March 27, 2019
Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd.

Development of QCM64-HARMOTEX®
Cold-Work Tool Steel that Combines the High Hardness of 64 HRC Class and the Superior Toughness~ Excellent properties achieved through the use of advanced technology—contributing to a longer service life andcost savings in cold-work tool ~In response to the ever-increasing demand in recent years for cold-work tool steel (die steel) with higher performance
properties, Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd. has developed the cold-work tool steel QCM64-HARMOTEX®—a steel that combines
the high hardness of 64 HRC Class and superior toughness.
HARMOTEX®, the brand name of Sanyo Special Steel’s high-performance tool steel, is derived from “HARMO,” anabbreviation of Harmony (signifying harmony with customer needs and the social environment), and “TEX,” which denotes
technological advancement. QCM64-HARMOTEX® is the third in the HARMOTEX® series, following the already popular
QT41-HARMOTEX® and QDX-HARMOTEX®.
Even equal high hardness of high-speed steel
QCM64-HARMOTEX® helps to not only improve productivity andand superior toughness
the quality of finished goods but also to reduce tooling costs throughbetter fatigue life and resistance to wear and cracking in punches,pressing dies, and rolling tools, etc. that are used for cold working inHelps to improve productivity and quality ofharsh conditions.
finished goods and reduce die costs
We are currently at the stage where sample shipments have started
and some customers have already carried out sample evaluations. The
product has been gaining a good reputation, with positive results noted
in improvements to quality of finished surface on stainless steel tube
rolling and reduced chipping in cold-work punching.
With this addition to the HARMOTEX® series lineup, SanyoSpecial Steel is responding to the diverse needs of its customers while
aggressively promoting product development and sales activities toexpand use of its products in the future.
■ Background to the Development of QCM64-HARMOTEX®
In recent years, due to increasing tendency of near-net-shape production that approximate the finished shape with fewer
steps and adoption of high-strength materials such as high-tensile steel in the manufacture of automobiles and components
for home appliances, etc., cold-work tools such as punches, pressing dies, rolling tools, etc. are required to better fatigue
life and resistance to wear and cracking.
In particular, general purpose cold-work tool steel such as the JIS SKD11 is not sufficiently hard when used underharsh conditions. Therefore, in these conditions, high-grade materials with high hardness and excellent wear resistancesuch as high-speed steel represented by JIS SKH51 and P/M(Powder Metallurgy) high-speed steel are used. However, theproblem was that these high-quality materials contain high amounts of rare metals such as tungsten, molybdenum, andvanadium, making them expensive in terms of material costs as well as the heat treatment costs required for theperformance of cold-work tools.
Sanyo Special Steel has taken advantage of its
outstanding precipitated carbides control
technology to discover the optimum alloy
composition to control crystallization in coarse
carbides that characteristically leads todeterioration in toughness and fatigue strength oftool steels. This has allowed Sanyo Special Steelto successfully develop QCM64-HARMOTEX®,
which displays the high hardness of the 64 HRCClass— comparable to the JIS SKH51 under theheat treatment conditions as general purpose
cold-work tool steel, and which is at least twice
as tough as JIS SKD11 and JIS SKH51.

＜Micro-structure Comparison＞【QCM64-HARMOTEX®】

Coarse Carbides【JIS SKD11】

■Features of QCM64-HARMOTEX®

＜Comparison Chart of Characteristics＞

Hardness(1) Superior performance that helps to improve theservice life of cold-work tools and the quality offinished products

GoodAnisotropy ofdimensionalchange Low

QCM64-HARMOTEX® features levels of hardness
and toughness that are far excellent than the JIS
SKD11 used in ordinary cold-work tool steel.
This outstanding feature helps to increase
productivity and the quality of finished products byimproving the fatigue life as well as the wear andcracking resistance of cold-work tools.

Machinability
GoodGoodWearresistanceToughness
GoodGood

Fatigue strength

QCM64-H
SKD11(2) Displays outstanding performance under the heat treatment conditions as general purpose cold-work tool steel
High-speed steel represented by JIS SKH51 needs high-temperature heat treatment in order to provide the required
hardness.
QCM64-HARMOTEX® displays the outstanding performance under the heat treatment conditions as general purpose
cold-work tool steel, helping to save on the manufacturing costs for cold-work tools.

An Example of Heat Treatment Conditions【QCM64-HARMOTEX®】

QuenchingTempering1030-1050℃
Oil Quenching
Gas Cooling
Air Cooling

500～560℃

500～560℃
Air Cooling

Holding Time:
1-2hr/25mm

30min/25mm

Air Cooling

Holding Time:
1-2hr/25mm【JIS SKH51】

QuenchingTempering

1200-1250℃
SaltBath

OilQuenching

Salt Bath500 or 200℃

540～580℃

AirCooling

THolding Time:
10-20min/25mm

540～580℃
Air Cooling

Air Cooling

Holding Time:
1-2hr/25mm

Ｔ:Holding Time at Quenching TemperatureThickness (mm)5 10 20304060
Holding Time :T (sec) 60 90 160 240 280 390

Holding Time:
1-2hr/25mm

80440

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(For Inquiries)
Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd., General Administration Department:
Tel. +81-79-235-6003

【Reference】■Explanation of Terms
・HRC
HRC is a unit that expresses the hardness of steel on the Rockwell hardness scale. The hardness of annealed material
is typically around 20 HRC.
・Toughness
The tenacity of a material, or the characteristic property that denotes how difficult it is to destroy a material. Low
toughness indicates that a material is fragile, making it easy for cracks to advance (become larger), whereas the higher
the toughness the more tenacious the material, making it less likely that cracks will advance.
・High-speed Steel
High-speed steel is a grade of steel that was originally made for tools used to cut steel—a grade that exhibits a highlevel of hardness and outstanding wear resistance. However, it is not easy to make, as material costs are high and thesteel needs to be processed using a high-temperature heat treatment.

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