Annealed H12 Tool Steel
Annealed SAE-AISI H12 is SAE-AISI H12 steel in the annealed condition. The graph bars on the material properties cards below compare annealed SAE-AISI H12 to: tool steels (top), all iron alloys (middle), and the entire database (bottom). A full bar means this is the highest value in the relevant set. A half-full bar means it's 50% of the highest, and so on.
Mechanical Properties
Brinell Hardness
210
Elastic (Young's, Tensile) Modulus
190 GPa 28 x 106 psi
Elongation at Break
21 %
Fatigue Strength
230 MPa 34 x 103 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0.29
Rockwell B Hardness
95
Shear Modulus
75 GPa 11 x 106 psi
Shear Strength
440 MPa 63 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS)
690 MPa 100 x 103 psi
Tensile Strength: Yield (Proof)
330 MPa 49 x 103 psi
Thermal Properties
Latent Heat of Fusion
270 J/g
Melting Completion (Liquidus)
1480 °C 2700 °F
Melting Onset (Solidus)
1440 °C 2620 °F
Specific Heat Capacity
470 J/kg-K 0.11 BTU/lb-°F
Thermal Conductivity
36 W/m-K 21 BTU/h-ft-°F
Thermal Expansion
12 µm/m-K
Electrical Properties
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Volume
8.3 % IACS
Electrical Conductivity: Equal Weight (Specific)
9.5 % IACS
Otherwise Unclassified Properties
Base Metal Price
9.0 % relative
Density
7.9 g/cm3 490 lb/ft3
Embodied Carbon
2.9 kg CO2/kg material
Embodied Energy
41 MJ/kg 18 x 103 BTU/lb
Embodied Water
76 L/kg 9.0 gal/lb
Common Calculations
PREN (Pitting Resistance)
12
Resilience: Ultimate (Unit Rupture Work)
120 MJ/m3
Resilience: Unit (Modulus of Resilience)
290 kJ/m3
Stiffness to Weight: Axial
14 points
Stiffness to Weight: Bending
24 points
Strength to Weight: Axial
24 points
Strength to Weight: Bending
22 points
Thermal Diffusivity
9.8 mm2/s
Thermal Shock Resistance
22 points
Alloy Composition
| Fe | 87.8 to 91.7 | |
| Cr | 4.8 to 5.5 | |
| Mo | 1.3 to 1.8 | |
| W | 1.0 to 1.7 | |
| Si | 0.8 to 1.2 | |
| C | 0.3 to 0.4 | |
| Mn | 0.2 to 0.5 | |
| V | 0 to 0.5 | |
| Ni | 0 to 0.3 | |
| Cu | 0 to 0.25 | |
| P | 0 to 0.030 | |
| S | 0 to 0.030 |
All values are % weight. Ranges represent what is permitted under applicable standards.
Followup Questions
Further Reading
SAE J437: Selection and Heat Treatment of Tool and Die Steels
ASTM A681: Standard Specification for Tool Steels Alloy
Tool Steels, 5th ed., George Roberts et al., 1998
Tool Steels: Properties and Performance, Rafael A. Mesquita (editor), 2016
ASM Specialty Handbook: Carbon and Alloy Steels, J. R. Davis (editor), 1996
CRC Materials Science and Engineering Handbook, 4th ed., James F. Shackelford et al. (editors), 2015