A Study of the Coefficient of Friction in Steel Sheets Forming

The aim of this paper was to compare the tribological properties of a deep drawing quality steel sheet using the three commonly used friction tests, i.e., the strip drawing test, draw bead test, and bending under tension test. All tests have been carried out using a specially designed friction simulator. The test material was a 0.8-mm-thick DC04 steel sheet, commonly used in the automotive industry. Uniaxial tensile tests have been carried out to characterise the mechanical properties of the specimens. Furthermore, measurements of the sheet surface topography have been carried out to characterise the tribological properties of the specimens. The friction tests have been conducted under different pressure and lubrication conditions, surface roughnesses of tools represented by counter-samples, and orientations of the specimens according to the direction of the sheet rolling. A comparative analysis of the results of the friction tests revealed different values of friction. In the strip drawing test, the value of the coefficient of friction decreases as the contact pressure increases for both dry and lubricated conditions. In the draw bead test, the specimens oriented along the rolling direction demonstrated a higher value of the coefficient of friction compared to the samples cut transverse to the rolling direction. In contrast to the strip drawing test, the specimens tested in the bending under tension test exhibit a tendency to an increase in the value of the coefficient of friction with the increasing contact pressure.