DC-53 is a general purpose, cold work die and mold steel that also provides excellent strength and toughness that approaches those of high-speed steels. DC53, is an improvement over alloy tool steel D-2. It eliminates the disadvantages of insufficient hardness and toughness that are a result of high-temperature tempering found with D-2. DC-53 is typically chosen as a replacement for D-2 in use for general purpose and precision dies. DC-53 is noted for causing less tool wear and machining times that are faster than D2 Tool Steel.
Benefits of DC-53 Tool Steel
- Higher hardness (62-64 HRc) than D2 after heat treatment
- Twice the toughness of D2 with superior wear resistance
- Substantially higher fatigue strength compared to D2
- Smaller primary carbides than D2 protect the die from chipping and cracking
- Machines and grinds up to 40% faster than D2
- Less residual stress after wire EDM
