Cold forming of sheet metal into various products such as fittings for cars, may seem as a simple process. The increasing use of advanced high strength steel, often driven by an environmental perspective, has lead to new problems when forming these materials. The problems can in most cases be related to the contact between the forming tool and the sheet metal and the mechanisms governing friction and wear, ie the tribological (tribology = science of friction, wear and lubrication) phenomenon caused by the forming operation. The perhaps most serious problem is when sheet material transfers and adheres onto the tool surface and thus creates an unstable forming process, which usually causes a poor surface quality of the shaped products which, at worst, must be discarded. This problem is known as galling and can also cause a significant wear of the tool and therefore a significant tool cost. The current research project, carried out in close cooperation between Outokumpu Stainless AB, SSAB Swedish Steel AB, Uddeholm Tooling AB and Dalarna University, aims to increase the knowledge about the mechanisms underlying the problems of galling in the forming of high strength steel sheets. The project includes forming experiments in which various combinations of high strength steels, tool steels (including coatings) and lubricants will be evaluated to identify which combinations of these that is most promising and which impact the different parameters have on the outcome. The different surfaces will be analyzed using advanced microscopy and different surfaces analysis methods, which allows studies at nearly atomic level, making it possible to increase the knowledge about the prevailing tribological phenomena and thereby understand the results obtained.
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