Near-Net-Shape and Dense Wear Resistant Thermally Sprayed Coatings

Deep drawing of high strength steels imposes high tribological requirements on forming tools. Thermal spraying is regarded as a promising technology to improve the tool’s performance and the service life of the forming tool, as long as ambitious demands of the coating process are matched. In order to qualify a thermal spraying process for a surface technology in deep drawing it is crucial that the coating obtains an extremely dense structure and a smooth, near-net-shape surface. The study presented considers two different approaches to achieve those goals. The application of fine-scaled powders (