The H13 tool steel for the Metal X, the world’s leading desktop-sized metal printer, enables customers to print parts in high-strength, high-temperature applications such as metal forming tools, dies and punches, and hardened inserts for fixtures, and even injection molds with conformal cooling channels.
H13 is a hot-work tool steel, meaning that it retains high strength at elevated temperatures, and is known for exhibiting excellent red hardness, resistance to thermal fatigue, high toughness, ductility, good abrasion resistance, and excellent through-hardenability. Because H13 can now be 3D printed, manufacturing professionals can begin to print parts with unique and complex geometries, something that traditionally would be very expensive and difficult to do. For example, printing an H13 injection mold that features conformal cooling channels would more effectively move heat away from the mold cavity and provide more uniform cooling, leading to less part-warp, shorter cycle times and higher throughput, and ultimately, lower operational costs.
