Tribology Letters (Ó 2006)

DOI: 10.1007/s11249-006-9186-5

Galling resistance and wear mechanisms – cold work tool materials

sliding against carbon steel sheets
A. Gåård*, P. V. Krakhmalev, J. Bergström and N. Hallbäck
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Karlstad University, SE-651 88, Karlstad, Sweden

Received 29 September 2006; accepted 29 November 2006

One of the major causes for tool failure in sheet metal forming is transfer and accumulation of adhered sheet material to the tool
surfaces, generally referred to as galling. In the present work, the galling resistance of several tool materials was investigated against
two-phase ferritic-martensitic carbon steel under dry sliding test conditions. Tribological evaluation was carried out at different
contact pressures by using a slider-on-flat-surface (SOFS) tribometer. For all selected test conditions, a consistent ranking of the
materials was obtained with best performance observed for nitrogen alloyed powder metallurgy tool steel. Worst galling resistance
was observed by nodular cast iron.
KEY WORDS: galling, friction, graphite, wear mechanisms

1. Introduction Another possible way to improve tool performance is

For the sheet metal forming (SMF) industry, devel-
opment of high and ultra-high strength sheet materials
continuously increases the demands of the forming
tools. Formerly, lubricants where used to avoid high
friction and wear, but nowadays, especially for forming
of carbon steels, the trend is towards a dry forming
process i.e., no additional press lubricants are applied
during forming. The major cause for tool failure, par-
ticularly in unlubricated forming operations, is transfer
and accumulation of sheet material to the tool surfaces,
generally referred to as galling. The adhered sheet
material generates unstable frictional conditions, loss of
dimensional tolerances and scratching of the work-
piece/tool surfaces. Generally, galling is developed
gradually with a stage, proceeding scratching, of trans-
fer and build-up of adhered sheet material onto the tool
surfaces [1–3].
Several ways of reducing the galling tendency of tools
are in use, where the most obvious is surface modifica-
tion. By polishing, to remove irregularities and asperities
that can act as initiation sites for work material transfer
[1,4], the tools life is considerably prolonged in both
lubricated and unlubricated systems [3,5–7]. Further,
galling can be successfully hindered by modification of
the tools surface by PVD or CVD coatings. Especially
carbon based DLC coatings are potential for galling
protection in both lubricated and unlubricated systems
[6,8–10].
*To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: Anders.Gaard@kau.se
microstructure control. Special designed tool steels,
introducing specific carbides and nitrides effectively
increase the potential to resist work material transfer
[11–13]. Particularly vanadium nitride has gained much
attention in the recent years, since excellent improve-
ments of tools life has been obtained in forming of, e.g.,
stainless steel [14,15].
Theoretical implications of adhesion and galling
tendency of selected phases have been obtained on an
atomic scale by density functional calculations. In the
research done by Vitos et al. [5] on VN–Fe(001) and
TiN–Fe(001) systems, a better galling performance of
VN coatings was predicted. These findings are in good
agreement with experimental results, where VN coatings
give a better resistance against work material transfer
than TiN coatings in sliding against steel [14,15].
Besides tool steels, several other materials are of high
importance for the forming industry and particularly for
the automotive industry. For instance, cast nodular
iron, with various types of surface treatments, such as
laser and induction hardening, nitriding and different
types of coatings is broadly applied as die material.
The aim of this article is to rank two conventionally
ingot cast tool steels, a P/M tool steel and a nodular iron
regarding galling resistance in unlubricated conditions
against a two-phase ferritic-martensitic carbon steel
sheet. Investigations of wear mechanisms as depending
on microstructure of selected materials were conducted
by interrupted sliding tests. Tribological evaluation was
performed by using a slider-on-flat-surface (SOFS)
tribometer at different contact pressures.

Ó 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

 A. Gåård et al./Galling resistance and wear mechanisms

2. Experimental were extracted from the recorded friction and normal

2.1. Equipment
In real SMF operations, the tool always contacts to a
fresh sheet material surface. Therefore, for proper sim-
ulation of wear in SMF and galling in particular, the
sheet material in contact with the tool in the wear test
always has to be fresh as well. The main principle of the
SOFS, equipment utilized for the tribological evaluation
in this research is presented in figure 1a. A ring-shaped
double-curved tool is mounted in a tool holder and fixed
to prevent rotation. Subsequently, the tool is pressed
against the sheet material with a normal load FN and
slid with a velocity v. At the end of a track, the tool is
lifted and returned to the starting position and moved a
distance in the direction perpendicular to the sliding.
Subsequently, the normal force is re-applied and the
next track is made. The sampling frequency of the
normal and friction forces during a track is 1 kHz.
For evaluation of the critical sliding distance until
galling, three constant normal loads of 100, 300 and
500 N were used. The sliding speed was 0.5 m/s and the
sheets were washed with a degreasing agent to provide
dry conditions. The distance between each track was
1 mm for the normal loads of 100 and 300 N and
1.2 mm for the normal load of 500 N. The tool radii,
figure 1b, were R1 = 5 mm and R2 = 25 mm. The tool
steels were polished to Ra < 0.1 lm and the nodular
iron to Ra  0.15 lm controlled by optical profilometry.
Two tests were made for each load and material pair
except for Vancron 40 due to absence of galling at the
selected test conditions. Results from the SOFS tests
force data and represented as friction coefficient versus
critical sliding distance diagrams. The worn surfaces
were investigated using scanning electron microscopy
(SEM) LEO 1530 and energy dispersive X-ray spec-
troscopy (EDS). The definition of galling that will be
used throughout this article is the onset of scratching of
the sheets accompanied by an increase of the friction
coefficient. If galling was not detected in 1000 m of
sliding, the tests were aborted.
Contact pressures were calculated by 3D FE-model-
ling, using Abaqus Standard software with symmetry
according to figure 1b. The element type for both sheet
and tool were C3D10M solid elements with 18271 of
elements in the sheet and 15301 in the tool. The mesh
was significantly refined in the contact area. The sheet
lower surface was restrained in z-direction. A displace-
ment u was applied to the tool top surface and the
resultant reaction force was recorded as history data. In
the model, the tool was regarded as elastic, whereas the
sheet was an elastic–plastic von Mises material, with
strain hardening according to stress–strain curve data
supplied by the sheet manufacturer. A Young’s modulus
of 210 MPa was used for the tool steels and 180 MPa
for the nodular iron.
2.2. Materials
Chemical composition and hardness of the investi-
gated tool materials are given in table 1. AISI D2 grade
Sverker 21 and Sleipner are two high-alloyed conven-

Figure 1. Sketch of the SOFS tribometer arrangement (a), and finite element model with boundary conditions and tool geometry (b).

Table 1
Chemical composition (wt%) and hardness of the tool materials.

C N Si Mn Cr Mo W V Fe M7C3 MN M6C TOT% HV

V ancron40 1.1 1.8 0.5 0.4 4.5 3.2 3.7 8.5 Bal. 20.0 4.0 24.0 859
Sverker 21 1.6 0.3 0.4 11.8 0.8 0.8 Bal. 13.0 13.0 748
Sleipner 0.9 0.9 0.5 7.8 2.5 0.5 Bal. 6.0 550b
GGG 70La 6.2 2.1 Bal. 500b
a
Chemical composition obtained by EDS
b
Hardness at the periphery of the laser hardened tool
 A. Gåård et al./Galling resistance and wear mechanisms

tionally produced ingot cast tool steels with a high
content of primary carbides. Vancron 40 is a carbide
and nitride rich powder metallurgical tool steel with a
much more uniform dispersion of smaller hard phases
compared to Sverker 21 and Sleipner. GGG 70L is a
nodular iron with spheroidized graphite nodules in a
pearlitic steel matrix. Nodular iron and Sleipner were
laser hardened with a hardening depth of approximately
1.5 mm. The sheet material was a 1.5-mm thick dual-
phase ferritic-martensitic steel, DOCOL 600DP, with
mean yield strength Rp0.2 = 400 MPa, mean tensile
strength Rm = 650 MPa, elongation A80 = 16%, aver-
age roughness Ra = 1.2 lm and hardness = 92 HRB.
All sheet mechanical properties data supplied by the
manufacturer.
3. Results
3.1. Friction curves versus sliding distance
Figure 2a shows a typical friction coefficient versus
sliding distance diagram for the nodular iron and
Vancron 40, at a normal load of 500 N. As indicated for
the nodular iron, two friction regions were observed. In
the first region, the initial friction coefficient was stable
for some sliding distance. However, microscopic exam-
inations showed that transfer and building-up of a layer
of work material to the tool surface occurred already at
the first stage. Further sliding led to the onset of galling
and transformation into the second region, where the
friction coefficient started to oscillate significantly with a
general trend to increase. Figure 2b shows a typical tool
surface after the transformation into the second stage
with a significant amount of adhered sheet material
present on the tool surface.
Scanning electron microscopy observations of the
sheet, figure 3, before and after the transition point,
showed that tracks formation in the beginning primarily
was caused by plastic deformation without removal of
material, whereas after the transition, scratching was the
main reason to tracks formation.
The steady initial friction, as particularly illustrated in
figure 2a for the nodular iron, was consistent for all tool
materials and pressures. However, the critical sliding
distance to galling varied depending on the tool material.
As shown in figure 4, the best galling performance
among the materials was displayed by the Vancron 40
steel, where galling was not detected within the test range
of 1 km at the highest contact pressure. The nodular iron
had the lowest galling resistance with lowest critical
sliding distances for all pressures. Performance of Sver-
ker 21 and Sleipner was overlapping within the accuracy
of the experiment. Nevertheless, both materials
performed significantly better than the nodular iron.
3.2. Wear mechanisms
Based on the performance, the worst and the best
materials, i.e., nodular iron and Vancron 40, were

Figure 2. Friction coefficient versus critical sliding distance diagram for Vancron 40 and GGG 70L at a normal load of 500 N. Two different
frictional regions are indicated, labelled 1 and 2 (a), and, typical appearance of a Sverker 21 tool surface after the occurrence of galling, at a
sliding distance of 200 m. Arrow indicates the sliding direction.

Figure 3. Sheet track morphology when sliding against tool material Sverker 21 at a normal load of 300 N at the initial stage (a), and after the
transition stage at a sliding distance of 200 m (b).
 A. Gåård et al./Galling resistance and wear mechanisms

Figure 4. Contact pressure versus critical sliding distance to galling diagram. The lines represent a mean value of the critical sliding distance until
transition into the unstable friction stage.

selected for interrupted sliding tests. The nodular iron
was slid for 5, 15 and 80 m and the Vancron 40 steel for
5, 15 and 130 m, both at a normal load of 600 N. The
two first points of the nodular iron test series corre-
sponded to non-galling surfaces, while the third point
corresponded to galling and unstable friction. The
longer distance for the third point of Vancron 40
was due to that no galling was observed in the friction
diagrams.
Scanning electron microscopy investigations showed
that work material transfer started at the beginning non-
galling stage to both nodular iron and Vancron 40
surfaces, figure 5. When slid for longer distances, the
transfer and build-up of the adhered layer was sub-
stantial, figure 6. In the Sverker and Vancron 40 steels,
no influence of phases on the transfer mechanism was
observed, figure 6a–b. However, graphite and graphite
nodule cavities, as particular microstructural constitu-
ents of the nodular iron, played a special role for the
material transfer mechanisms. As seen in figure 6c,
graphite nodule pulling out occurred and filling of the
cavities with sheet material during sliding was observed.
After 5 m of sliding some sheet material was detected in
the voids, while after 15 m, the cavities were completely
filled. As seen in figure 5d–f, virtually all graphite nod-
ules located in the contact interacted with the sheet
material. On some nodules, graphite was still inside, but
fragments were already pulled out and substituted with
sheet material.
4. Discussion
The friction diagrams, figure 2, indicate galling as
following: an initial stage of stable friction with transfer
and build-up of work material, leading to a subsequent
transformation to a stage of unstable and increasing
friction. This is typical for galling and has been observed
and confirmed by several investigators [1–3]. The SOFS
tests showed that in the present study, cast iron is the

Figure 5. SEM micrographs of the Vancron 40 surface after 5, 15 and 130 m of sliding (a–c) and the nodular iron surface after 5, 15 and 80 m of
sliding (d–f) at a normal load of 600 N. The arrows indicate the direction of sliding.
 A. Gåård et al./Galling resistance and wear mechanisms

Figure 6. Cross-sections of the galling point on worn tool surfaces after 130 m of sliding distance for Vancron 40 at 600 N (a) Sverker 21 after
200 m at 300 N (b) and cast iron (c–d) after 80 m at a normal load of 600 N. Pulling-out of the graphite nodule and filling of the cavity with sheet
material (c) and regular appearance of the adhered layer. The arrows indicate the direction of sliding.

worst material regarding galling resistance, figure 4. The
superior performance by the Vancron 40 steel was sim-
ilarly obtained in previous tests [12] on Sverker 21 and
Vancron 40 in lubricated conditions against stainless
steel sheets, made with bending-under-tension test
equipment. Further, the sliding distances to galling in
figure 4 demonstrates the advantage of the higher per-
formance steel grades at higher pressures, as well as the
increase in sliding length to galling at low contact
pressures.
By comparison, of mechanical properties and
microstructure of the investigated materials, an im-
proved galling resistance from cast iron to ingot cast
tool steel and finally powder metallurgy tool steel
would be expected. The higher hardness of the tool
steels prevents plastic deformation and therefore sup-
presses formation of metallic bonds, associated with
high adhesion due to, for instance, removed surface
oxides. This trend was in agreement with the critical
sliding distance to galling tests, figure 2, where a sim-
ilar ranking was obtained, figure 4. Nevertheless, this
research indicates that the mechanisms of work mate-
rial transfer depend on both mechanical properties and
microstructure. For the nodular iron, materials transfer
was influenced by microstructural features, as sheet
material obviously interacted with the graphite phase.
Already at a sliding distance of 5 m, filling of graphite
cavities and smearing of sheet material on graphite was
found. Thus, even though removing surface defects and
irregularities by polishing, the microstructure contains
detrimental features for the galling resistance such as
nodular graphite.
Further, by investigation of cross-sections, it was
found that a substantial amount of sheet material was
transferred to the Vancron 40 steel surface, even
though the hardness was significantly higher compared
to the cast iron. Nevertheless, galling was not observed
within the experimental accuracy according to the
definition used throughout this work. A positive role of
vanadium nitride in improving of galling resistance
against steel has been reported repeatedly [5,12–14],
which implies a low adhesion between VN and steel.
Therefore, it is assumed that the high volume fraction
and distribution of vanadium nitride particles in the
Vancron 40 material may have prevented the onset of
galling.
If adhesion is low, a cyclic growth might describe
layer growth kinetics, with transfer and build-up of
work material without the occurrence of galling. As seen
in figure 5a–c, the growth of the transferred sheet
material layer was gradual. Growth in lump’s size
localizes the contact with subsequent local increase in
friction. Thus, if adhesion is insufficient, the transferred
material will finally be de-attached and removed as wear
debris. However, material transfer will immediately
re-initiate and commence a new growth cycle.
 A. Gåård et al./Galling resistance and wear mechanisms
5. Conclusions
 The SOFS tribometer was used to rank tool materials
regarding galling resistance in sliding against ferritic-
martensitic dual-phase carbon steel. The best perfor-
mance was observed by nitrides-containing powder
metallurgy tool steel Vancron 40, while the worst was
observed by nodular iron GGG 70L. Conventionally
produced ingot cast tool steels Sleipner and Sverker
21 showed higher galling resistance as compared to
cast iron, but could not be compared to powder
metallurgy steel under selected test conditions. The
better performance of Vancron 40 was discussed
related to microstructure and the positive role of the
nitride phase was assumed to decrease the tendency
for work material transfer. As a typical microstruc-
tural feature of nodular iron, graphite deteriorated
the galling resistance of the tool surface by graphite
nodule pull-out. The resulting cavities was found to
be initiation sites for the material transfer.
 Friction curves alone cannot be used to determine the
presence of work material transfer or not. Even
though friction seemed stable and galling was not
detected, a substantial material transfer was observed
for all investigated materials.
Acknowledgements
The authors greatly acknowledge Uddeholm Tooling
AB, Sweden and Volvo Car Body Components (VCBC),
Sweden, for supplying of the tool material and Swedish
Steel AB (SSAB), Sweden for supplying of sheet material.
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