THE INFLUENCE OF THE SOAKING TEMPERATURE OF NITRIDED WCL TOOL STEEL (EN-X37CrMoV5-1) ON THE MICROHARDNESS AND TRIBOLOGICAL WEAR OF THE SURFACE LAYER

The present paper refers to the evaluation of the influence of soaking temperature of nitrided hot work tool steel, X37CrMoV5-1 (WCL), intended for dies for extruding aluminium profiles, on the structure, microhardness, and tribological wear of the nitrided layer. The research involved nitrided steel specimens (X37CrMoV5-1) soaked for 8 hours in an industrial furnace at temperatures of 450°C, 480°C, 520°C, 560°C, and 600°C. For comparison purposes, a REFERENCES material was used, which was not soaked after nitriding. Initially, as the soaking temperature raised, the microhardness of the nitrided layer increased by ca. 10%; however, a further increase in the soaking temperature to more than 450°C caused a decrease in the microhardness of the nitrided layer. The results of tribological tests showed that soaking nitrided steel at a low temperature (450°C) and high temperature (600°C) caused a decrease in tribological wear. Out of the tested materials, the highest microhardness of the upper layer was observed in the samples soaked at 450°C, while the highest resistance to tribological wear was obtained for the samples soaked at 600°C. The conducted tests indicate the possibility of extending the lifetime of dies made from the investigated nitrided steel.