The performance and service life of the die components are limited because of different reasons such as thermal and mechanical fatigue cracking, wear, plastic deformation, etc. To minimise these damages, the dies are normally subjected to a variety of surface engineering processes. In the present study, the dimensional loss and lifetime of hardfaced and unmodified H11 steel hot forging dies were monitored during service and compared. For this purpose, various experimental tools such as XRD, SEM, optical metallography and microhardness test were employed. Microhardness profiles from surface to the depth of the dies after service were determined to study the variations in mechanical properties. It was observed that the hardfacing with Stellite 21 and Inconel 625 alloys leads to an increase in wear resistance and the working life of the dies in industrial scale. In the case of hardfaced dies, the work hardening of surface produces a self-protecting layer which has a strong metallurgical bonding to the substrate and thus enhances more resistance to further wear, while hardness reduction during service in unmodified H11 steel die causes a reduction in wear resistance and plastic deformation of surface layer.

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