Investigations into the occurrence of galling during hot forming of Al–Si-coated high-strength steel

Abstract

Galling is a severe form of adhesive wear associated with both cold and hot metal forming operations. In hot sheet metal forming of Al–Si-coated ultrahigh-strength steel (UHSS), transfer occurs from the coated UHSS to the tool surface. This leads to poor quality of produced parts, damage of expensive tooling, and increased downtime for maintenance of the tools. This study thus aims at identifying the salient mechanism(s), which give rise to initiation/occurrence of galling at elevated temperatures. This has been accomplished by analysing actual hot forming tools and through systematic parametric tribological investigations in the laboratory. The analysis of the actual tools has shown that the transferred layer consists of Al, Si, and Fe. The structure of the transferred materials is composed of sintered/compacted wear particles. The parametric study has shown that galling is dependent on the operating conditions. A strong relationship between the contact pressure and material transfer has been observed. The severity of galling is lower for smoother surfaces at low contact pressure. However, at high contact pressure, the influence of roughness under these conditions is insignificant. It has also been observed that hard-tool steel substrates reduce the severity of galling, particularly, at high contact pressure.