Tim Abraham¹, Ingmar Bialuch¹, Günter Bräuer¹, Felix Flegler², Peter Groche²; ¹Fraunhofer-Institute for Surface Engingeering and Thin Films, ²Darmstadt University of Technology, Institute for Production Engineering and Forming Machines

Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) coatings are well known for their tribological properties combining a high wear resistance with a low friction coefficient in contact with numerous materials. Recent investigations demonstrated the applicability of DLC as tool coatings for dry forming of aluminum sheets, which is a very challenging application field due to the high adhesion tendency of aluminum. However, an exceptionally low roughness of the coated forming tool is required to prevent a formation of aluminum adhesions and a rapid tool failure. To establish dry forming of aluminum in industrial production processes, efficient methods have to be developed to manufacture DLC coated forming tools with a reproducible high surface quality. This presentation illustrates two deposition processes, which are especially optimized for the deposition of nanoscopic smooth DLC tool coatings. The coating performance will be subsequently demonstrated in deep drawing tests of aluminum sheets.