WEAR RESISTANT COATED SHEET METAL DIE AND METHOD TO MANUFACTURE A WEAR RESISTANT COATED SHEET METAL FORMING DIE

摘要

A method to manufacture a steel die having a Physical Vapor Deposition wear resistant coating on a profile surface and a steel die formed thereby is disclosed. The steel die is subjected to quenching and tempering to achieve a Rockwell hardness in the range of about 40-45 Rc and then subjected to machining to form a profile surface. The surface is then subjected to Physical Vapor Deposition of a wear resistant coating that may be multiple layers of CrN, AlCrN, TiCrN, TiN, TiCN or TiAlN, and preferably is alternating layers of TiN—TiCN—TiN. The coating is applied at a sufficient thickness to impart wear resistance to the steel die. The steel dies are useful in sheet metal stamping operations.