Corrosion-resistant plastic mold steels are usually tempered at lower tempering temperatures than hot-work, high-alloyed cold-work, or high-speed steels. A comparison of different types of corrosion-resistant plastic mold steels with the widely used cold-work tool steel D2 with the same dimensions as in the previous example for cold-work tool steels for such heat treatment conditions can be seen in the figure and shows that all steels show a similar low dimension change in width. Regarding the thickness of the plates there is a significantly higher increase for the ledeburitic cold-work tool steel. Vacuum heat treatment with high-pressure gas quenching leads to a similar amount of distortion as salt bath heat treatments but again shows significant scatter.
For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 13. R Schneider; R. Mesquita; W Schützenhöfer, Distortion in Tool Steels, ASM International, 2014 https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005980
