| Abstract Scope |
More resilient materials are needed to improve die life in high pressure die casting. Tool steels are the industry backbone but have insufficient life in aggressive applications, while tungsten based refractory alloys are limited to the most demanding applications due to high cost. A new tungsten based wire consumable, Anviloy® wire, has been developed for use in high deposition rate arc processes, potentially opening the door for automated cladding of tool steel dies. This project investigated arc processes for deposition of Anviloy wire onto H13 tool steel for development of clad die inserts intended for in-plant trial lifespan evaluation. Effect of H13 dilution on Anviloy wire clad microstructure, thermal stability, and material properties were determined using arc-crucible melted and wire arc additive manufactured samples. Samples were characterized using Thermo-Calc simulations, metallography, XRD, and electron microscopy. RWF-GMAW process enabled base metal dilution of 15% vs. 19% and 30% for HW-GTAW and conventional GMAW processes. Dilution trials showed dilutions of 20% and 30% produce significant phase fraction of grain boundary M6C carbide not seen in 10% dilution samples. Thermal stability study showed 10% dilution samples were not significantly altered after 100 hour exposure to 725C, whereas 20% and 30% dilution samples produced high fraction of a needle-like intermetallic. 10%, 20%, and 30% dilution levels were not altered after 100 hour exposure at 600C. An H13 die block was robotically clad using RWF-GMAW for in-plant trials. The Anviloy wire clad block withstood over 25,000* cycles at the time of writing. After in-plant trials, the Anviloy clad die block will be compared to conventional die materials based on longevity and subjected to failure analysis to determine damage mechanisms. Results of this study will determine economic feasibility of Anviloy wire clads in die casting applications. |