Journal of Materials Processing Technology 210 (2010) 19491955

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

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Evaluation of factors inuencing deep cryogenic treatment that affect the

properties of tool steels
A. Oppenkowski a, , S. Weber b , W. Theisen a
a
Ruhr University Bochum, Chair of Materials Technology, Universittsstrae 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany
b
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fr Materialien und Energie GmbH, 14109 Berlin, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) of tool steels is used as an additive process to conventional heat treat-
Received 30 November 2009 ment and usually involves cooling the material to liquid nitrogen temperature (196 C). This kind of
Received in revised form 6 July 2010 treatment has been reported to improve the wear resistance of tools. In this study, the Taguchi method
Accepted 7 July 2010
was used to identify the main factors of DCT that inuence the mechanical properties and the wear
resistance of the powder metallurgically produced cold-work tool steel X153CrVMo12 (AISI D2). Factors
investigated were the austenitizing temperature, cooling rate, holding time, heating rate, and temper-
Keywords:
ing temperature. In order to study the signicance of these factors and the effect of possible two-factor
Deep cryogenic treatment
Tool steel
interactions L27 (313 ), an orthogonal array (OA) was applied to conduct several heat treatments, including
Taguchi optimization a single DCT cycle directly after quenching prior to tempering. The results show that the most signicant
factors inuencing the properties of tool steels are the austenitizing and tempering temperatures. In
contrast, the parameters of deep cryogenic treatment exhibit a lower level of signicance. Further inves-
tigations identied a nearly constant wear rate for holding times of up to 24 h. The wear rate reaches a
minimum for a longer holding time of 36 h and increases again with further holding.
2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Compared to alternative methods to extend tool life, DCT is an

The application of deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) has found
its way into many elds of mechanical engineering during the
last decade. DCT, which is dened as an add-on process to con-
ventional heat treatment, involves cooling the material to about
196 C. Numerous investigations concerning cold-work and high-
speed steels have shown that this kind of treatment improves the
material properties, especially the wear resistance. Barron (1982)
showed a signicant increase in the wear resistance for different
types of tool and stainless steels. Zurecki (2005) investigated the
effect of DCT on A2 steel with the result of a moderate improve-
ment in the wear resistance, at the cost of the impact toughness. In
a study by da Silva et al. (2006) M2 HSS twist drills achieved a longer
service life after DCT, whereas the hardness was not signicantly
affected. A number of investigations were carried out on D2 cold-
work steel. For example, Pellizzari and Molinari (2006) as well as
Das et al. (2007) found a signicantly increased wear resistance for
this type of steel after DCT. In addition, Collins and ORourke (1998)
showed a reduction in toughness after DCT of D2 steel. However,
a positive effect on the toughness was observed with a few steels
(Yun et al., 1998).
Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 234 32 25952; fax: +49 234 32 14104.
E-mail address: oppenkowski@wtech.rub.de (A. Oppenkowski).
inexpensive one-time process. In contrast to coatings, it affects the
whole volume of the treated materials (da Silva et al., 2006). How-
ever, the literature data on the wear resistance varies from a few
to some hundred percent of improvement. For instance, in the case
of D2 cold-work steel the improvements in wear resistance vary
from about 10% (Collins and ORourke, 1998) up to 800% (Barron,
1982). Das et al. (2008, 2009a,b,c) explained this spread of data for
the dry sliding test with a frequently lacking systematic analysis of
the modes and mechanism of wear being determined with differ-
ently applied test parameters and especially the normal load. In this
context, Das et al. (2009a,b,c) found that the improvement in wear
resistance due to DCT is much higher when the modes and mech-
anism of wear between conventionally and cryogenically treated
specimens are dissimilar.
Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the DCT
effect. Similar to shallow cryogenic treatment, in which the mate-
rial is cooled to about 80 C, DCT involves the transformation of
retained austenite into martensite. Meng et al. (1994) and Yen and
Kamody (1997) have reported the presence of nely dispersed and
evenly distributed -carbides in DCT specimens, which is often
regarded as being the main reason for the signicantly improved
wear resistance due to DCT. Further investigations on D2 cold-
work steel show that although ne -carbides (M6 C-type) can be
observed at higher tempering temperatures, the amount is too
small to affect the wear resistance (Rhyim et al., 2006). For M2

0924-0136/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2010.07.007
1950 A. Oppenkowski et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 210 (2010) 19491955

tool steel, Huang et al. (2003) observed a higher volume fraction Table 1
Chemical composition of the investigated steel (wt%).
and a more homogeneous distribution of carbides in cryogenically
treated specimens compared to conventionally treated specimens. DIN/AISI C Cr Mo V Mn N P S
In current investigations concerning D2 cold-work steel, Das et al. X153CrVMo12/D2 1.55 11.90 0.86 0.70 0.33 0.05 0.02 0.004
(2007) were also unable to detect any -carbides, but found an
increase in the formation of rened secondary carbides in a higher
volume fraction and a more uniform distribution in DCT specimens Table 2
Factor and level descriptions for DoE.
compared to those treated conventionally. In connection with the
precipitation of a high amount of ne carbides, Bensely et al. (2008) Factor/level 1 2 3
detected a large reduction in the compressive residual stress when Austenitizing temperature TA ( C) 980 1080
DCT was followed by a single tempering treatment. Cooling rate Tcool ( C/min) 1 5 LN2
This range of experimental results and hypotheses led to a con- Holding time tc (h) 1 5 24
troversial discussion about the parameters inuencing the effect Heating rate Theat Low High
Tempering temperature TT ( C) 180 CSPH
of DCT, for instance, the chronological order of DCT in the con-
ventional heat treatment cycle. Whereas application of DCT after CSPH = cryogenic secondary peak hardness (430 C for TA = 980 C and 500 C for
TA = 1080 C).
the complete conventional heat-treatment cycle results in slightly
improved material properties, the highest impact is achieved when
DCT is carried out after hardening and prior to tempering (Pellizzari the mechanical properties and has to be considered when sam-
and Molinari, 2006; Meng et al., 1994). Contradicting results have pling. Accordingly, different mechanical properties can be achieved
also been obtained with respect to the precipitation of -carbide. depending on whether samples were taken parallel or perpendic-
Whereas Yen and Kamody (1997) found the carbides to be precipi- ular to the direction of hot deformation. In addition, PM tool steels
tated after DCT during tempering above 200 C, Gogte et al. (2006) provide uniform spacing between single carbides in all directions.
have reported that precipitation occurs during the DCT process. Thus, the scattering of test results due to anisotropic effects and
One of the most discussed parameters is the holding time at the an inhomogeneous distribution and size of carbides in small spec-
cryogenic temperature. Numerous investigations have shown that imens is minimized. To illustrate the differences between both
increasing the soaking time increases the wear resistance. How- processing routes, Fig. 1 shows the microstructures after hardening
ever, in case of D2 hot-forged cold-work steel, Das et al. (2009a,b,c) from 1080 C.
found that the wear resistance reaches a maximum at a holding To investigate the inuence of different factors on the effect
time of 36 h and deteriorates again on further holding. For 18% Cr of cryogenic treatment, Taguchi design of experiments (DoE) was
martensitic stainless steel, Darwin et al. also identied 36 h as the applied. The inuence of ve parameters on the mechanical prop-
optimum holding time for improving the wear resistance. erties and the wear resistance was investigated: austenitizing
To date, numerous publications investigated DCT of conven- temperature, cooling rate from room temperature to the cryogenic
tionally produced tool steels. However, little attention has been temperature, holding time at the cryogenic temperature, heating
paid to materials produced by alternative routes such as pow- rate from the cryogenic temperature to room temperature, and
der metallurgical tool steels. This production route can achieve a tempering temperature. The factors and levels selected are sum-
more homogeneous microstructure compared to conventionally marized in Table 2.
produced steels. As a consequence of this and the ongoing debate A standard L27 (313 ) orthogonal array was chosen to conduct the
regarding DCT parameters, the aim of this study was to identify different cryogenic treatments. This array consists of 27 rows cor-
factors having a signicant effect on the properties of a powder responding to the number of experiments and 13 columns, which
metallurgical AISI D2 tool steel. The Taguchi approach was applied means that 13 three-level factors can be studied. Five of the 13
to nd the signicant factors that improve either the wear resis- columns are used to study the signicance of the main selected fac-
tance or the mechanical properties. tors. In addition, possible interactions could be investigated with
The Taguchi technique is a design of experiment (DoE) that the remaining eight columns. In this case, a row can represent more
minimizes the number of experiments without a loss of experi- than one interaction at the same time. All possible interactions are
mental information. An experiment is designed using the so-called summarized in Table 3.
orthogonal arrays (OA), which are fractional factorial experimental According to the experimental design, specimens for three-
layouts consisting of matrices with numbers arranged in columns point-bending (8 6 40 mm in size) and wear tests (6 10 mm
and rows (Belavendram, 1995). Each column represents a fac- in size) were rst austenitized for 30 min in a vacuum furnace and
tor that can be changed from experiment to experiment. Each gas-quenched to room temperature with nitrogen at a pressure of
row represents the state of the factor given in the experiment. In 3 bar and a gas speed of 14 m/s. Two different austenitizing tem-
this context, the number of rows is equal to the total number of peratures were chosen (Table 2). A relatively low temperature of
experiments. With this layout, the signicance of factors and two- 980 C is often applied in conventional heat treatment and results
factor-interactions can be easily studied by running only a fraction in a small amount of retained austenite after quenching. In contrast,
of a complete factorial experiment.

Table 3
Possible interactions of factors. Because one row can represent more than one inter-
2. Experimental action, all possible interactions of one row are summarized in a group.

Group 1 2 3 4
In this work, deep cryogenic treatment was applied to a com-
mercial, powder metallurgically produced cold-work tool steel A TA vs. Tcool tc vs. Theat
X153CrVMo12 (AISI D2). The chemical composition is given in B TA vs. Tcool tc vs. TT
C TA vs. tc Tcool vs. Theat
Table 1. The powder metallurgical (PM) route was chosen because D TA vs. tc Tcool vs. TT
segregation-free and more homogeneous microstructures with a E TA vs. Theat TA vs. TT Tcool vs. tc Theat vs. TT
higher cleanness can be achieved compared to a conventional met- F Tcool vs. tc
allurgical (IM) route. Furthermore, IM tool steels usually exhibit G Tcool vs. Theat
H Tcool vs. TT tc vs. Theat
a banded carbide microstructure, which leads to differences in
 A. Oppenkowski et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 210 (2010) 19491955
Fig. 1. SEM micrographs of cold-work steel X153CrVMo12/AISI D2 after hardening from 1080 C: (a) a banded carbide structure after conventional production and hot
forging; (b) uniform size and distribution of carbides after powder metallurgical production.
a higher austenitizing temperature of 1080 C represents the upper
limit of practical heat treatment. In contrast to the low austenitiz-
ing temperature, at 1080 C more carbides are dissolved and the
matrix is enriched with carbon and alloying elements leading to
a higher content of retained austenite in the as-quenched state.
Directly after quenching, the specimens for cryogenic treatment
were cooled to liquid nitrogen temperature (LN2 , 196 C). The
maximum cooling rate was achieved by direct soaking in LN2 . The
other specimens were cooled in a special cooling chamber at a rate
of 1 and 5 K/min, respectively. After reaching 150 C, the speci-
mens were immersed in LN2 for the desired holding time. For the
factor level selection, priority was given to industrial applicability.
In industrial applications, the overall processing time is particu-
larly important to minimize total costs. For this reason, to nd out
which factors inuence the material properties, the holding time
was varied between 1 and 24 h. The effect of the holding time was
investigated in detail in a second series of experiments.
Specimens were heated in calm air for a low rate (0.2 K/s) and
by immersing in ethanol for a high rate (5 K/s). In contrast to most
other studies, different combinations of austenitizing and tem-
pering temperature were investigated in the present work. After
heating to room temperature, a single tempering was carried out
for 2 h at 180 C or at a temperature about 10 K above the secondary
peak hardness (SPH), respectively (Table 2). Whereas tempering at
180 C should keep the retained austenite but relax the martensite,
tempering at a high temperature was carried out in order to achieve
secondary hardening. The tempering behavior after conventional
quenching as well as after quenching and DCT was investigated for
both austenitizing temperatures in order to check for a shift of the
SPH. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, after DCT a shift of the SPH towards
a lower temperature can be observed for both austenitizing tem-
Fig. 2. Tempering curves for conventional versus cryogenic treatment at TA = 980 C.
1951
peratures. Due to this shift, the high tempering temperature was
lowered for cryogenically treated specimens, and tempering was
carried out slightly above the cryogenic secondary peak hardness
(CSPH).
After the heat and cryogenic treatments had been completed,
the bending strength, elongation at fracture and deformation work
were measured at room temperature in three-point bending tests
(3PB), whereas ve replicates for each heat and deep cryogenic
treatment were performed. The deformation work served as a
measure of the toughness and results from the integral of the
recorded stressstrain curve. To ensure that the operative mode
and mechanism of wear were similar for all heat and deep cryogenic
treatments, the wear behavior was examined using a pin-on-
abrasive-paper test. A rotating cylindrical specimen was moved in
a meandering path over abrasive paper (int, 220 mesh) with a sur-
face pressure of 1.3 MPa (47.8 rpm, 4.8 mm/s). The wear rate was
calculated according to Eq. (1) as a dimensionless value based on
the weight loss (m in g), the specimens contact surface area (A
in mm2 ), the density ( in g/mm3 ), and the wear path (l in mm).
At least three test runs were performed for each heat and deep
cryogenic treatment. Additionally, the Vickers macrohardness was
measured with a test load of 294.1 N (HV30):
m
wab = (1)
lA
In the statistical analysis, a rst analysis of means (ANOM) was
conducted to estimate qualitatively the effect of changing factor
levels on the material properties. To verify the ANOM results and to
qualitatively estimate the importance of all parameters to enhance
selected properties, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried
out. A pooling-up technique was used to avoid overestimation,
Fig. 3. Tempering curves for conventional versus cryogenic treatment at
TA = 1080 C.
1952 A. Oppenkowski et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 210 (2010) 19491955
Fig. 4. Response graph of factor and interaction effects for the bending strength.
Fig. 5. Response graph of factor and interaction effects for the elongation at fracture.
whereas factors and interactions with the smallest variances were
attributed to the error. The condence interval of the signicance
was determined by a Fisher test (F ratio). As an extension to this
method, the percentage contribution () was calculated for a more
specic estimation of the signicance. Although the main focus of
this investigation was to determine signicant parameters, opti-
mum factor levels could also be derived from the analysis of means.
Finally, a conrmation experiment was conducted to validate the
results of the qualitative factor analysis for the signicant factors.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Factor and interaction effects
The results of the analysis of means are illustrated in Figs. 37.
These response graphs show the mean values for all levels of each
Fig. 6. Response graph of factor and interaction effects for the deformation work.
Fig. 7. Response graph of factor and interaction effects for the Vickers hardness.
factor. The dashed line indicates the overall mean of all experi-
ments. Additionally, the arrows in Figs. 48 highlight levels for the
main factors that lead to an improvement of the particular property,
and the corresponding values are stated in brackets. A comparison
of the mean analysis of all factors shows that the austenitizing and
tempering temperatures exhibit the highest effect on the mate-
rial properties (Figs. 37). This indicates that mechanical properties
such as the bending strength, elongation at fracture, and deforma-
tion work can be improved by a lower austenitizing temperature
in combination with a high tempering temperature. The opposite
combination, a high austenitizing and a low tempering tempera-
ture, leads to an increased Vickers hardness and a decreased wear
rate. In contrast, the effect of changing the levels of all other fac-
tors and interactions is less signicant. The mechanical properties,
determined in three-point bending tests, can be improved by direct
cooling in LN2 and a low heating rate (Figs. 35). Furthermore,
a longer holding time of 24 h at 196 C and a high heating rate
are benecial for a high Vickers hardness and a low wear rate
(Figs. 6 and 7). Inconclusive results were obtained only for the
cooling rate and the holding time.
3.2. Signicant parameters and interactions
The results of the nal ANOVA for the main factors and interac-
tions of each property are listed in Table 4. The results show that
only the austenitizing and the tempering temperatures are signi-
cant with the highest condence interval of 99.9% for each property.
In the case of parameters relating exclusively to deep cryogenic
treatment, the holding time and the heating rate are signicant, but
only with lower condence levels. Based on both the F and  values,
no signicant effect on the material properties could be detected
for the cooling rate. In addition, the calculated percentage contri-
Fig. 8. Response graph of factor and interaction and interaction effects for the wear
rate.
 A. Oppenkowski et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 210 (2010) 19491955 1953

Table 4
Results of the analysis of variance for the main factors and interactions. The condence interval was calculated with the Fisher test. The percentage contributions are given
in brackets.

Factor/interaction group Hardness Bending strength Elongation at fracture Deformation work Wear rate

TA 99.99 99.99 99.99 99.99 99.99

(73.34) (23.36) (59.39) (59.85) (55.31)
Tcool

Tc 99.95 95.00 95.00
(4.70) (2.99) (2.11)
Theat 95.00 99.95
(1.27) (9.83) (0.34)
TT 99.99 99.99 99.99 99.99 99.99
(17.60) (35.29) (16.70) (20.26) (23.23)

A 99.95 99.95 99.95

(7.41) (5.79) (4.74)
B
C 95.00
(2.42) (1.73)
D
E 95.00 99.95
(1.38) (6.38)
F 99.95
(0.87) (3.11)
G 99.95
(4.35)
H 99.95
(3.62)

Pool 5.55 17.73 11.00 10.08 8.27

butions show that the austenitizing and tempering temperatures
exceed all other parameters and interactions by nearly one order of
magnitude. This reveals that the inuence of these two parameters
is signicantly larger than the inuence of all other parameters and
interactions. Moreover, the percentage contributions indicate that
the inuence of the austenitizing temperature is twice as large as
the inuence of the tempering temperature.
In another study on the wear resistance of an 18% Cr martensitic
stainless steel SR34, Darwin et al. (2008) also found out that the
holding time at 196 C and the tempering temperature have a
signicant effect. However, in contrast to the present study, the
cooling rate was found to be signicant for the wear resistance.
Stratton (2007) pointed out that both the cooling and the heating
rates are only important to avoid cracking, but are not critical to
e.g. carbide formation.
In addition to the signicant main parameters, possible interac-
tions also have to be considered. The interaction of groups A, C, and
EH were found to have a signicant inuence on at least one of
the tested properties. Only interactions A1 and A2 are together sig-
nicant for three properties with a condence interval of 99.95%
(Table 4: bending strength, elongation at fracture, deformation
work). Interactions E1 to E4 are signicant for two properties, but
for the hardness only with the lowest condence interval of 95%. All
other interactions are only signicant for one particular property.
Whereas the interaction of groups F, G, and H each show signi-
cance for the wear rate with a condence interval of 99.95%, group
C is only signicant for the elongation at fracture on the lowest
signicance level of 95%.
To nd out which interactions of each group are responsible
for the signicance or if even all interactions are signicant, the
non-signicant interaction groups B and D have to be considered.
A comparison of these groups shows that A1 and B1 characterize
the same interaction. Due to the fact that B is completely insigni-
cant, A1 must also be insignicant. This in turn implies that only A2
has a signicant effect. Interactions D1 and D2 describe the same
interaction as C1 and H1, respectively. Because the complete inter-
action group D shows no signicance, both interactions, C1 and H1
must be insignicant, too. In conclusion, the interactions that have
to be considered are summarized in Table 5.
3.3. Conrmation experiment
The results of a statistical analysis are usually validated by
means of a conrmation experiment. Therefore, primarily a value
for a certain factor level combination is predicted based on the
results of the factor analysis. For this calculation, only the signif-
icant factors are considered in the conrmation experiment. An
experiment with these levels is carried out accordingly. Finally, the
condence intervals of the calculated and the experimental values
are compared. The results of the statistical analysis are accepted
when the condence intervals of the calculated and experimental
values overlap. If the calculated and experimental condence inter-
vals do not overlap, the conrmation experiment would therefore
show that the predicted value is not acceptable and the experiment
is unlikely to be reproducible.
In the present study, three different conrmation experiments
were conducted for the mechanical properties. One experiment
based on the results of the factor analysis was repeated for the wear
rate. The results of the conrmation experiments as well as the pre-
dicted values for the mechanical properties and the wear rate are
shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The results show that only the results of the
Vickers hardness and the wear rate are acceptable (Figs. 9 and 10).
The investigation thus proves that the statistical analysis and the
signicant factors for the wear rate and the hardness are correct.
In addition, it follows that additivity is given and the factor effects
can be numerically added (Belavendram, 1995). This means that a
combination of the best levels of the signicant factors should lead
to an optimum property.
With respect to the mechanical properties, the results of the
statistical analysis of the bending strength, elongation at fracture,
Table 5
Interactions of factors inuencing the material properties.
A1, H2 tc vs. Theat
C2, G1 Tcool vs. Theat
E1, E2, E4 TA vs. Theat
E2 TA vs. TT
E3, F1 Tcool vs. tc
E4 Theat vs. TT
1954 A. Oppenkowski et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 210 (2010) 19491955

Fig. 9. Comparison of condence intervals for predicted mean values and conrmation experiment for the mechanical properties.

and deformation work were not acceptable (Fig. 9). This implies
that the results are not additive because of the presence of too many
interactions (Belavendram, 1995). In this case, a combination of the
optimum levels of the signicant factors may even cause worse
results.

3.4. Inuence of the holding time on the wear rate

Studies by Das et al. (2009a,b,c) and Darwin et al. (2008) showed

a minimum wear rate for a holding time of 36 h. Das et al. inves-
tigated the same steel as in the present study, but with a different
production and processing route. He determined the wear rate in
dry sliding tests. Darwin et al. found the same optimum holding
time with a 18% Cr martensitic stainless steel using a reciproca-
tory wear tester. The inuence of the holding time on the wear rate
of the powder metallurgical grade of highly studied AISI D2 steel Fig. 11. Inuence of the holding time at 196 C on the wear rate.
was investigated in a second series of experiments with additional
holding times.
up to 24 h. For a longer holding time of 36 h, the wear rate reaches
Specimens for wear tests were austenitized at a temperature of
a minimum and increases again with further holding.
1080 C for 30 min in an argon atmosphere and then oil-quenched
In conclusion, the results indicate that not only the same steel
to room temperature. Directly after quenching, the specimens for
grades with different production and processing routes and differ-
cryogenic treatment were directly immersed in liquid nitrogen.
ent heat treatments but also different steel grades exhibit a similar
Holding times of 0, 1, 5, 24, 36, 48, and 72 h were chosen, whereas
dependence of the wear behavior on the holding time. Additionally,
specimens with a holding time of 0 h were directly heated to room
it must be taken into account that a different wear test was applied
temperature again after reaching 196 C. After the heating to room
compared to the cited authors. In this wear test, the mechanism
temperature in ethanol (5 K/s), a single tempering was carried out
of wear remains constant. All experiments based on a microstruc-
for 2 h at 180 C.
ture with a higher content of retained austenite, which may not be
The results depicted in Fig. 11 clearly delineate the inuence
completely transformed to martensite during cooling to the DCT
of varying the holding time on the wear rate. Within the error of
temperature. The complete transformation of retained austenite to
measurement, the wear rate is almost constant for holdings times
martensite may occur isothermally during holding at 196 C or
during subsequent heating. Due to the low temperature, the trans-
formation is decelerated and longer times are needed. In addition, a
certain amount of retained austenite enhances the microplasticity,
i.e. decreasing the content of retained austenite signicantly affects
microplasticity. In this connection, the investigated cold-work steel
exhibits an optimum microstructure related to the wear conditions
after a holding time of 36 h at 196 C. However, the reasons for this
optimum holding time and the metallurgical backgrounds remain
unclear.

4. Conclusions

The Taguchi approach has been used to identify the signicance

Fig. 10. Comparison of condence intervals for predicted mean values and conr-
mation experiment for the wear rate.
of conventional factors such as the austenitizing and tempering
temperatures and of the factors relating to deep cryogenic treat-
ment such as the cooling rate, holding time, and heating rate for
powder metallurgical cold-work steel X153CrVMo12. In addition,
the optimum factor levels for different mechanical properties and
the wear rate have been identied. The following conclusions can
 A. Oppenkowski et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 210 (2010) 19491955
be drawn from the results:
(1) The most signicant factors inuencing the properties of tool
steels are the austenitizing and tempering temperatures during
conventional heat treatment. Of the parameters relating to deep
cryogenic treatment, only the holding time and the heating rate
have a signicant effect on the material properties. The cooling
rate is only signicant in interactions with the heating rate or
the holding time.
(2) The conrmation experiments have shown that only the
hardness and the wear behavior are correct within the 95%
condence interval.
(3) When applying DCT to improve mechanical properties such as
the bending strength, elongation at fracture, and deformation
work, a low austenitizing temperature in combination with a
high tempering temperature is benecial. The opposite com-
bination, high austenitizing and low tempering temperatures,
improves both the Vickers hardness and the wear behavior.
(4) The wear rate is nearly constant for holding times of up to
24 h. For a longer holding time of 36 h, the wear rate reaches
a minimum and increases again on further holding.
Acknowledgements
We thank the BMWI (German Federal Ministry of Economics and
Technology) and the project partner for their nancial support.
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