Abstract
Near solidus forming (NSF) of steels is a novel process under the umbrella of semi-solid forming technologies midway between classical hot forging and semi-solid technologies. This article presents the work done at Mondragon Unibertsitatea to develop this technology and demonstrates the great potential of the NSF process. The study proves the capability of the process to reduce raw material consumption by 20%, reduce forming loads from 2100 t to 300 t, and reduce forming steps from three to one, to obtain as-forged mechanical properties, as well as the excellent repeatability of the process. The work demonstrates that manufacturing commercial steel components in a single step using several off-the-shelf alloys is possible thanks to the flowing pattern of the material, which enables near-net shaping. In the first part of the article, a general overview of the semi-automated near solidus forming cell, together with a description of the NSF manufacturing trials, is provided, followed by the presentation and discussion of the results for the selected steel alloys.
Highlights
Semi-solid metal processing (SSP) covers all the manufacturing routes involving semi-solid materials
There are three necessary forging steps plus a flash removal operation, involving additional equipment; in hot forging, while using Near solidus forming (NSF), a single step is enough. This implies the reduction of raw material consumption avoiding the flash. It means that the starting weight of the billet
The two geometries presented in this work (Figure 6) are the same as those commercially manufactured by hot forging
Summary
Semi-solid metal processing (SSP) covers all the manufacturing routes involving semi-solid materials. Its origin lies in the discovery of the thixotropic behavior of metals (discovered by Spencer et al [1]). When shear stress is applied to a material in the semi-solid state, the particles separate from each other (de-agglomeration) to generate a material state consisting of a suspension of solid particles in a molten metal (liquid) matrix. The result of this effect is a reduction of viscosity due to the change in the material structure. Once the material is allowed to rest for a sufficient time interval, the particles begin to generate new bonds (agglomeration) to eventually restore the material’s initial state
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