Influence of Operating Temperature on the Service Life of Aluminum Extrusion Dies

The article investigates the effect of temperature and annealing time on the surface quality of WNLV nitrided steel used for the production of dies for extrusion of aluminum alloys. Eight annealing variants were tested, differing in the total annealing time at temperatures of 460 °C and 590 °C. The results show the effect of the annealing time on the width of the diffusion layer, which increased with the increasing length of the annealing time. The hardness decreased as the annealing time increased. It was found that annealing of the steel causes its oxidation. The oxide layer formed consisted of two layers, more specifically, an Fe₂O₃ oxide layer and a lower Fe₃O₄ oxide layer adhering to the steel surface. The surface of sections pressed on oxidized matrices was tested. The roughness of the surface of the oxide layers was also tested. The research revealed that an increase in the surface roughness of the oxides deposited on the matrices causes an increase in the roughness of the extruded sections. These results can potentially be used to improve the efficiency of the extrusion process and the quality of the extruded sections.