ABSTRACT
Various aspects of tool steels are presented and discussed in this book. This chapter will first guide the reader on the main attributes of tool steels, how this class of materials may be segmented, and how the main metallurgical aspects are interconnected. Starting with the definition of tool steels, this chapter then introduces the four main groups of tool steels, which will form the base for the discussion in the subsequent chapters. And this division is based on the final tooling application, rather than on composition or other metallurgical aspects.
