Metal-Containing Diamond-Like Carbon Coatings with Increased Temperature Stability for Wear Protection of Nitrided Hot Forging Dies

In cold forging processes, diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings have become established as a wear protection for forging dies, featuring high hardness and advantageous friction properties. This counteracts the particular critical abrasive tool wear and increases tool life. A major disadvantage of DLC coatings is their low thermal stability. In this study, the influence of metallic elements (niobium, tungsten and chromium) in the treatment atmosphere of the coating process is investigated with the aim of increasing the temperature resistance of the DLC coating and enabling its application as a wear-protection measure for hot forging dies. Preliminary studies were carried out to investigate the influence of different treatment atmospheres on wear-reducing properties such as high hardness and coating adhesion depending on prior nitriding processes. The most promising metal-doped DLC coating, with 30 % tungsten in the treatment atmosphere, was used in serial forging tests. At a blank temperature of 1,200 °C and a moderate count of 100 forging cycles, wear was reduced by up to 60 % compared to the nitrided reference tool.