In the background that hot-working die steels have been widely used in the hot stamping process of high strength steels for manufacturing car bodies and parts, solid lubricant materials are promising for decreasing the friction and wear on die surfaces at high temperatures. In this work, hexagonal boron nitride was used to lubricate the sliding interface of ceramic Si₃N₄ against die steel H13 at 800 ℃, and its frictional behavior was investigated at different contact pressures and rotating speeds by pin-on-disk testing. Tribological characteristics of hexagonal boron nitride solid lubricant were analyzed through 3D laser scanning confocal microscope and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The results show that the wear behavior of hexagonal boron nitride powder lubricating film featured two stages: gradual undermining and complete damage. The formation-broken dynamic cycle of partial lubricating film constantly occurred at the frictional interface until the film was completely destroyed. In a short period, the hexagonal boron nitride lubricant can reduce the friction coefficient efficiently compared with dry friction, and the die substrate showed basically no abrasion because a layer of plasticity accumulated on the die surface, which protected the substrate. In a certain range, the boundary-lubricating film became damaged rapidly with increasing load, and high speed was not conducive to the stability of the lubricating film.

In view of the requirements for mechanical properties and service life above 650 °C, a high-Mn austenitic hot work die steel, instead of traditional martensitic hot work die steel such as H13, was developed in the present study. The effect of heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the newly developed work die steel was studied. The results show that the microstructure of the high-Mn as-cast electroslag remelting (ESR) ingot is composed of γ-Fe, V(C,N), and Mo₂C. V(C,N) is an irregular multilateral strip or slice shape with severe angles. Most eutectic Mo₂C carbides are lamellar fish-skeleton-like, except for a few that are rod-shaped. With increasing solid solution time and temperature, the increased hardness caused by solid solution strengthening exceeds the effect of decreased hardness caused by grain size growth, but this trend is reversed later. As a result, the hardness of specimens after various solid solution heat treatments increases first and then decreases. The optimal combination of hardness and austenitic grain size can be obtained by soaking for 2 h at 1170 °C. The maximum Rockwell hardness (HRC) is 47.24 HRC, and the corresponding austenite average grain size is 58.4 μm. When the solid solution time is 3 h at 1230 °C, bimodality presented in the histogram of the austenite grain size as a result of further progress in secondary recrystallization. Compared with the single-stage aging, the maximum impact energy of the specimen after two-stage aging heat treatment was reached at 16.2 J and increased by 29.6%, while the hardness decreased by 1–2 HRC. After two-stage aging heat treatment, the hardness of steel reached the requirements of superior grade H13, and the maximum impact energy was 19.6% higher than that of superior grade H13, as specified in NADCA#207-2003.

The accuracy of numerical predictions in sheet metal processes involving multiaxial stress–strain states (e.g., blanking, riveting, and incremental forming) heavily depends on the characterisation of plastic anisotropy under multiaxial loading conditions. A fully calibrated 3D plastic anisotropy model is essential for this purpose. While in-plane material behaviour can be conventionally characterised through uniaxial and equi-biaxial tensile tests, calibrating out-of-plane material behaviour remains a significant challenge. This behaviour, governed by out-of-plane shear stress and associated material parameters, is typically described by out-of-plane shear yielding. These parameters are notoriously difficult to determine, leading researchers to frequently assume isotropic behaviour or identical shear parameters for in-plane and out-of-plane responses. Although advanced calibrations may utilise crystal plasticity modelling, there remains a critical need for macro-mechanical characterisation methods. This paper presents an out-of-plane shear testing and material characterisation procedure based on full-field strain measurements using digital image correlation (DIC). Strains within the shear zone are measured via DIC and employed in the Finite Element Model Updating (FEMU) to identify out-of-plane shear parameters of a 2.42 mm thick, cold-rolled AW5754-H22 aluminium alloy sheet, using the Yld2004-18p yield criterion. Given that the characteristic strain response at this scale may be influenced by local crystal structure behaviour on the surface, this paper evaluates the feasibility of such measurements. Finally, to test the validity of the full-field-based approach, the FEMU-identified parameters are compared against results obtained through a classical optimisation procedure based on force-elongation measurements from the shear zone.

Accurate and efficient detection of interfacial delamination in Cu/Al clad sheets is essential for evaluating bonding quality in multilayer metallic structures. This study proposes an electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT)-based nonlinear frequency modulation (NLFM) resonance method for non-destructive delamination characterization of Cu/Al clad strips. A two-layer resonance frequency model was implemented and validated through theoretical analysis, finite element simulations, and EMAT experiments, showing good agreement among the three approaches. To overcome the long acquisition time associated with conventional frequency-sweep methods, an NLFM excitation waveform incorporating frequency-dependent pre-emphasis was proposed to achieve broadband excitation with an optimized energy distribution over the target resonance frequency range. Compared to linear frequency modulation (LFM), the proposed NLFM method provided enhanced resonance amplitudes, reduced out-of-band energy leakage, and improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). An NLFM-based B-scan inspection method was further developed for delamination detection using artificial T-slot defects in Cu/Al clad sheets. The proposed method successfully identified defects with widths of 1.5–9.5 mm through resonance frequency variations. The detected defect distributions showed good agreement with the actual defect dimensions, demonstrating the capability of NLFM resonance analysis for non-contact and high-sensitivity delamination detection in multilayer metallic structures.