Plasma Surface Cu Alloyed Layer as a Lubricant on Stainless Steel Sheet:Wear Characteristics and On-job Performance in Incremental Forming

To solve the problems of poor forming and easy adhesion of the stainless steel,Cu alloyed layer on the stainless steels was prepared by the double glow plasma surface alloying technique.The experimentalresults indicated that the supersaturated copper dispersedly precipitated in grain interior and crystalboundaries and formed the vermicular structure.The tribologicaltests indicated that the friction coefficient of the Cu alloyed layer was lower than that of the stainless steels.The wear rate of stainless steelin the presence of Cu alloyed layer was approximately 2-fold lower than that in the absence of the alloyed layer.The results of the incrementalforming indicated that the ploughing phenomenon was not observed on the stainless steelin the presence of Cu alloyed layer during the incrementalforming,while the stainless steelpresented the deep ploughing.Therefore,Cu alloyed layer on stainless steelexhibited excellent self-lubrication and forming properties.