The article deals with cyclical abrasive wear of the surface of forming tools. At this stage the research focused on the genesis of stress in the contact between a deformed material and a tool in the cold bulk forming process. The experiments were conducted in the simple configuration of the upsetting test. The article presents the results of abrasive wear by a combination of materials of examined samples and upsetting plates. The abrasive wear in the used material specimens was analysed comparatively in the form of the wear factor by the finite element method. Two intersecting phenomenological fields represent the output for the examined material combinations. Firstly, it is a formulation of the dependencies of the maximum depth increase of the surface wear. The argument is the number of exposure cycles. At the same time, the topology of degradations and the resulting roughness in the space of the exposed surface were examined.

The paper deals with stress of forming dies in complex conditions of concrete processes during their service life. Possibilities of assessment and prediction of tool service life based on comparative analysis of dynamic fatigue and abrasive wear are presented. Classical solution of dynamic fatigue is complemented by analysis of the situation of cyclic contact of rotating instruments. In this case super-position of cyclic pressure effect dominates, as well as abrasion on the surface of the functional surfaces of the rotating forming tool. Specific in this case is the different speed in the contact line and also the dynamics of development of size, shape and localisation of the surface exposed to wear by cyclic compressive stress. The solution is demonstrated on examples of different forms of wear of forging and rolling tools. The results of a comprehensive predictive analysis can be applied at designing of technological chains of forming operations.