The main difference between spring steel and die steel lies in their composition, performance and application areas.
Composition and performance
Spring steel is mainly composed of carbon, manganese, silicon and other elements, with high elasticity and toughness, hardness usually between HRC 45-50, and good wear resistance and corrosion resistance.
Die steel is a kind of steel with complex composition, usually containing carbon, chromium, molybdenum, cobalt and other elements to improve hardness and wear resistance, hardness is generally between HRC 50-60, corrosion resistance is also good, but toughness is relatively low.
Application field
Spring steel is suitable for making knives that need to bend and twist, such as spring knives, machetes, etc. due to its high elasticity and toughness. Due to its low cost, it is also suitable for some occasions where the requirements for knives are not high.
Die steel is mainly used to manufacture plastic molds, die-casting molds, mold frames, friction tool cold heading molds, etc., with high hardness, high toughness, good wear resistance and other characteristics. Spring steel is mainly used to manufacture springs, spring leaves, bearing spring washers, etc., with high elasticity and long fatigue life.
Specific application examples
Spring steel
65Mn (low-cost general spring), 60Si2Mn (automobile suspension spring), 50CrVA (high fatigue valve spring).
Mold steel
Cold working mold: Cr12MoV (high wear resistance), D2 (precision punching die).
Hot working mold: H13 (die casting mold), 5CrNiMo (forging mold).
Plastic mold: P20 (pre-hardened type), 420 (corrosion-resistant mirror mold). Of course, different steel materials correspond to different application scenarios. The professional casting company here will give detailed suggestions. If you need a large number of custom steel castings, you can choose Mulan Metal to cooperate. Mulan Metal has 12 years of steel casting experience and exports orders to more than 30 countries every year. Welcome to consult.









