13. What are the load limits for Evacuable Pellet Dies?

The maximum load limits that are specified on the Evacuable Pellet Dies (for example,10 tons for the 13 mm die) means this is the recommended maximum load to be read at the pressure gauge on a 15 or 25 ton manual hydraulic press, whenever the specific die is in the press.

The pressure gauge should strictly be called the load gauge as it is this maximum tonnage load limit that is applied over a specific area. As the dies grow in size for their diameter, so their recommended load limit increases as there is a larger area associated with being compressed for the die pellet. For the 13 mm diameter die the load of 10 tons (that is, 22400 lbs) is being spread over an area of 132.73 mm2 (or 0.205 in2 ). This equates to a pressure of 109,268 lbs per square inch or 48.78 tons per square inch.

Any increase above the maximum load limit could cause damage to the die set. For example, if the plunger was to bulge when inside the body, the die set would completely seize and be totally unusable.