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Hydrogen Embrittlement Characteristics of a Die-Casting Die after a High-Pressure Die-Casting Operation

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Abstract

In this work, the failure characteristics of a die-casting die manufactured from conventional hot-worked steel (SKD61) were investigated experimentally. A die with heat-checking failure on its cavity due to high-pressure die casting was employed. Apparently, the microstructural characteristics of the die around the regions exhibiting heat checking were unaltered. However, the hardness values decreased slightly because of the die heating via the injection of molten aluminum alloy, which is the tempering-like effect. Hydrogen was detected in the die around the regions with heat checking, which can slightly reduce the tensile fracture strain, i.e., hydrogen embrittlement (HE). The extent of HE was sensitive to the loading speed, particularly to a low loading speed. When heated to 450 °C, hydrogen gas was detected in a commercial die lubricant, which may lead to hydrogen infiltration in the die. This paper discusses the details pertaining to hydrogen penetration and die failure mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by SUZUKI FOUNDATION, and the authors would like to acknowledge our mentors from SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION (Mr. Shogo Komura, Mr. Osahiko Horii, Mr. Takeshi Aoki, Ms. Arisa Osugi, and Mr. Kosuke Kakinoki) for their scientific advice. Die-casting die was provided by KYOWA CASTING Co., Ltd (Mr. Masaki Touda).

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  1. Department of Mechanical and Systems Engineering, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushimanaka, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan

    Mitsuhiro Okayasu & Katsunori Shigematsu

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  1. Mitsuhiro Okayasu
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  2. Katsunori Shigematsu
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Correspondence to Mitsuhiro Okayasu.

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Okayasu, M., Shigematsu, K. Hydrogen Embrittlement Characteristics of a Die-Casting Die after a High-Pressure Die-Casting Operation. Inter Metalcast 18, 810–820 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40962-023-01081-y

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