Abstract
AISI H11 tool steel is a complex tool steel alloy used to manufacture hot forging dies. These dies however have a limited life, which depends upon the working conditions, the tool design, the heat treatment, and the quality of tool steels. In this paper, a novel wire- and powder-based laser metal deposition (WP-LMD) process was investigated to deposit H11 wire and niobium (Nb) powder simultaneously and develop a coating on existing forging dies for enhancing their life. The main aim was the development of a novel WP-LMD process, and consequently a new H11 tool steel with improved toughness and hardness. The developed WP-LMD process was later implemented to build a multilayer block made of the modified H11 tool steel. The overlap ratio was optimized in both, horizontal and vertical, directions, and were found to be 30% and 20% respectively in order to achieve a fully dense coating and avoid pores and unmelted Nb particles. The potential of the WP-LMD can be used to fabri cate an outer layer of the modified H11 tool steel with improved toughness and hardness, which ultimately enhances the life of hot forging.