· KAIPU Engineering · materials-encyclopedia · 1 min read
AISI D3 High-Carbon, High-Chromium Cold-Work Tool Steel
Materials encyclopedia entry for D3.
AISI D3 High-Carbon, High-Chromium Cold-Work Tool Steel is a reference entry for industrial cutting tools and blades. The composition, hardness, heat treatment and application guidance are summarised below for engineering reference.
Standard composition: C 2.00–2.35 %, Cr 11.0–13.0 %, Mo ≤ 0.80 %, V ≤ 0.50 %, Mn ≤ 0.60 %, Si ≤ 0.60 %, balance Fe
Hardness: Annealed HB 217–248; hardened HRC 58–64
Heat treatment: Austenitise 950–980 °C, oil or air cool, double temper 150–200 °C
Properties: Very high wear resistance from the M₇C₃ primary carbides (larger fraction than D2). Lower toughness than D2 (Charpy 15–25 J). Deep-hardenable but with more distortion than D2. Cannot be cooled in water — air or oil only.
Applications: Slitter blades on abrasive paper, ceramic, glass fibre and rock-wool insulation; drawing dies; powder-compaction tooling; cold-extrusion dies for brass.
Cross-reference: ≈ JIS SKD1, DIN 1.2080, GB Cr12, BS BD3.
See also: D2 vs SKD11 comparison, Material Grade Converter, The KAIPU 5-Factor Blade Selection Framework.