Investigation of Tribological Properties of AlMg4,5Mn0,7 in a Warm Forming Process Using the Barrel Compression Test

Within the German Collaborative Research Center 39 PT-PIESA the forming of micro cavities into aluminum sheets is one challenging task. During this forming process high forces and stresses occur which lead to a high tool wear. Hence, the actually applied cold forming process should be replaced by a warm forming process. This paper shows the tribological investigations for the warm forming process. Within the experiments the barrel compression test is used to determine the friction conditions by varying the size of the cylindrically shaped samples of AlMg4,5Mn0,7, the forming degree and the lubrication condition (dry, graphite, forming oil). The flat punches were made from hardened steel 1.3343. The friction factor was calculated, and surface roughness was evaluated by 3D-laser microscopy. The experiments show that the friction factor increases, especially at forming degrees below 1 and for small specimen size, compared to cold forming processes. In addition to that, an influence of the lubrication condition onto the surface roughness was observed. For experiments conducted with graphite, the surface roughness is significantly higher than for samples, which were formed dryly or with forming oil.