Effect of post-welding heat treatment on wear resistance of cast-steel die with surfacing layer

The wear resistance capability of die surfacing layer under different Post-Welding Heat Treatments (PWHT) was analysed by Finite Element (FE) simulation and experiments. Taking hot forging process of a crankshaft as an example, a wear model of the hot forging die coated with surfacing layer was established using FE software DEFORM-3D. The simulation results indicated that the wear resistance capability of the die surfacing layer is optimal when tempering temperature and holding time are 550 °C and 4 h respectively. To verify the wear computational results, 16 groups of PWHT orthogonal wear tests were performed at a temperature of 400 °C, which is a similar temperature to that occurs in an actual hot forging die. The wear-test result showed a good agreement with the FE simulation. SEM observation of the wear debris on 16 specimens showed that oxidative wear is dominant when the temperature was in 400 °C. Furthermore, when tempering temperature and holding time were 550 °C and 4 h respectively, the carbide alloy dispersively distributes in the metallographic structure, which helps to improve the wear resistance of the surfacing layer.