Kh12F1 steel: characteristics and application

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Materials science is, of course, a very extensive and time-consuming branch of science. Studying it is quite difficult and, frankly, quite tedious. Everything from the fact that you need to remember a large amount of information, in which it is easy to get confused due to its monotony. However, knowing what specific characteristics this or that material has, we understand what to do with it and how to use it in everyday life or at work. This article is just an occasion to highlight for readers a relatively small part of the information on the characteristics of a very common Kh12F1 grade alloy, its application features, composition, analogues and several more aspects, which are discussed below.

Deciphering steel Kh12F1

So, let's start with the simplest. Steel grade X12F1, according to all currently available GOSTs, is designated as tool stamp steel.

Having a general idea of the Russian steel naming system, given the information already available, we can safely draw several conclusions:

1. Tool steel, which means it incorporates a certain setalloying elements.
2. The letter “X” at the beginning of the steel grade, as well as the number 12 after it, indicate a chromium content of 12%.
3. The letter designation “F” corresponds to the alloying element vanadium, and the unit is the content in the region of 1%.

Application

Based on the designation, it is clear that steel is used for stampings, or rather, for their manufacture. Accordingly, it is mainly used to make press dies, rolling rollers, often with a complex texture, dies for cold pressing and a number of parts associated with metalworking by extrusion under high pressure.

Composition

One of the most important aspects of metallurgy is the ligature composition of the alloy. It is from the presence, absence and percentage of all chemical elements that steel acquires certain properties required from it on duty in the future service.

For Kh12F1 steel, the following composition of alloying additives is provided, mentioned for ease of perception in averaged values:

• First in line is carbon (1.35%) - the most important element that turns iron into steel, giving it rigidity and hardness.
• Next, chromium (11.75%) is noted - this chemical element significantly increases the life of the part, preventing it from oxidizing under the influence of the external environment, creating a protective film of oxides. However, in addition to this, at a high content, it increases the strength of steel, its resistance to mediaelevated temperature, and, accordingly, to an unplanned vacation.
• Vanadium (0.8%) - favorably affects the structure of steel, increasing its strength characteristics.
• Silicon (0.25%) - as an alloying element, it serves to increase the resistance of steel to a high-temperature environment without loss of strength.
• Copper (0.3%) is a very common impurity in metallurgy. It does not assign any special negative effects to steel, but, on the contrary, slightly improves ductility.
• Manganese (0.27%) - even with a small content in the composition improves the hardenability of steel.
• Nickel (0.35%) - increases the strength characteristics of steel, albeit slightly, but in connection with other components, its role becomes more significant.
• Sulfur and phosphorus (0.03% each) are harmful impurities that have an extremely negative impact on the quality of steel. However, their content is so small that they are usually not counted.

Characteristics of Kh12F1 steel

Knowing the exact composition of steel, it is possible to determine its general characteristics with a certain degree of error.

• The first thing I would like to note is that the steel is high-carbon, which means it is exceptionally strong. This is not surprising, because its task is to bend, cut and emboss metal.
• Also it is chrome plated. This, firstly, protects the part from deformation during corrosion, and secondly, it makes the steel less sensitive to high temperatures.
• It has a very complex internal structure. When stamping parts on the stamp itselfthere is a lot of pressure, and any microcrack or any other defect can lead to very disastrous consequences.
• Kh12F1 steel feels quite comfortable in environments with elevated temperatures. This is facilitated by a whole bunch of ligature elements and their compounds.

Analogues

As you might guess, the production processes in almost any enterprise that produces the same products are approximately the same. And this does not depend on the geographical location of production facilities. Accordingly, identical tools made from similar or similar materials are used for similar work. Die steel Kh12F1 was no exception. In various countries, a steel grade with a similar composition is produced just as successfully as in the post-Soviet space. Here are some of the most popular items:

• United States of America - D5;
• Japan - SKD11;
• England - BD2;
• Germany - Х155CrVMo12-1.

By remembering these steel grades, even when you are far from your native land, you can be sure that you can easily find a part for yourself from the material you need.

Second life

As it turned out, very flattering reviews about X12F1 steel can be heard from the lips of various craftsmen who make various household tools, be it chisels, knives, scrapers, and so on. The high carbon content in the composition makes it possible to achieve high hardness of the blade and cutting edge in particular, abundantthe amount of chromium prevents the appearance of corrosion, and the presence of an additional ligature in the composition, which has an extremely good effect on the overall structure of the material, makes knives made of Kh12F1 steel extremely reliable in operation, and therefore often simply irreplaceable.