Monitoring of ceramic die condition under hot forming processes

Superplastic forming (SPF) is an advanced manufacturing process, typically restricted to low volume and high value products, where metallic sheets are heated at the forming temperature and blow-formed into a metallic die. Ceramic dies are an emerging technology in the SPF domain, as they have a lower production cost than conventional metal tools, and have short lead-times, but their brittle nature is a limiting factor for SPF applications. Suitable surface treatments have a remarkable effect on wear resistance; hence, the scope of the research is to investigate a suitable coating solution to improve the working surface wear resistance, increasing the lifetime of the SPF ceramic dies.