Friction and adhesion of stainless steel strip against tool steels in unlubricated sliding with high contact load

The strong tendency of stainless steel to adhere to other metals and to work harden makes it particularly difficult to form. A new slider-on-strip tribometer was used to study the tribological behaviour of traditional and new tool materials. The tribometer allows friction, workpiece adhesion on the tool surface and wear to be studied under conditions with low sliding speeds and high contact pressures. Several tool steels were tested using cold rolled stainless steel strip as a workpiece material. The results showed that the composition of the tool steel does not have a marked effect on the friction between the tool and the workpiece. However, the surface roughness and topography of the tool have a marked effect. Polishing of the tool surface to reduce the surface roughness reduces the friction between the tool and the workpiece.