Surface modifications to reduce wear in hot extrusion of copper

During hot extrusion of copper, the material tends to stick to the extrusion die due to strong adhesive forces between hot working steel and copper at high temperatures. In this context, surface modifications like nanocomposite coatings deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition or boriding of nickel-based alloy 718 (DIN 2.4668) create hard and wear resistant thin solid films that offer high temperature stability. Ti-Si-B-C-N nanocomposite coatings consist of nanocrystalline grains embedded in a thin amorphous matrix. Due to this particular nanostructure, hardness values of up to 39.3 GPa were reached. Boriding of alloy 718 leads to formation of phases consisting of alloying elements like nickel, iron, and chromium and the diffusing element boron. The borides form a boriding zone that offers high hardness. Extrusion of 0122 mm x 300 mm copper billets preheated to 850 degrees C was carried out and adhesive wear on tool's surfaces was analyzed. The comparison between hot working steel DIN 1.2367 without surface modification and with Ti-Si-B-C-N coating or borided alloy 718 showed remarkable differences between conventional tools made of hot working steels/alloy 718 and tools with surface modification. A strong decrease particle adhesion was observed.