ABSTRACT
Properties of cooperating elements are primarily dependent on two factors: the internal microstructure of the analyzed material and the structure of the outer surface, which is in direct contact with both the chemical and mechanical environmental factors, involving interaction with machining tools as well as with collaborating surfaces of other elements. The nature of the surface morphology and its properties have a signicant impact on the functional characteristics of the nished product. The surface layer of the material is characterized by different properties of the core material, which has a significant impact on a variety of mechanisms occurring within the surface layer, including, among others, friction, fatigue, corrosion resistance, erosion, diffusion, and conductivity, and decide on possible applications of surface-treated components. Often due to technological and economic requirements the substrate material is chosen in such a way as to satisfy the general objectives concerning the strength of the nished product, and special surface treatment is applied to increase the functional properties or to enhance protection against damage. During the design process of machine parts or equipments, particular attention should be paid to the resistance of the working elements on both tribological (mechanical, fatigue, adhesion, abrasion) and nontribological damage (corrosion, erosion, diffusion, ablation). It is, therefore, important to pay attention during the design process and material choice to the particular environmental processes that can have an inuence on the wear destruction of the produced device. Regeneration of the damaged surface of the components or the production of new materials, including the coating gives the opportunity to discover previously unidentied structural mechanisms, as well as extend the range of existing knowledge. Characteristics of these mechanisms and interdependencies are not only of cognitive nature but also allow a broader methodological and application perspective of the described grades of hot work tool steels. This is important especially when there is a need for the production of new engineering materials or regeneration of the existing ones.
