After hot forming, tool steel usually is exposed to a heat treatment process done to produce a low-hardness condition. Low hardness is important for machining, but the treatment also should promote a homogeneous microstructure, usually referred to as the annealed condition. The graph shows the process condition as a function of time, temperature, and phase transformation.
Volume 4D, Heat Treating of Irons and Steels -> Heat Treating of Carbon and Low-Alloy Steels -> Introduction to Heat Treating of Tool Steels -> Heat Treatment Applied to Tool Steels
