Wear of additively manufactured tool steel in contact with aluminium alloy

In this work, additively manufactured (AM) tool steel discs were prepared by selective laser melting (SLM) and subjected to pin-on-disc experiments in contact to aluminium alloy pin at various temperatures. The experimental conditions were selected to replicate those in hot forming of aluminium alloys. The results demonstrated that abrasive wear of the AM tool steel was the dominant wear process. At elevated temperatures, weight losses of the AM tool steel specimens decreased systematically with increase in temperature. Profilometric investigations revealed that the wear tracks were wide and shallow, with the greatest width being detected at 450°C and the deepest wear track at 400°C. Particularly at 450 and 500°C, most of the wear debris released from the AM tool steel surface attached to the aluminium alloy pin and modified the tool steel-aluminium alloy contact. At 500°C, the wear debris formed a glaze layer on the aluminium alloy pin surface.