A Study of the Effects of Cryogenic Treatment on Tool Steel Properties

Conclusion:

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.

tool steels