Increasing the Adhesive Wear Resistance of Hot Stamping Tools by Modifying the Surfaces

Abstract

Over the last few years lightweight construction became increasingly important in modern cars. Motivated by reducing greenhouse gas emission the car industry is currently working on different approaches to decrease the weight of structural body parts. In this regard, a reduced sheet thickness of these components and therefore a reduced overall weight can be achieved by using high-strength steels. Hot stamping has been established as a suitable manufacturing process for these steel grades, in which a hot austenitic blank is formed and quenched simultaneously. The high strength of the formed parts is realized by the phase transformation of an austenitic to a martensitic structure during hot stamping. Due to the alternating thermo-mechanical loads, which occur during forming and quenching, the hot stamping tools are highly stressed. In addition, when the blank slides over the surface of its counterpart, a substantial adhesive wear occurs, which is the predominant wear mechanism in hot stamping. The aim of this study is, to increase the wear resistance of the tools by modifying the surface. In this context, the chemical affinity between the interacting components need to be reduced in order to decrease the adhesive wear on the hot stamping tool, which is possible by alloying the base material. For this reason, the wear development is investigated for samples alloyed with different materials with a modified pin-on-disc test. This experimental setup enables a continuous contact of the tool with the blank and thermal alternating stress of the pin. The contact area is investigated with a laser-scanning microscope to qualify the tool surface before and after the experiments by measuring the tool topographies. The results of an unalloyed and alloyed tool will be compared with each other to evaluate the wear behavior. In order to quantify the amount of wear the wear volume will be calculated with an algorithm of the software WinSam. The experiments will be carried out under process like conditions to ensure transferability to the real hot forming process.