Influence of friction coefficient on the performance of cold forming tools

The automotive industry has undergone significant advancements and changes over time, resulting in the use of more complex parts in modern vehicles. As a consequence, the parts used in the manufacturing process are subject to higher stress levels, which reduce their service life. To mitigate this issue, surface treatments can be applied to improve the mechanical properties of the tools. In this study, we examined the impact of surface treatments on reducing tool stress during a cold forming process. The process involved reducing the thickness of a sheet from 6 mm to 2.5 mm, which generated high stresses in the tooling. We used finite element stress calculations to analyze the process and found that by reducing the friction coefficient to 0.1, tool stresses can be reduced by 20%, leading to an increase in tool life. Moreover, the press force and tool wear were also reduced by 18%. To validate the theoretical calculations, we performed field tests in a real manufacturing process.