Development of a tool concept with selectively oxidised inserts for dry deep drawing

In order to manufacture sheet metal components with a reduced negative impact on the environment, dry metal forming gains more and more attention. The use of liquid lubricants has a negative impact on the environment, as those contain environmentally harmful additives that are not biodegradable. Furthermore, the production process becomes more complex by the use of these lubricants due to more required cleaning stages between the production steps for the components. One approach is the utilisation of selectively oxidised tool surfaces, acting as low friction separation layers between the tool steel and sheet metal surface. The friction reducing ability of alpha-Fe2O3 layers on tool steel has been shown in previous work. The present study deals with the development and design of a forming tool with removable selectively oxidised inserts with alpha-Fe2O3 coating for dry deep drawing.