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The effects of quenching and tempering temperatures on the microstructure and mechanccal properties of H13 hot work die steel were rnvestigated by using metallograplic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, microhardness tesiing,and tensle testing. The findings revealed that secondary tempering treatment and appropriate reduction in tempering temperature result in the effective precipitation of iiner and more dispersed carbides and the complete release of quenching stress. As a resutt, the hardness and toughness of H13 hot work de steel were significantly improved. Notably,when the quenching temperature was 1 000 C and the tempering temperature was 520 C, the mechanical properties are superior, characterized by smaler tempering martenstte size and more uniform structural dsstribution. Under these cond!tions, the hardness measureed 487 HV, the tenslle strength reached 1 779 MPa,and the elongation was 11. 5%. The analysis of the tenslle fracture morphology reveals the presence of numerous dimples in the specimen after the tempering process, indccative of typca! ducile fracture charac t eris i ccs. Fur t hermore,a model was developed to describe t he soft ening behavior of H13 s t eel during t empering n t he t empera t ure range of 520 C to 600 C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]