Cold work tool steels, which make up the majority of tool steels, have a wider usage area. It is generally used in machining and chipless forming processes (cutting, bending, forming, etc.) of workpieces operating at temperatures below 200°C.
Since high mechanical forces and contact occur between the tool surface and the part during these operations, the tool's wear resistance must be high. Therefore, cold work tool steels have a matrix structure containing hard carbides and a high alloy ratio. They generally contain Chromium (Cr), Vanadium (V), Molybdenum (Mo), Tungsten (W) and Nickel (Ni) elements as alloying elements. The most commonly used cold work tool steel in the market is Cr-Mo-V alloy steel with DIN 1.2379 norm. Lower or higher quality steel may be preferred depending on the place of use.