A State-of-the-art overview: Recent development in low friction and wear-resistant coatings and surfaces for high-temperature forming tools

Ever-increasing demand for severe work conditions, high-performance and long-life has been drivers for developing new low-friction and wear resistant coatings and surfaces for high temperature forming tools. This paper provides an overview on the recent development of coatings and modified surfaces to minimise friction and wear between contact surfaces in high-temperature working environments. This overview covers the major progresses in: (1) nanocomposite coatings based on transition metal nitrides and oxides, and the blending with solid lubricants such as silver and (2) multi-layered coatings with different combinations of hard and/or lubricating layers and duplex systems with solid lubricants on textured hard coatings and nanotubes. The challenges and future directions towards long-life and sustainable low-friction and wear-resistant coatings and surfaces for high-temperature forming tools are discussed.