不同表面热处理 H13 钢与 7075 铝合金板高温摩擦性能对比研究

Comparative study on high-temperature friction behavior of different surface-treated H13 steel dies and 7075 aluminum alloy sheets

摘要

在热冲压过程中，铝合金板材与 H13 钢之间的滑动接触常导致严重磨损与粘着转移，这会显著降低成形质量并缩短模具寿命. 本研究基于自主研发的板带式高温摩擦试验机，根据铝合金板材热冲压工艺模拟了固溶–成形–淬火过程，研究了加热的 7075 铝合金薄板与 H13 钢模具之间的摩擦学性能. 在不同法向载荷下，分析三种表面热处理状态下 H13 钢模具与 7075 铝合金的高温摩擦行为及机理. 三种表面处理具体如下：（I）淬火和回火（Q&T）；（II）Q&T 后离子渗氮（PN）；（III）Q&T 后 PVD–TiN 涂层. 试验结果表明，法向压强增大时，摩擦系数升高，粘着磨损加剧；在不同压强条件下，PVD–TiN 涂层与渗氮涂层均展现出优异的减摩性能. 在 4.5 MPa 中等压强条件下，尽管 PVD–TiN 模具的摩擦系数低于渗氮表面改性模具，但由于 PVD–TiN 涂层较薄，易发生局部剥落，使新鲜金属表面暴露，其粘着磨损比渗氮表面改性模具更严重；而渗氮处理形成的 Fe₃N、Fe₄N 等化合物可有效抑制粘着现象. 在 5.4 MPa 高压强条件下，PVD–TiN 表面改性模具不仅能保持较低的摩擦系数，其表面形成的 TiN 颗粒还可显著减轻粘着磨损，性能优于渗氮表面改性模具；而渗氮表面改性模具在高压强下会因塑性变形产生 Fe–Cr 合金团状颗粒，导致摩擦副接触状态恶化.

Abstract

During hot stamping, the sliding contact between an aluminum alloy sheet and H13 tool steel often results in severe wear and adhesive material transfer. These tribological phenomena can significantly degrade forming quality and reduce die service life. In this study, the high-temperature tribological behavior of a heated 7075 aluminum alloy sheet sliding against H13 steel was investigated under conditions designed to simulate the aluminum hot-stamping practice. Experiments were conducted using a self-developed strip-type high-temperature friction tester. Based on the actual process sequence for aluminum hot stamping, the tester was used to reproduce a combined “solution treatment–forming–quenching” cycle such that the friction pair experienced thermal and mechanical histories similar to those encountered in industrial production. The main purpose was to elucidate how normal pressure and die surface condition influenced friction evolution, adhesive transfer, and the dominant wear mechanisms at elevated temperature. Three representative surface conditions of H13 steel were examined: (I) quenched and tempered (Q&T); (II) plasma nitrided after Q&T (PN); and (III) physical vapor deposition TiN coating applied after Q&T (PVD–TiN). Under different normal loads, the coefficient of friction and extent of adhesive wear/transfer were quantified and the friction and wear mechanisms were analyzed for each surface condition. The results show that as the normal pressure increases, the friction coefficient generally rises and adhesive wear becomes more severe. Higher contact pressure increases the real area of contact and promotes stronger interfacial bonding between the softened, high-temperature 7075 aluminum and steel surface, thereby accelerating sticking, tearing, and the formation of transfer layers. In contrast, both the PVD–TiN coating and plasma-nitrided layer exhibit excellent friction-reducing performance compared with the baseline Q&T surface, indicating that surface engineering is an effective approach for mitigating galling during aluminum hot stamping. At a moderate pressure of 4.5 MPa, the PVD–TiN surface produces a lower coefficient of friction than the nitrided surface. However, because the TiN coating is relatively thin, it can undergo local spallation under combined thermal effects and tangential shear. Once delamination occurs, the fresh metallic substrate is exposed, providing highly reactive sites that facilitate strong adhesion to the aluminum sheet. As a result, despite the lower measured friction coefficient, adhesive wear on the PVD–TiN die surface is more pronounced than on the nitrided die under this intermediate-pressure condition. By comparison, the plasma-nitrided layer contains nitride compound phases, such as Fe₃N and Fe₄N, which create a harder and more chemically stable near-surface region and can effectively suppress adhesion, thereby reducing material pickup and transfer. At a higher pressure of 5.4 MPa, the PVD–TiNTiN-modified die not only maintains a relatively low coefficient of friction but also benefits from TiN-related hard particles formed or retained at the interface. These particles can function as protective third-body constituents, reducing direct metal-to-metal contact and significantly alleviating adhesive wear. Under this high-pressure condition, the overall anti-galling performance of the PVD–TiN surface is superior to that of the nitrided surface. In contrast, the nitrided die under high pressure tends to experience plastic deformation, which generates agglomerated Fe–Cr alloy particles and worsens the interfacial contact state, ultimately destabilizing friction behavior and aggravating wear. In summary, PVD–TiN provides a more pronounced friction-reduction effect than plasma nitriding in the simulated 7075/H13 hot-stamping tribosystem and is particularly suitable for medium-to-low pressure hot-stamping applications where low friction is critical. Plasma nitriding, on the other hand, offers superior structural stability of the modified layer, making it better suited to heavy-load, high-pressure stamping scenarios in which resistance to deformation and long-term surface integrity are essential.

关键词

7075 铝合金 / H13 钢 / PVD–TiN / 离子渗氮 / 摩擦磨损性能

Key words

7075 aluminum alloy / H13 steel / PVD–TiN / ion nitriding / tribological properties

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基金资助

国家自然科学基金面上资助项目(42276214)