Tribological Properties of DLC for Die Applications

Friction and wear affect all processes involved in the extraction of materials and their conversion into finished products in the die applications such as drawing, extrusion etc. Originating phenomenon from the contact surface between the tool and workpiece, they are usually a hindrance to materials process operations which usually result in damaging the tools, increasing energy consumption, the contamination of processed material by wear particles and also some problems associated with technologies to control friction and wear. The most well established method to control friction and wear is by the application of lubricant such as fluorocarbon. Besides, a surface technique so-called surface modification can be applied to solve the tribology problems of the die applications for both the economical and ecological reasons. In this article, we applied DLC(diamond-like carbon) thin film on alumina ceramic for HT test using the PIID(plasma ion immersion deposition), 4 groups of test specimens were tested up to $200^{\circ}C$ which is a little higher than the normal working temperature of die application. Pin-on-disc tribo-tester was used to test the friction and surfaces were characterized by SEM and EDS and else, the morphology changes of DLC coatings were studied. The present work indicated that the DLC had a great potential to reduce the friction and wear in the alumina die application without lubricants.