Friction and wear behaviour of tool steels sliding against 22MnB5 steel

Boron steels are used in hot stamping process due to their good mechanical properties. During the stamping process, the dies are exposed to aggressive conditions including adhesive wear, abrasion, thermal stresses and fatigue. In the present work, QRO 90 and UNIMAX slid against 22MnB5 steel in four conditions: with and without hardening treatment and, with and without Al-10%Si coating, in order to evaluate the influence of both coating and austenitization treatment on friction and wear of tool steels. The results showed that Al-10%Si reduces the friction coefficient, while the hardening treatment results in an increase of COF due to Fe2Al5 brittle compounds. Wear mechanism of both tool steels is adhesive and oxidative when tested against coated and uncoated 22MnB5, respectively.