Hot bulk forming tools are subject to high thermal and mechanical alternating loads which can induce the formation of fatigue cracks in the highly stressed regions of the tool. It this way, premature tool failure occurs with which increased tool costs are associated. It is therefore vitally important to calculate the tool life output during the process design to improve the efficiency. Thermomechanical fatigue tests using the hot-working tool steel X38CrMoV5-3 are carried out as the basis for service life predictions in order to characterise the material behaviour subject to cyclic loading. In the tests, the thermal and mechanical loads operating in the tool steel during a forging process are reproduced. In this way, a strain controlled S-N curve is determined for a specific temperature interval by varying the applied mechanical load. Thus it is possible to consider the damage mechanisms in the material, which operate during the forming process, for computing the service life. Based on the experimentally determined strain controlled S-N curve, the computation of a fatigue failure is carried out for a practical example with tool fracture. By comparing the material's experimentally determined load carrying capacity with the loading computed by employing the elastic-plastic material behaviour, the number of forging cycles is ascertained up to incipient cracking. The simulation model introduced here permits an improved prediction of the fatigue crack formation by integrating the cyclic material behaviour subject to similar conditions found in the forging process.
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