Vojteh LESKOVŠEK

In 1985, I established the first center for vacuum heat treatment and surface engineering (VHT & SEC) of tool steels and highspeed steels in Slovenia at the Institute of Metals and Technology. Then the most advanced vacuum furnace IPSEN VTTC-324R, which was the basis for technological research in carbonless environmentally friendly and energy-efficient vacuum heat treatment of tools and dies, offered the possibility of targeted R & D projects for Slovenian toolmakers in the toughest period of their restructuring and allowed a relatively rapid transition from conventional heat treatment in vacuum heat treatment of tools and dies. On the basis of this experience and good results, IMT was the first in the country to invest in the pulsed plasma nitriding technology in 1993. The reactor for pulsed plasma nitriding METAPLAS-IONON was built according to our requirements and the latest knowledge on nitriding of complex tools and dies and for steel, titanium, and titanium alloy parts.

The costs of experiments are important. After determination of fracture toughness, parts of KIc-test specimens are used to determine other mechanical, micro- structural, tribological and technological properties, necessary for understanding the behavior of tool and high-speed steels in practice.

1947 Born in Ptuj, Slovenia

1974 BSc in Metallurgy

1999 PhD (1999) in Metallurgy and Materials, University of Zagreb, Croatia

2009 Associate Professor, Department for materials, Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka, Croatia

2008 Employed part-time at Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2015 Associate Professor, MPŠ, Ljubljana

Important Works

V. Leskovsek, B. Ule, B. Liscic (2002) Relations between fracture toughness, hardness and structure of vacuum heat-treated HSS; JMPT.

V. Leskovšek, M. Godec, P. Kogej (2014) Strengthening via the Formation of Strain-Induced Martensite and the Effects of Laser Marking on the Microstructure of Austenitic Stainless Steel, M&MatTransA.

V. Leskovšek, B. Podgornik (2016) Tool Steels: Fracture Toughness. Encyclopedia of Iron, Steel, and Their Alloys, T&F.

P. Kogej, V Leskovšek (2012) Method of manufacturing magnetic substrate for encoder, International Patent WO 2012/117230 A1.

Selected Awards

2008 The International Federation of Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering Award for outstanding, globally recognized and significant contributions to the development of heat treatment and surface engineering

2016 Plaque prof. dr. H. C. Ciril Rekar” for lifetime achievement in the field of heat treatment of metals and surface engineering