Tribological Performance of Direct Metal Laser Sintered 20MnCr5 Tool Steel Countersamples Designed for Sheet Metal Forming Applications
Source abstract
Abstract
This article presents the results of the tribological performance of 20MnCr5 (1.7147) tool steel countersamples produced by Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), as a potential material for inserts or working layers of sheet metal forming tools. Tribological tests were performed using a roller-block tribotester. The samples were sheet metals made of materials with significantly different properties: Inconel 625, titanium-stabilised stainless steel 321, EN AW-6061 T0 aluminium alloy, and pure copper. The samples and countersamples were analysed in terms of their wear resistance, coefficient of friction (COF), changes in friction force during testing, and surface morphology after tribological contact under dry friction conditions. The tests were performed on DMLSed countersamples in the as-received state. The largest gain of countersample mass was observed for the 20MnCr5/EN AW-6061 T0 friction pair. The sample mass loss in this combination was also the largest, amounting to 19.96% of the initial mass. On the other hand, in the 20MnCr5/Inconel 625 friction pair, no significant changes in the mass of materials were recorded. For the Inconel 625 sample, a mass loss of 0.04% was observed. The basic wear mechanism of the samples was identified as abrasive wear. The highest friction forces were observed in the 20MnCr5/Cu friction pair (COF = 0.913) and 20MnCr5/EN AW-6061 T0 friction pair (COF = 1.234). The other two samples (Inconel 625, 321 steel) showed a very stable value of the friction force during the roller-block test resulting in a COF between 0.194 and 0.213. Based on the changes in friction force, COFs, and mass changes in friction pair components during wear tests, it can be concluded that potential tools in the form of inserts or working layers manufactured using 3D printing technology, the DMLS method, without additional surface treatment can be successfully used for forming sheets of 321 steel and Inconel 625.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Additive Manufacturing Materials and Processes · Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies · Advanced machining processes and optimization
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Physical Chemistry and Metallurgy of Non-Ferrous Metals, Faculty of Non-Ferrous Metals, AGH University of Krakow, al. Adama Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Faculty of Metals Engineering and Industrial Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. Adama Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Department of Materials Science and Engineering of Non-Ferrous Metals, Faculty of Non-Ferrous Metals, AGH University of Krakow, al. Adama Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Department of Manufacturing Processes and Production Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, Rzeszów University of Technology, al. Powstańców Warszawy 8, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland
Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Wołoska 141, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
References (46)
Show source-provided references
1. Brandt, M. (2017). 17—Additive manufacture of tools and dies for metal forming. Laser Additive Manufacturing, Woodhead Publishing.10.1016/B978-0-08-100433-3.02001-7 ↗
2. Concept of 3D printed powder feeder for thermal spray process—A case study
3. Production tools made by additive manufacturing through laser-based powder bed fusion10.1007/s00501-020-00961-8 ↗
4. Asnafi, N. (2021). Metal Additive Manufacturing—State of the Art 2020. Metals, 11.10.3390/met11060867 ↗
5. Manufacturing of advanced smart tooling for metal forming10.1016/j.cirp.2019.05.001 ↗
6. Rajasekar, R., Moganapriya, C., and Kumar, P.S. (2024). Additive Manufacturing of Tools and Dies for Metal Forming Applications. Additive Manufacturing with Novel Materials: Processes, Properties and Applications, John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781394198085 ↗
7. Hybrid Additive Manufacturing of Forming Tools10.1007/s42154-023-00239-y ↗
8. 3D metal printing from an industrial perspective—Product design, production, and business models10.1007/s00501-019-0827-z ↗
9. Analysis of tribological performance of new stamping die composite inserts using strip drawing test
10. Pokojski, J., Gil, M., Newnes, L., Stjepandić, J., and Wognum, N. (2020). Stamping Tools for Sheet Metal Forming: Current State and Future Research Directions. Transdisciplinary Engineering for Complex Socio-Technical Systems—Real-Life Applications, IOS Press.10.3233/ATDE12 ↗
11. Thermal fatigue of materials for die-casting tooling10.1016/j.msea.2007.03.025 ↗
12. Sjöström, J. (2004). Chromium Martensitic Hot-Work Tool Steels—Damage, Performance and Microstructure. [Ph.D. Thesis, Karlstad University Studies].
13. The effect of the drawing die radius in the bending under tension test on the frictional behaviour of AISI 430 steel and AW-1100 aluminium alloy sheets
14. Ismail, J.I., and Sanni, K. Exploring the Possibilities of Sheet Metal Forming via Plastic-Based Additive Manufacturing Moulding. [Master’s Thesis, KTH IIP Laboratory]. Available online: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1741470/FULLTEXT01.pdf.
15. New process chains involving additive manufacturing and metal forming—A chance for saving energy?10.1016/j.proeng.2017.10.1049 ↗
16. Sandip Kunar, T., Jagadeesha, S., Rama Sree, K.V.S.R., Murthy, M., and Sreenivasa, R. (2024). Integrating metal forming and additive manufacturing for enhanced product quality and efficiency. Advances in Additive Manufacturing, John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781394238316 ↗
17. 3D printing to facilitate flexible sheet metal forming production10.1016/j.procir.2021.10.014 ↗
18. Optimization of media feed channels in laser beam melting
19. (2019). Additive Manufacturing—Design—Part 1, Laser-Based Powder Bed Fusion of Metals (Standard No. ISO/ASTM 52911-1).
20. Forming and trimming of 2-mm thick DP600 sheet steel in tools and dies 3D-printed in maraging steel by laser-based powder bed fusion
21. Müller, B., Gebauer, M., Hund, R., Malek, R., and Gerth, N. (2014, January 20–21). Metal Additive Manufacturing for tooling applications—Laser Beam Melting technology increases efficiency of dies and molds. Proceedings of the Metal Additive Manufacturing Conference MAMC, Wien, Austria.
22. Żaba, K., Balcerzak, M., Kuczek, Ł., Wiewióra, M., Różycka, I., Trzepieciński, T., and Mizera, J. (2024). Application of powder-bed fusion of metals using a laser for manufacturing of M300 maraging steel tools intended for sheet metal bending. Materials, 17.10.3390/ma17246185 ↗
23. Żaba, K., Szymański, K., Balcerzak, M., Różycka, I., Kuczek, Ł., and Żabiński, P. (2024). Effect of surface finishing on the corrosion resistivity of 3D printed M300 Steel. Materials, 17.10.3390/ma17246047 ↗
24. Mueller, B., Hund, R., Malek, R., Gebauer, M., Polster, S., Kotzian, M., and Neugebauer, R. (February, January 30). Added value in tooling for sheet metal forming through additive manufacturing. Proceedings of the International Conference on Competitive Manufacturing, COMA ’13, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
25. Additive manufacturing tooling for the automotive industry10.1007/s00170-017-0239-8 ↗
26. Feedback control of layerwise laser melting using optical sensors10.1016/j.phpro.2010.08.078 ↗
27. Kruth, J., Mercelis, P., Van Vaerenbergh, J., and Craeghs, T. (2007, January 26–28). Feedback control of selective laser melting. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Advanced Research, Istanbul, Turkey.
28. Application of laser re-melting on selective laser melting parts
29. Additive manufacturing: A framework for implementation10.1016/j.ijpe.2013.07.008 ↗
30. Experimental investigation on wear behavior of titanium alloy (Grade 23) by pin on disc tribometer10.1016/j.rinma.2023.100422 ↗
31. Microstructure and thermal shock resistance of SiC/CNT–SiC double-layer coating for carbon/carbon composites10.1016/j.ceramint.2014.04.127 ↗
32. (2025, May 10). AISI Type 321 Stainless Steel, Annealed Sheet. Available online: https://asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=mq321a.
33. (2025, May 10). Copper, Cu; Annealed. Available online: https://www.matweb.com/search/datasheet_print.aspx?matguid=9aebe83845c04c1db5126fada6f76f7e.
34. Overview of forming and formability issues for high volume aluminum car body panels10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.519-521.795 ↗
35. The state of the art in cold forging lubrication10.1016/0924-0136(94)90100-7 ↗
36. Zabala, A., Galdos, L., Childs, C., Llavori, I., Aginagalde, A., Mendiguren, J., and Saenz de Argandoña, E. (2021). The interaction between the sheet/tool surface texture and the friction/galling behaviour on aluminium deep drawing operations. Metals, 11.10.3390/met11060979 ↗
37. Influence of multi-pass forming on the tribological performance of AISI 430 steel sheet in deep drawing process
38. On the nature of running-in10.1016/j.triboint.2005.07.020 ↗
39. Trzepieciński, T. (2023). Approaches for preventing tool wear in sheet metal forming processes. Machines, 11.10.3390/machines11060616 ↗
40. Application of feed-forward neural networks for modeling friction phenomena with presence of vegetable oil-based bio-lubricants10.2478/adms-2025-0003 ↗
41. Mechanism of friction and real contact area
42. Effect of contact area on friction force in sheet metal forming operations10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.767.77 ↗
43. Design of a tribo-simulator for investigation of the tribological behavior of stainless-steel sheets under different contact conditions10.1590/1980-5373-mr-2021-0220 ↗
44. Czapla, K., Żaba, K., Kot, M., Nejman, I., Madej, M., and Trzepieciński, T. (2023). Tribological performance of anti-wear coatings on tools for forming aluminium alloy sheets used for producing pull-off caps. Materials, 16.10.3390/ma16196465 ↗
45. Luiz, V.D., Santos, A.J., Câmara, M.A., and Rodrigues, P.C.M. (2023). Influence of different contact conditions on friction properties of AISI 430 steel sheet with deep drawing quality. Coatings, 13.10.3390/coatings13040771 ↗
46. An investigation on the friction in a micro sheet metal roll forming processes considering adhesion and ploughing10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2020.116790 ↗