Experimental Study of Wear Behaviour of Hot Forging Tool Steels Under Dry Conditions: 40CrMoV13 Against C35E

The dimensions and quality of forged-steel components are significantly affected by the action of friction and wear. The thermal and mechanical operating conditions of hot forging tools provoke serious degradation, such as oxidative wear, thermal fatigue, plastic damage and mechanical cracking. This slowly causes the tools to lose their original geometry and thus they must be either reformed or discarded [1]. The knowledge and control of this damage is essential and must be taken into consideration, both in die design and in the choice of tool material and the type of surface conditioning. The degradation has direct effects on the lifespan of the tools, and consequently on the cost of the components. This paper deals with the sliding wear behaviour of 40CrMoV13 Steel against C35E in the 700 to 850 °C temperature range under ambient conditions. This steel is used frequently as hot forging die material. This study focuses on the effect of the test temperature and the role of the oxide scales. The purpose of these experiments was to obtain tribological data (friction coefficient, wear rate, etc.), in order to include it in numerical simulations of damage to hot forging tools for the purpose of optimizing the tools' lifespan.