Wear reduction at hot forging dies with duplex processes using nitriding and plasma deposition techniques

The sustainability of forging processes is significantly influenced by the tool costs and scrap costs which on their side depend on the life time of the forging dies. The tools used for hot forging are subject to process related high mechanical, tribological, chemical and thermal-cyclic loads which usually interact with each other. In comparison to other manufacturing methods, the resulting load spectrum leads to extensive wear and thus to the failure of the forging dies after a short tool life. To increase the wear resistance of forging dies, duplex plasma nitriding and plasma deposition techniques were used to improve the surface properties and hence to increase the die life time. By basic investigations of the wear mechanisms the potentials of newly developed vanadium doped chromium nitride and boron containing titanium nitride coating systems were investigated.