a pronounced secondary hardness maximum also enables the use of advanced coatings.

BÖHLER L625 AMPO is a non-magnetic, corrosion and scale-resistant nickel-base alloy. High toughness and strength from the lowest temperatures up to 1000 °C. Good printability.

The BÖHLER L718 AMPO is a hardenable nickel-base super alloy. This high heat-resistant material shows good strength properties at elevated temperatures up to 750 ° C, as well as excellent creep resistance up to 700 ° C. In addition, it shows excellent corrosion resistance and good printability. Essentially, the same properties can be achieved with printed components made from this powder as with bar material.

The BÖHLER L718 API AMPO is a hardenable nickel-base super alloy. This high heat-resistant material shows good strength properties at elevated temperatures up to 750 ° C, as well as excellent creep resistance up to 700 ° C. In addition, it shows excellent corrosion resistance and good printability. Essentially, the same properties can be achieved with printed components made from this powder as with bar material.

BÖHLER M238 is a prehardened, non-corrosion-resistant plastic mould steel with good machinability. The addition of Ni guarantees uniform strength across the entire cross-section, even with large dimensions (up to 600 mm).

BÖHLER M303 is a corrosion-resistant, martensitic chromium steel with very good toughness, corrosion resistance, good wear resistance and improved machinability and polishability. Compared to 1.2316, BÖHLER M303 has better homogeneity and is approved for food and beverage contact.

BÖHLER M310 ISOPLAST is a corrosion-resistant, martensitic chromium steel which, through electroslag remelting and optimization of the chemical composition, has a good homogeneity and a balanced hardness-toughness-corrosion resistance ratio.

BÖHLER M333 ISOPLAST is a corrosion-resistant, martensitic plastic mold steel with excellent polishability and toughness for products with highest surface requirements. BÖHLER M333 ISOPLAST is also approved for food and beverage contact.

BÖHLER M789 AMPO is a newly developed maraging steel, which combines the mechanical properties of 1.2709 with the corrosion resistance of 17-4PH. This patent bending grade can easily printed without any preheating and achieves a hardness of about 52 HRC with a very easy heat treatment. Furthermore, this material shows an excellent polishability, which makes it the ideal choice for inserts with conformal cooling in plastic injection molding and in any other application where a high hardness and corrosion resistance is of need.

BÖHLER N695 is a corrosion-resistant steel with 17%Cr and Mo-addition in the form of bars, wire, forgings, and forging stock. These products have been used typically for parts in general engineering and cutting and non cutting, medical applications , e.g. chisels, knives, osteotomes, scalpels drills, retractors, spreaders, tongs, balls, rollers, needles and rings for corrosion resistant bearings requiring hardness from 58 up to 60 HRC and resistance to wear, corrosion, and oxidation depending on parts design and application but usage is not limited to such applications.

BÖHLER N700 is a martensitic, corrosion-resistant, precipitation-hardenable chromium-nickel-copper steel with high strength and toughness. Further increases in strength can be achieved by cold forming and subsequent precipitation hardening. These products are typically used for parts that require higher corrosion resistance than the usual 13% or 17% chromium steels and high strength. Various remelting processes are used to improve steel purity and homogeneity. (ESR, PESR, VAR). Certain processing methods and operating conditions can make these products susceptible to stress corrosion cracking. For applications such as bolting where stress corrosion cracking is possible, the product should be aged for at least 4 hours at the highest temperature compatible with the strength requirements, but in no case lower than 552 °C. Typical engineering applications include surgical and dental instruments as well as aerospace components, reactor construction, highly stressed pump parts, springs and ship shafts.

BÖHLER N700 AMPO (17-4 PH) is a precipitation hardening nickel martensitic steel. Thanks to its alloying system, this material has excellent corrosion resistance. Can be printed very easily without additional heating of the platform or chamber and, after solution annealing and aging, hardens up to approx. 40 HRC.

BÖHLER W300 ISOBLOC is a 5% chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2343 (X37CrMoV5-1). Produced via the electroslag remelting process (ESR), this tool steel has very high hot toughness as well as good hot hardness and very good resistance against heat-checkings. The combination of these properties makes it a top performer in high- and low-pressure die casting as well as in closed-die and open-die forging. In addition, this material has very good polishability and is therefore also often used as a molding material for plastic injection molds.

BÖHLER W300 ISODISC is a 5% chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2343 (X37CrMoV5-1). This common tool steel has good hot toughness as well as a high hot hardness and a high resistance against heat-checkings. The combination of these properties makes it a standard choice in extrusion, forging and low-pressure die casting. This material is also available as W300 ISOBLOC which is a remelted grade with improved cleanliness, homogeneity and toughness.

BÖHLER W302 ISOBLOC is a 5% chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2344 (X40CrMoV5-1). Produced via the electroslag remelting process (ESR), this tool steel has very high hot toughness as well as very high hot hardness and a very good resistance against heat-checkings. The combination of these properties makes it a top performer in closed- and open-die forging as well as in high- and low-pressure die casting. In addition, this material has very good polishability and is therefore also often used as a molding material for plastic injection molds.

BÖHLER W303 ISODISC is a 5% chromium steel and corresponds to material number 1.2367 (X38CrMoV5-3). This tool steel has good hot toughness as well as a very high hot hardness and resistance against heat-checkings. Compared to an X37CrMoV5-1 (material number 1.2343), the steel has an increased molybdenum content, which significantly increases its thermal resistance and thus makes it the ideal material in die closed-die forging, open-die forging and extrusion.

BÖHLER W350 ISOBLOC is a material produced by the electroslag remelting process (ESR) which is particularly suitable for use in large casting and forging molds. Although the steel can be classified as a 5% chromium steel, the chemical composition has been chosen to provide the best possible through-hardenability without any loss of toughness or resistance against heat-checkings. These properties make the steel the perfect choice to produce very large die casting molds, for example for mega- or giga-casting.

BÖHLER W360 ISOBLOC is a material produced by the electroslag remelting process (ESR), which has been specially adapted for use at high tool hardnesses in the range of 51-57 HRC. Although the steel can be classified as a 5% chromium steel, the increased carbon and molybdenum content coupled with state-of-the-art manufacturing technology ensures that BÖHLER W360 ISOBLOC still shows a very good toughness and an exceptionally good thermal resistance, even at high hardness levels. These properties make the steel the perfect choice for smaller components in the die casting sector (e.g., mold inserts, cores, core pins, ejector pins, etc.). The material also is frequently the preferred choice for closed-die and open-die forging tools due to its high wear resistance. Because of this excellent wear resistance and the high toughness, BÖHLER W360 ISOBLOC is also frequently used for cold work applications and as a molding material for plastic injection molds. The Steel also is available as powder material for metal-3D-printing under the brand name BÖHLER W360 AMPO.

BÖHLER W400 VMR is a vacuum remelted material specially developed for tools with complex structures. The steel can be assigned to the 5% chromium steels and has a very high purity due to the special manufacturing technology. Because of its high degree of purity, the excellent homogeneity and the special alloying concept, BÖHLER W400 VMR is one of the hot work tool steels with the highest reachable toughness values. Therefore, this material is a problem solver in many areas when standard grades are no longer sufficient. In addition, Böhler W400 VMR has outstanding polishability. For this reason, the steel is also popular as a molding material for plastic injection molds.

BÖHLER W403 VMR is a vacuum remelted material which was developed as a problem solver for tools for where a standard solution is no longer sufficient. The steel can be assigned to the 5% chromium steels and has a very high purity due to the special manufacturing technology. In addition, the increased molybdenum content leads to improved thermal resistance as well as wear resistance, which makes BÖHLER W403 VMR an all-rounder that is often used for highly stressed dies in the die casting sector. In addition, Böhler W403 VMR has outstanding polishability. For this reason, the steel is also popular as a molding material for plastic injection molds.

BÖHLER W720 VMR is not a classic hot work tool steel, but an ultra-high strength maraging steel. Compared to quenched and tempered steels, the material generates its high strength not through a hardened and tempered martensitic structure with a high carbon content and secondary hardening carbides, but through the precipitation of intermetallic phases from a tough nickel martensitic matrix. BÖHLER W720 VMR corresponds to material number 1.6358 (X2NiCoMoTi18-9-5) and has proven to be ideally suited for many tool steel applications in cold and hot work (e.g., for extrusion stems) up to 450 °C.

Percipitation hardening nickel martensitic (marging) steel, material number 1.2709, which offers a good combination of strength and toughness. Can be printed very easily without additional heating of the building plattform or chamber. The achievable hardness of 55 HRC makes this material a universal solution for tool steel applications in which conformal cooling is required, such as die casting applications.