Cutting is an essential part in the production of parts and components in most industrial sectors. Nearly every part made from sheet material runs through several cutting steps. Especially shear cutting is very common for mass production in the industry due to its very high efficiency compared to other methods like laser cutting or water jet cutting. However, the increasing requirements concerning cutting of high strength sheet materials (e.g. high strength steel or fiber-reinforced materials) are pushing the shear cutting method to their limits. The main problem is insufficient lifetime of the blanking tools for cutting of high demanding materials. An increase in hardness and compression strength of the tool materials comes along with a decreasing fracture toughness. Early tool breakage or break out of the cutting edges are the limiting factor for cutting high strength materials.
Different process routes were compared for DCT treatment, differing in the timing of DCT treatment and cooling curves. Effects on material properties could be achieved with all process routes. Depending on the material and the time of DCT treatment, different effects can occur.
The positive effect of DCT treatment on the wear behavior and service life of cutting tools has been confirmed for cutting high strength steel and HSIC on laboratory scale and in different industrial applications. The economic benefit for the different cutting processes depends on the type of tool load and the resulting wear mechanisms. Positive effects can be achieved especially when cutting edge chipping due to fatigue effects and cracking are the limiting wear mechanisms. In this case, a DCT treatment can significantly increase the tool life. Plasma nitriding of the tools turned out to be another highly effective measure for reducing cutting edge chipping and crack formation in the cutting tools. A precondition for this is the use of nitriding parameters adapted to the tool materials and the load situation of the tools.