In sheet metal forming (SMF) of materials such as stainless steels there is a major problem with transfer and accumulation of sheet material to the metal forming tool surface. The problem is known as galling; a sort of severe adhesive wear, which results in severe scratching of produced parts. In this thesis, the overall aim was to gain knowledge of the influence of tool steel microstructure on galling initiation under sliding conditions. It was discovered that material transfer and tool steel damage caused by sheet material flow creating wear-induced galling initiation sites occurred in the early stage of galling. The galling resistance was higher for tool steels with higher matrix hardness due to better resistance to tool steel damage. Initial friction and critical contact pressure to galling was influenced by the strength of the sheet material. Material transfer happened at low pressures and the friction value was high in a case of sheet materials with lower proof strength, possibly due to the sheet contact against the tool steel matrix resulting in high adhesion and quicker tool damage. It was demonstrated that, in addition to hardness of the tool steel matrix and sheet material proof strength, tool steel microstructural features like size, shape, distribution and height of hard phases are important parameters influencing galling. Tool steels comprising homogeneously distributed, small and high hard phases better prevented the contact between sheet material and the tool steel matrix. Thus, a metal to metal contact with high friction was more efficiently avoided, which resulted in better tool performance.

The diploma thesis deals with study of laser cladding technology and possibilities of its use in renovation of casting molds made of hot-work tool steel. The theoretical part describes methods of laser cladding, testing methods and characteristics of the base material and its heat treatment. In the experimental part the test clads, and the metallographic samples were made. The samples were evaluated in terms of macrostructure and microstructure, especially clad geometry, dilution, and defects like pores and cracks. Microhardness was also measured. In conclusion a technical and economic evaluation was performed.

The diploma thesis is focused on the renovation of forming tools made of tool steel, their weldability and assessment of the quality of tool repairs. The damaged tool was a part of the cutter from the progressive cutting tool made of Caldie steel. We used micro TIG technology to repair the damage. A total of three types of additional materials were used and investigated to restore the geometry of the damaged edge. One of the main purposes was to evaluate the possibility of extending the life of tools and reducing the implementation of already inefficient repairs. A number of destructive tests were performed for the assessment - macrostructure, microstructure, hardness measurement and EDS analysis.

This thesis deals with technology design of stamping production made of CuSn4 bronzy band by using high-speed cutting. First part of the thesis is focused on description of cutting technology, second part analyses high-speed cutting technology. Thanks to both analysis a module sequential die was constructed. The die is connected to the BSTA machine via quick-clamp system. This BSTA 250 machine produced by Bruderer company was chosen based on technology calculations. All necessary calculations, selected parts of drawing documentation as well as technical-economical evaluation of the technology design are mentioned in the thesis.

In sheet metal forming (SMF) of materials such as stainless steels there is a major problem with transfer and accumulation of sheet material to the metal forming tool surface. The problem is known as galling; a kind of severe adhesive wear, which results in severe scratching of produced parts. In this thesis, galling observed in contacts between tool steels and stainless steel sheets under lubricated sliding conditions was studied, focusing on the early stage of galling. It was found that changes in friction cannot be used as galling indicator in the early stage of galling because transfer and accumulation of sheet material happens even though friction is low and stable. The progression of galling is influenced by tool steel damage occurring around the tool steel hard phases caused by sheet material flow, which results in formation of wear-induced galling initiation sites. A correlation between the critical contact pressure to galling and sheet material proof stress was found. Galling happened at lower pressures for sheet material with lower proof stress possibly due to easier sheet material flow, resulting in quicker tool damage. Material transfer and tool steel damage were delayed for tool steels comprising homogenously distributed, small and high hard phases. Additionally, the galling resistance was higher for tool steels with higher hardness due to decreased tool steel damage. In a comparison between observations of the worn tool surfaces after wear tests and calculations in FEM it was found that material transfer did not take place at regions with highest contact pressures but at regions with highest plastic strains. The results obtained in this thesis indicate that tool steel damage and sheet material flow occurring in the contact during sliding are important factors influencing galling.

A thermo-mechanical finite element model is developed to determine the temperature history and residual stresses in a Cu-H13 thin-walled plate deposited by the Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENSTM) process. The same model is also applied to a H13-H13 sample to compare the results. The input laser power is adjusted to maintain a steady molten pool size and depth. For a constant scanning speed the laser power decreases with the addition of more layers, and with the increase of scanning speed the laser power needs to be increased. The Z-component of residual stresses is greater than the other components, and is compressive near the center of the wall and tensile at the free edges. The residual stress levels near the free edges are higher in the H13-H13 sample than in the Cu-H13 sample. In these regions, the use of unidirectional scanning results in a higher stress accumulation than the alternating scanning.

Tooling reliability is critical to welding success in friction stir welding, but tooling fatigue is not well understood because it occurs in conditions that are often unique to friction stir welding. A fatigue study was conducted on a commonly used tooling material, H13 tool steel, using constant stress loading at temperatures between 300°C and 600°C, and the results are presented. A model is proposed accounting for temperature and stress effects on fatigue life, utilizing a two-region Arrhenius temperature model. A transition in temperature effect on fatigue life is identified. Implications of the temperature effect for friction stir welding suggest that tooling fatigue life dramatically decreases above 500°C and accelerated testing should be conducted below 500°C.

No / This paper presents the results of a recent comprehensive investigation of selective laser melting (slm) of prealloyed gas and water atomised M2 and H13 tool steel powders. The objective of the study was to establish the parameters that control the densification of single and multiple layers with the aim of producing high density parts without the need for infiltration. Powders were processed using continuous wave (CW) CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers. Relationships between alloy composition, powder particle size and shape, flowability, microstructure (phases present, their size, morphology and distribution), track morphology, post scanned density, surface finish and scan conditions (Laser power, spot size and scan speed) are discussed for single track, single layer and multi-layer (up to 25 layers) constructions. Processing with a Nd:YAG laser with powders placed on substrates rather than on a loose powder bed gave more stable builds than with the CO2 laser. Using the Nd:YAG laser densities up to ~90% relative were possible with H13 powder compared with a maximum of ~70% for M2 in multi-layer builds. Maximum density achieved with CW CO2 processing was only ~60%, irrespective of powder composition. The paper compares the processibility of these materials with stainless steel powders processed to higher densities (up to 99% relative) under similar conditions. The results of the work show that a crucial factor for high density processing is melt pool wettability and this is controlled largely by carbon content; low carbon contents producing better wettability, flatter tracks and higher densities. The significance of this observation for the processing high alloy steels by slm will be discussed.

In sheet metal forming (SMF) of materials such as stainless steels there is a major problem with transfer and accumulation of sheet material to the metal forming tool surface. The problem is known as galling; a kind of severe adhesive wear, which results in severe scratching of produced parts. In this thesis, galling observed in contacts between tool steels and stainless steel sheets under lubricated sliding conditions was studied, focusing on the early stage of galling. It was found that changes in friction cannot be used as galling indicator in the early stage of galling because transfer and accumulation of sheet material happens even though friction is low and stable. The progression of galling is influenced by tool steel damage occurring around the tool steel hard phases caused by sheet material flow, which results in formation of wear-induced galling initiation sites. A correlation between the critical contact pressure to galling and sheet material proof stress was found. Galling happened at lower pressures for sheet material with lower proof stress possibly due to easier sheet material flow, resulting in quicker tool damage. Material transfer and tool steel damage were delayed for tool steels comprising homogenously distributed, small and high hard phases. Additionally, the galling resistance was higher for tool steels with higher hardness due to decreased tool steel damage. In a comparison between observations of the worn tool surfaces after wear tests and calculations in FEM it was found that material transfer did not take place at regions with highest contact pressures but at regions with highest plastic strains. The results obtained in this thesis indicate that tool steel damage and sheet material flow occurring in the contact during sliding are important factors influencing galling.

This work focused on laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of H13 tool steel to examine microstructure and melt pool morphology. Experiments were conducted with varying laser power (P) in the range of 90-180 W and scan speed (v) in the range of 500-1000 mm/s. layer thickness (l) and hatch spacing (h) were kept constant. Volumetric energy density (γ) was calculated using the above process parameters. In order to find a relation between the recorded density and top surface roughness with changing process parameters, set of equations were derived using the non-dimensional analysis. For any chosen values of laser power, scan speed, hatch spacing and layer thickness, these equations help to predict top surface roughness and density of LPBF processed H13 tool steel. To confirm the universal relation for these equations, data of In718 and SS316L processed in LPBF was input which gave a R-square of >94% for top surface roughness and >99% for density. A closed box approach, response surface model, was also used to predict the density and surface roughness which allows only in the parametric range. Material microstructures were examined to identify the melting modes such as keyhole, transition and conduction modes. X-ray diffraction data revealed that there was a presence of retained austinite in all the H13 printed samples. Elongated and equiaxed cellular structure were observed in higher magnifications due to solidification rate and thermal gradient.