Tribological performances of Zn-based coating in direct hot stamping

In hot stamping of High Strength Steels, the severe tribological conditions make the metal sheet coating one of the most critical choices for the technical and economical success of the process. This paper presents the approach and the results in evaluating a Zinc-based coating applied to boron steel sheets in hot stamping operations. Thermal and physical-simulation experiments were carried out to evaluate the chemical interactions between the coating and the metal sheet and the tribological performances during the process. The coating proved to overcome most of the drawbacks of the currently utilized Al–Si coating.