High-Temperature Wear and Frictional Performance of Plasma-Nitrided AISI H13 Die Steel

Plasma nitriding, a surface treatment technique, is gaining popularity, as it is environment-friendly and offers superior mechanical properties. This research studied the wear and friction performance of AISI H13 die steel after plasma nitriding in a gas mixture of N2:H2 at 20:80, 50:50, and 80:20 (volume ratio) at a fixed time and temperature. This work aimed to analyze the sliding wear performance of the plasma-nitrided tool die steel in hot-forming operations at higher loads. Scanning electron microscopy/electron-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used to study the microstructures of the H13 die steel pins after plasma nitriding. Wear tests were performed on a high-temperature tribometer under uni-directional sliding and dry conditions using a high-temperature tribometer under a 50 N load at various operating temperatures ranging from 25 degrees C to 600 degrees C. The results show that the plasma-nitriding process with N2:H2 at 20:80 improved the wear behavior of H13 steel. The friction coefficients and wear volume losses for all the plasma-nitrided specimens were less than those of the untreated die steel.

Automated summary

This research studied the wear and friction performance of H13 die steel after plasma nitriding with different gas mixtures. The results showed that plasma nitriding with a N2:H2 ratio of 20:80 improved the wear behavior of H13 steel.