Welding

The chemical composition of a weld deposit is determined by the composition of the consumable (filler metal), the base steel composition and the extent to which the base material is melted during welding. The consumable electrode or wire should mix easily with the molten base steel giving a deposit with:

• uniform composition, hardness and response to heat-treatment
• freedom from non-metallic inclusions, porosity or cracks
• suitable properties for the tooling application in question

Uddeholm welding consumable are designed to be compatible with the corresponding tool steel grades irrespective of whether welding is carried out on annealed or hardened and tempered base material. Obviously, the weld metal of welded tools will require different properties for different applications. For the three main application segments for tool steel (cold work, hot work and plastic moulding), the important weld-metal properties are:

Cold Work

• Hardness
• Toughness
• Wear resistance

Hot Work

• Hardness
• Temper resistance
• Toughness
• Wear resistance
• Heat checking resistance

Plastic Moulding

• Hardness
• Wear resistance
• Polishability
• Photoetchability
• Chemical composition

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