Experimental and FEM Analysis of Void Closure in the Hot Cogging Process of Tool Steel

Abstract

In the present study, a new complex methodology for the analysis the closure of voids and a new forging system were developed and tested. The efficiency of the forging parameters and the effective geometric shapes of anvils to improve void closure were determined. A new cogging process provided a complete closure of an ingot’s axial defects, as confirmed by experimental tests. The evolution behavior of these defects with different sizes was investigated during the hot cogging process by means of the professional plastic forming software Deform-3D. A comprehensive procedure was developed using the finite-element method (FEM) for the three-dimensional cogging process and laboratory experimentation to predict the degree of void closure. The hot multi-pass cogging process was used to eliminate void defects in the forgings so as to obtain sound products. In the compression process, the effects of the reduction ratio and forging ratio, the void size, and the types of anvil were discussed to obtain the effective elimination of a void. For the purpose of the assessment of the effectiveness of the void closure process, the following indices were introduced: the relative void volume evolution ratio, the relative void diameter ratio, and the internal void closure evaluation index. Moreover, the void closure process was assessed on the basis of stress triaxiality, hydrostatic stress, forging ratio, value of local effective strain around the void, and critical reduction ratio. The results of this research were complemented by experiments predicting the formation of fractures in the regions near the void and in the volume of the forging in the course of the cogging process. The comparison between the predicted and the experimental results showed a good agreement.