Abstract:
The relationships between Yickers hardness (
H) and Temperature (
T) for six industry alloying tool steels and seven WC-Co sintered alloys have been investigated. When
T is lower than tempered, the reversible softening value for tool steels undergone quenchingtempering secondary hardening treatment is a linear function of
T. The diferences among reversible softening factors for various high speed steels (HSS) are very small. Hence, a simple relation to estimate the hardness of HSS at
T below 500℃ is presented. When
T is higher than tempered, the
H-T relation of tool steels is complicated, but
H is still mainly determined by the room temperature hardness after heat treatment. For WC-Co sintered alloys, the
H-T relation is linear up to 800℃, and the relation between
H and cobalt content (Co%) is also linear when Co<20%. The relation tor estimating hardness of WC-Co alloys from
T (<800℃) and Co (3%-20%) is presented.