Advanced Die Steel For Die Casting DAC-MAGIC

What is DAC steel?

DAC. Standard grade for general use with good balance of toughness, strength at elevated temperature and with excellent hardenability. DAC-MAGIC. High performance die steel for die casting with well-balanced strength and toughness and strength at elevated temperature.

DAC is most widely used as Die for Aluminium and Zinc Diecasting. DAC is hot working tool steel with good balance of strength, toughness and heat resistance. With introduction of Isotoropy technology DAC has become tougher and more isotropic to help life of dies longer and stable.

Overview

・The range of applications of die cast products is expanding for weight saving and recycling while awareness of environmental protection is increasing.

・This fact requires bigger die cast products to be produced with higher quality in short cycle.

・In order to meet such needs, DAC-MAGIC is one of the best materials for die casting which has not only good heat crack resistance but also good toughness.

Features

・High strength at elevated temperature and excellent heat crack resistance

・High toughness prevents gross crack of die

・Improved stress corrosion cracking resistance reduces crack problem from cooling channel

Comparison with Current Materials

Characteristics

DAC-MAGIC^™: Advanced die steel, good heat crack resistance and good toughness.

DAC^™10: Good erosion resistance.

Heat Crack Resistance

Compared with conventional steels, DAC-MAGIC contributes to longer die life due to better heat crack resistance.

Resistance to Stress Corrosion Cracking

DAC-MAGIC has excellent resistance to stress corrosion cracking and suppresses cracking from cooling channel.

Application Example

Performance of DAC Magic material in Cutting dies

The performance and life of the cutting dies has been improved drastically, with the subsequent changes in tool material from D2 to Dac magic. The above is highly appreciated working with the high thickness hot rolled steel plates. You can feel the impact and vibrations of cutting load produced during their processing, the resistance of the material against high compressive loads is admirable, which in turn results in low wear and tear during the process, eventually helps to reach the target of more cycles and improved wear life of the dies.

Applications where DAC Magic has been tried out

In the below combination dies, where the cutting edges are very close, leaving only margin of single sheet thickness, which is 9mm thick hot rolled material. The skin of hot rolled materials are usually harder compared to the core, resulting in more tool wear and tend to stick to the punches after certain abrasive wear on the surface.

The lifespan of D2 material was just 5000~10000 strokes, whereas the life of DAC material has been found to be 30000~50000 strokes, provided the latter to be used with only Vacuum heat treatment.

Apart from the above, it can be used where there are sharp radius or sharp profiles on the closed corners of the cutting dies, results in stress concentration and prone to early life cracks. For instance, in the trailing picture, the marked edge of the die is exposed to more stress concentration compared to the other areas, will eventually cracked from here only.

Combined to the stress concentration, heavy sheet thickness also induces more vibrations and repeated cyclic loads, needs for the right blend of toughness, hardness and right blend of compressive strength. The right choice of material along with optimized heat treatment process in combination with the proper die design may enhance the die life up to 10X times.

Whereas the cost of the material and heat treatment process is much lower than the benefits drawn from the reduced frequent breakdowns and reduced product cycle times along with other indirect small benefits such as labour/machine utilization, reduced spare part inventories, low manpower for die maintenance etc.