Minimum Life = 2 Million Parts
A major computer manufacturer identifies in their Supplier Tooling Guide that stamping tools, which are heat hardened to a minimum of Rc54, and used to manufacture 2 million parts must be cryogenically treated at -196°C (-320°F) to produce optimum strength, stability and resistance to wear.
Cryogenic Treatment of stamp dies results in:
From experiential tests, it was found that the wear resistance of samples cryogenically treated at -310°F were approximately 2.6 times greater than the wear resistance for tool steel samples cryo treated at -120°F. Thus, although soaking at the higher temperature (-120°F) does not improve the wear resistance of such tool steels as 52100, D-2, A-2, M-2, and 0-1 by factors ranging from 1.2 to 2.0 soaking at the lower temperature (-310°F) improves the wear resistance by factors ranging from 2.0 to 6.6. For cryogenic treatment to the most effective, the data indicated that temperatures below -250°F are necessary, and for some alloys, even lower temperatures are necessary, to see significant improvements in wear resistance.
Deep cryogenic treatment of broaches at temperature levels below -300°F have shown significant improvement in extending broach life four to five times. Cryogenic treatment of these broaches has allowed the broaches to produce between four and five times the amount of parts. Broaches saw a minimum of 300%+ increase in lifetime after cryogenic treatment.
| APPLICATIONS | AVG. LIFE BEFORE TREATMENT | AVG. LIFE AFTER TREATMENT | PERCENT IMPROVEMENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1029 Steel Torque Tube Yoke | 1810 PARTS | 8620 PARTS | 376% |
| Forged Connecting Rods | 1500 PARTS | 8600 PARTS | 573% |
Attained from “Broaching Developments Emphasize Wear Resistance” by Mike Svetaka, Chief Engineer, Hasay-Savage Broach Co., June 1982, Machine and Tool Blue Book.
Precision Twist and Union Butterfield (8% Cobalt Hi-Speed M-42 drills). Both brands responded similarly.
The Machining Data Handbook recommends a removal rate of .03 in³/min. when drilling titanium. When this rate was doubled, the deep cryogenically treated drills clearly indicated a significantly smaller number of drills were required to drill the same number of holes.
Feeds and Speeds:
Speed= 620 rpm; Feed= .002ipr (inches per revolution) with a target drill life of 20-30 holes.
27% FEWER DRILLS REQUIRED TO PERFORM SAME JOB!
39 fewer drills (27%) were necessary to drill the same number of holes. This results in 39 fewer tool changes, significantly reducing machine downtime.
Industrial cryogenic users report that cryogenically treated drills require a material removal rate of less than ½ of the normal material removed in re-sharpening. This reduces the total number of drill bits required by one half.
Data attained from Master’s Thesis by Johnny Chung-hwa Chao, Arizona State University, 1980.
It has been discovered that deep cryogenic treatment of copper resistance welding electrodes will dramatically increase their useful life. Conservatively, they now experience an increase in service life of at least 3 to 5 times over untreated electrodes. These particular electrodes are Mollory Class 3 and are used for welding caps on TO-3 headers (power transistors).
Service life of deep cryogenically treated electrodes is extended in three ways:
The deep cryogenic treatment of 8% cobalt end mills has made dramatic improvements in two important ways:
1. The number of milling cuts per re-sharpening was increased from 3 cuts before deep cryogenic processing to 78 cuts after processing, an increase of 26 TIMES the wear life.
2. Re-sharpening the end mills after deep cryogenic treatment required only 1/3 the amount of stock removal to restore the tool geometry.
An Industrial Contractor of Phoenix does sub-contract production for the aerospace industry and is constantly challenged by machining exotic Hi-Nickel alloys. This application required milling of Waspaloy AMS-5706. Each pass produced a flat 1 1/8’ by 1 1/4’. The end mills are M-42 Standard 8% Cobalt. A cost analysis shows the cost per part before and after deep cryogenic treatment.
| COSTS | BEFORE TREATMENT | AFTER TREATMENT |
|---|---|---|
| Tool Replacement Cost | $14.72 | $4.91 |
| Tool Re-sharpening Cost | $28.00 | $4.00 |
| Lost Time Cost | $12.00 | $0.80 |
| Cryogenic Treatment Cost | – | $2.45 |
| TOTAL TOOLING COST | $54.72 | $12.16 |
| TOTAL SAVINGS PER PART | – | $42.56 |
Many companies have used cryogenic treatment to improve metal part lifetimes, and several examples are listed in the following table.
| ITEM | COMPANY | AVG. LIFE BEFORE TREATMENT | AVG. LIFE AFTER TREATMENT | RATIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-inch end mills used to cut C-1065 steel | A | 65 parts | 200 parts | 3.07 |
| Hack-saw blades used to cut boss on M107 shell | A | 4 hours | 6 hours | 1.50 |
| Zone punches used on shell casings | A | 64 shells | 5820 shells | 82.5 |
| Nosing thread dies used on M485 shells | A | 225 shells | 487 shells | 2.12 |
| Copper resistance weld tips | B | 2 weeks | 6 weeks | 3.00 |
| Progressive dies used in metal working | B | 40,000 hits | 250,000 hits | 6.25 |
| Blanking of heat treated 4140 and 1095 steel | C | 1000 pieces | 2000 pieces | 2.00 |
| Broach used on a C1020 steel torque tube yoke | D | 1810 parts | 8602 parts | 4.75 |
| Broaching operation on forged connecting rods | D | 1500 parts | 8600 parts | 5.73 |
| Milling T-nuts from C1018 steel with M-2 cutters | E | 3 bars | 14 bars | 4.67 |
| AMT-38 cut-off blades | F | 60 hours | 928 hours | 15.4 |
Dr. Randall F. Barron, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University, “Yes, Cryogenic Treatments Can Save You Money! Here’s Why”
Youngwood Electronic Metals West, a major metal fabricator for the electronics industry, needed a punch and die to form a 0.090 thick electronic iron material. The blank was 6” by 8” with a 90° form up with a leg off it at 84°. The die was designed to bottom and stipple two surfaces for part stability. The material used was A-2 Steel with a Rc hardness of 60-62. The deep cryogenically treated die was compared to a nitrided die.
| NITRIDED DIE | CRYOGENICALLY TREATED | |
|---|---|---|
| Punch & Die Life | – | 2X Longer |
| #4 Micro Finish | Worn | Maintained |
| Able to Redress | No, not without re-nitriding | Yes |
To determine the advantages of cryogenic treatment on an item used in the Container Industry, tests were conducted on a Zenith G-63 corrugating slitter knife. This knife was circular, with a 9 1/8 inch OD (232 mm) and a thickness of 5/16 inch (7.9 mm). The blade was cut in half, and one half was tested in the as-received condition. The other half was cryogenically treated by soaking it at -310°F (-190°C) for 19 hours, followed by 1 ½ hours post tempering at +300°F (149°C).Hardness and wear tests were conducted on the two knife halves and the results are shown in the table below. As noted from the table, the hardness of the knife was relatively unaffected by the cryogenic treatment; however, the wear resistance was improved considerable.
The increase in wear resistance of more than 7 times, as determined from the laboratory test, was in agreement with field tests on similar slitter knives. The average life of an untreated slitter blade was 6 to 10 weeks between sharpenings; whereas, cryogenically treated knives lasted from 6 to 18 months between sharpenings.
| QUANTITY | UNTREATED SAMPLE | TREATED SAMPLE |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Mass | 459.9 g 1.014 lbm |
454.0 g 1.001 lbm |
| Mass Loss | 4.8 g 0.011 lbm |
1.1 g 0.002 lbm |
| Volume Loss | 645.3 mm³ 0.0394 in³ |
147.8 mm³ 0.0090 in³ |
| Time of run | 30 min. | 30 min. |
| Wear Rate, W | 0.3585 mm³/s 21.8 x 10e-6 in³/s |
0.0821 mm³/s 5.0 x 10e-6 in³/s |
| Hardness, Hv | 59.4 Rc 6700 MN/m² |
58.9 Rc 6590 MN/m² |
| Force on sample, F | 431 N 96.9 lbf |
431 N 96.9 lbf |
| Surface velocity, V | 412.5 mm/s 81.2 fpm |
412.5 mm/s 81.2 fpm |
| Wear resistance, Rw = F V/W Hv | 74.0 | 537.0 |
Minimum Life = 2 Million Parts
A major computer manufacturer identifies in their Supplier Tooling Guide that stamping tools, which are heat hardened to a minimum of Rc54, and used to manufacture 2 million parts must be cryogenically treated at -196°C (-320°F) to produce optimum strength, stability and resistance to wear.
Cryogenic Treatment of stamp dies results in:
Leading brands of twist drills (1/2” diameter) of M7 plain alloy and M7 Tri-nitrided were tested by drilling a ¼” titanium (6A1 – 4V) annealed alloy. The drills were compared as received and after four re-sharpenings. Speeds and feeds were varied.
– M7 cryogenically treated drills produced 270% more holes than plain M7 did.
Scientists have known for years that the deep-freezing of metals changes its microstructure. Originally discovered by NASA, this cryogenic treatment relieves stress and produces a more consistent and uniform material.
What’s this do for softball bats? According to research published by Worth Sports Company, cryogenically treated bats result in a 2 to 4% greater hit distance. In addition, the stress relieving properties results in less vibration, improved feel and greater “pop” off the bat.
Research at Alcoa verified that proper cryogenic treatment reduces residual stresses in their aluminum alloys. Alcoa reported that their tests proved that this resulted in an increase of the “trampoline effect” of the bat when striking the ball.
Users report that the ball travels further and that much less vibration is experienced. Bat life is also increased as the cryogenically stress relieved bat is much less susceptible to denting.
It is perfectly legal to play with a cryogenically treated softball bats and Worth Sports Company has adopted the technology in their line of bats. It is a one time, permanent and irreversible treatment.
The process involves using a computer controlled chamber to very gradually bring the bats to 300 degrees below zero, holding it there for at least 24 hours, and then gradually returning to room temperature.
Grips and certain plastic caps may be affected (e.g. cracked) by the process. We recommend replacing any parts so affected after treatment, which is not included in our processing charge. While this is a relatively rare phenomenon, it may occur in some cases. Bats received by Friday are ready for pickup or shipment by the following Tuesday.
Cost is $20.00 for 1 bat, or three for $50, plus return freight and insurance (if desired).
If you would like to place an order click on Order Form here or on the left hand side of the page.
