Investigation on tribological characteristics of boron steel 22MnB5–tool steel H13 tribopair at high temperature

In the background that the quenchable boron steels have been widely used to manufacture body-in-white by hot stamping because of its ultra-high strength, the understanding of frictional characteristics of the boron steel–tool steel tribopair at high temperature should be deepened. In this work, the friction behaviors of the tool steel H13 against the boron steel 22MnB5 were investigated at different temperatures, sliding velocities, contact pressures, and lubrication conditions by ring-on-disc sliding testing. The tribological characteristics were analyzed through scanning electron microscope and confocal laser scanning. The results show the relationship between the friction coefficient and the hot stamping parameters well. The friction coefficient decreases remarkably with the increasing temperature and contact pressure, but sliding velocity has no noticeable influence on the friction coefficient. The wear mechanism also changes with different process parameters and the main mechanism is a combination of adhesive and abrasive wear. Furthermore, MoS 2 lubricant can reduce the friction coefficient effectively and protect the die from severe wear.