A novel approach to wear testing in hot stamping of high strength boron steel sheets

Hot stamping of high strength steel sheets was developed in the automotive industry for the production of components characterized by a high strength-to-weight ratio and an increased resistance to impact. In order to avoid scaling and decarburization, the steel blanks are usually coated with an Al–Si coating that has proved a relevant influence also on their tribological behaviour during the forming stages. However, the knowledge of the influence that this coating may have on the dies wear mechanisms is still inadequate.