Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Forging Process to Reproduce a 3D Aluminium Foam Complex Shape

Abstract

Metallic foams represent one of the most exciting materials introduced in the manufacturing scenario in the last years. In the study here addressed, the experimental and numerical investigations on the forging process of a simple foam billet shaped into complex sculptured parts were carried out. In particular, the deformation behavior of metallic foams and the development of density gradients were investigated through a series of experimental forging tests in order to produce a selected portion of a hip prosthesis. The human bone replacement was chosen as case study due to its industrial demand and for its particular 3D complex shape. A finite element code (Deform 3D®) was utilized for modeling the foam behavior during the forging process and an accurate material rheology description was used based on a porous material model which includes the measured local density. Once the effectiveness of the utilized Finite Element model was verified through the comparison with the experimental evidences, a numerical study of the influence of the foam density was investigated. The obtained numerical results shown as the initial billet density plays an important role on the prediction of the final shape, the optimization of the flash as well as the estimation of the punch load.