Dry hot forming of high strength aluminum alloys using tool coatings

Bhuva J, He F, Rigas N, Weiss M, Rolfe B, Merklein M (2026)

Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

Book Volume: 601

Article Number: 206850

DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2026.206850

Abstract

In hot forming and quenching (HFQ) of aluminum alloys, the workpiece is susceptible to adhesive wear. Aluminum transfer on to the tools during stamping compromises the part quality and deteriorates the life of the tools. Hard, wear resistant coatings with high working temperature limits can protect the surface of the tools and reduce adhesive wear. Duplex-treated metallic PVD coatings are commonly used to counter adhesive wear in high-temperature aluminum manufacturing applications such as die casting, extrusion, and machining but have not been tested for contact conditions in stamping. Diamond-like-carbon (DLC) coatings are widely used for dry sheet metal stamping operations but their behavior under surface-to-surface sliding at temperatures relevant to HFQ of AA7075 is inconclusive. This study uses strip drawing and cup drawing experiments to determine the wear behavior of four industrially relevant and widely adopted wear-resistant tool coatings – AlCrTiN, ZrN, a-C:H and ta-C, in dry sliding against AA7075 at elevated temperatures. Over successive strip drawing tests, the ta-C coating demonstrated the lowest coefficient of friction (μ<0.5) and adhesive wear accumulation on the friction jaws. The friction coefficients for the other coatings were found to be at least 0.7. Successive hot cup drawing tests revealed that aluminum adhesion on the AlCrTiN coated forming die was the lowest and comparable to the ta-C coated die. Finally, the evolution of the forming force and surface roughness of the formed components over multiple cup drawing trials were lowest for the ta-C coating followed by AlCrTiN. Overall, the study finds that the DLC ta-C coating exhibits optimal tribological performance for wear-reduced lubricant-free hot forming of AA7075.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Deakin University Australia (AU)

How to cite

APA:

Bhuva, J., He, F., Rigas, N., Weiss, M., Rolfe, B., & Merklein, M. (2026). Dry hot forming of high strength aluminum alloys using tool coatings. Wear, 601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2026.206850

MLA:

Bhuva, Jeet, et al. "Dry hot forming of high strength aluminum alloys using tool coatings." Wear 601 (2026).

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