Showing papers by "Gerhard Hirt published in 2013"

A novel approach for temperature control in ISF supported by laser and resistance heating

Abstract: Aeronautical applications often require small batches of large-scale sheet metal parts made from titanium and its alloys. Due to the low formability of titanium at room temperature, warm forming processes are necessary. Incremental sheet metal forming (ISF) is suitable for production of prototypes and small batches as well as large-scale parts. A short review of the experimental work done by international scientists in the field of warm ISF including stationary and moved temperature sensors will be presented mostly applied from the backside of the sheet metal. The present paper shows a new approach for a tool setup including a thermocouple inside of the tool. Hence, the sensor for temperature measurement was moved with the forming zone. Furthermore, a suitable closed loop control including a PID controller will be presented. The characteristics of the controller will be discussed. By means of two different warm ISF processes (ISF with resistance heating and laser-assisted ISF), the applicability of the developed setup will be analysed and evaluated. It will be shown that the experimental setup is capable to ensure minimal temperatures needed to ensure adequate formability of Ti grade 5.

Manufacturing of Individualized Cranial Implants Using Two Point Incremental Sheet Metal Forming

Abstract: A new approach for the production of cranial implants using CNC-controlled two point incremental sheet forming (TPIF) is presented. The use of titanium sheets for implant manufacturing offers the possibility for production of relatively thin parts involving a lower amount of scrap compared to machining. For this purpose a forming process is required which is suitable for economical production of individualized parts with an adequate accuracy. TPIF is a process suitable for prototyping and small batch production due to the minor tooling effort and high flexibility compared to traditional sheet forming processes. Furthermore, incremental sheet forming allows the processing of pure titanium sheets suitable for medical applications.

Process Limits of Stretch and Shrink Flanging by Incremental Sheet Metal Forming

Abstract: ncremental Sheet Forming (ISF) is a manufacturing technology for individualized and small batch production. Among the opportunities this technology provides there is the possibility of a short ramp up time and to cover the whole production chain of sheet metal parts by one machine setup. Since recent works showed that manufacturing of industrial parts is feasible, finishing operations such as flanging and trimming gain importance. This paper shows first works on the technological capabilities of using ISF for stretch and shrink flanging. Due to the localized forming zone the absence of surrounding clamping devices for ISF results in differing material flow behaviour. The influences of tool path characteristics, flange length as well as radii are analysed to set up a process window.

Modelling of static recrystallization kinetics by coupling crystal plasticity FEM and multiphase field calculations

Abstract: In multi-step hot forming processes, static recrystallization (SRX), which occurs in interpass times, influences the microstructure evolution, the flow stress and the final product properties. Static recrystallization is often simply modeled based on Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMAK) equations which are linked to the visco-plastic flow behavior of the material. Such semi-empirical models are not able to predict the SRX grain microstructure. In this paper, an approach for the simulation of static recrystallization of austenitic grains is presented which is based on the coupling of a crystal plasticity method with a multiphase field approach. The microstructure is modeled by a representative volume element (RVE) of a homogeneous austenitic grain structure with periodic boundary conditions. The grain microstructure is gener-ated via a Voronoi tessellation. The deformation of the RVE, considering the evolution of grain orientations and disloca-tion density, is calculated using a crystal plasticity finite element (CP-FEM) formulation, whose material parameters have been calibrated using experimental flow curves of the considered 25MoCrS4 steel. The deformed grain structure (disloca-tion density, orientation) is transferred to the FDM grid used in the multiphase field approach by a dedicated interpolation scheme. In the phase field calculation, driving forces for static recrystallization are calculated based on the mean energy per grain and the curvature of the grain boundaries. A simplified nucleation model at the grain level is used to initiate the recrystallization process. Under these assumptions, it is possible to approximate the SRX kinetics obtained from the stress relaxation test, but the grain morphology predicted by the 2d model still differs from experimental findings.

Microstructure Analysis of High-Manganese TWIP Steels Produced via Strip Casting

Abstract: Steels with manganese contents of more than 20% offer a new and favourable combination of material properties like high strength and high ductility. These extraordinary mechanical properties are based on the TWIP effect, which depends on the Stacking Fault Energy (SFE). But there are still problems in the conventional production of high-manganese steels, which prevents their widespread use. Both in casting and subsequent hot rolling difficulties occur, with the consequence that the production is very expensive. One alternative production process of high-manganese steels is strip casting, which basic feasibility was shown in earlier work. Strip casting allows the casting and rolling of hot strip in one combined process. In this way hot strip with a thickness of less than 3 mm could be produced. Characteristic for the strip cast material is the as-cast structure with a fine dendritic structure, which shows pronounced microsegregations with a short wavelength. The pronounced microsegregations can have an impact on the local chemical composition and thus on the dominating forming mechanisms that occur. In this work therefore the microsegregations of strip cast material are investigated by means of electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) measurement. Besides the local element distribution, also the presence and composition of non-metallic inclusions are analysed. Especially oxides from the casting process and sulfides from the raw material are expected. Furthermore, different annealing processes for the elimination of the dendritic as-cast structure are examined. In these experiments the temperatures were varied in the range from 900 to 1150°C at annealing times from several minutes to a few hours.

Deformation Mechanisms of Ti6Al4V Sheet Material during the Incremental Sheet Forming with Laser Heating

Abstract: ncremental sheet metal forming (ISF) is a suitable process for the production of small batch sizes. Due to the minor tooling effort and low forming forces, ISF enables the production of large components with inexpensive and light machine set-ups. Hence, ISF is an interesting manufacturing technique for aeronautical applications. Sheet metal parts in aircrafts are often made of titanium and its alloys like the high strength alloy Ti Grade5 (Ti6Al4V). The characteristic low formability of Ti6Al4V at room temperature requires forming operations on this material to be carried out at the elevated temperatures. The interaction of heating and deformation cycles results in a microstructure evolution, which is believed to have a high impact on formability and product quality. In the present work, the temperature-dependent microstructural evolution of the as-deformed parts was investigated. Longitudinal pockets with different depths were formed using a laser-assisted ISF process. The microstructural evolution and hardening of the material were analyzed with respect to the local strain in different forming depths and pocket zones. The formability of the material together with the deformation depth and the sheet thickness-reduction were found to be strongly dependent on the applied process temperatures and the activated deformation mechanisms like dislocation glide and dynamic recrystallization.

Manufacturing dish shaped rings on radial-axial ring rolling mills

Abstract: Ring rolling is an established method to produce seamless rings of different cross-sectional geometries. For dish shaped rings, there are applications in different areas such as offshore, aeronautics or the energy sector. At the moment, dish shaped rings are produced by machining of rings with rectangular shaped cross section, by (open die) hollow forging on a conical mandrel or by using shaped ring rolling tools. These ways of manufacturing have the disadvantage of high material waste, additional costs for special tools, long process time and limited or inflexible geometries. Therefore, the manufacturing of dish shaped rings on conventional radial-axial ring rolling mills would expand the range of products for ring producers. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of an alternative to the current manufacturing processes, without requiring additional tooling and material costs. Therefore, the intended formation of dish shaped rings—previously regarded as a form error—is investigated. Based on an analysis of geometrical requirements and metal flow mechanisms, a rolling strategy is presented, causing dishing and ring climbing by a large height reduction of the ring. Using this rolling strategy dish shaped rings with dishing angles up to 18° were achieved. In addition to the experiments finite element method (FEM)—simulations of the process have been successfully conducted, in order to analyze the local strain evolution. However, when the contact between ring and main roll is lost in the process the ring starts to oscillate around the mandrel and neither dishing nor ring climbing is observed.

Numerical simulations supporting the process design of ring rolling processes

Abstract: In conventional Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of radial-axial ring rolling (RAR) the motions of all tools are usually defined prior to simulation in the preprocessing step. However, the real process holds up to 8 degrees of freedom (DOF) that are controlled by industrial control systems according to actual sensor values and preselected control strategies. Since the histories of the motions are unknown before the experiment and are dependent on sensor data, the conventional FEA cannot represent the process before experiment. In order to enable the usage of FEA in the process design stage, this approach integrates the industrially applied control algorithms of the real process including all relevant sensors and actuators into the FE model of ring rolling. Additionally, the process design of a novel process 'the axial profiling', in which a profiled roll is used for rolling axially profiled rings, is supported by FEA. Using this approach suitable control strategies can be tested in virtual environment before...

Advanced Design of Hierarchical Topographies in Metallic Surfaces by Combining Micro‐Coining and Laser Interference Patterning

Abstract: A new process idea to create hierarchical surface structures is based on the combination of micro-coining and laser interference patterning. Micro-coining already proved to be a high precision cold bulk metal forging process which allows for the production of small surface structures in the range of 20–200 µm while fulfilling high requirements related to the geometrical accuracy of those structures. In addition to that, laser interference patterning utilizes interfering laser beams from a pulsed solid state Nd: YAG laser to generate precisely defined surface topographies with a long-range order on the micron-scale. For the first time, initial results of a process combination consisting of micro-coining and laser interference metallurgy to induce hierarchical surface structures will be presented. The results highlight the advantages of the sequence micro-coining prior to laser interference patterning due to smaller defects in contrast to the inverted process cycle. Additionally, process limitations such as shadowing which may result from steep flank angles of the coined structures and surface roughness effects are discussed by the use of finite element simulations within this research work.

Application of a Material Model to Predict Rolling Forces and Microstructure during a Hot Ring Rolling Process

Abstract: Ring rolling is an incremental bulk forming process. Hence, the process consists of a large number of alternating deformations and dwell steps. For accurate calculations of material flow and thus ring geometry and rolling forces in hot ring rolling processes, it seems necessary to consider material softening due to static and post dynamic recrystallization which could occur between two deformation steps. In addition, due to the large number of cycles, the modeling results, especially the prediction of grain size, can easily be affected by uncertainties in the input data. However, for small rings and ring material with slow recrystallization kinetics, the interpass times can be short compared to the softening kinetics and the effect of softening can be so small, that microstructure evolution and the description of the materials flow behavior can be de-coupled. In this paper, a semi-empirical JMAK-based model for a stainless steel (1.4301/ X5CrNi18-9/ AISI304) is presented and evaluated by the use of experiments and other investigations published in [1],[2]. Finite Element (FE) simulations of a ring rolling process with a high number of ring revolutions and thus multiple, incremental forming steps were conducted based on ring rolling experiments. The FE simulation results were validated with the experimentally derived rolling force and evolution of ring diameter. The microstructure evolution was calculated in a post processing step considering the investigated evolution of strain and temperature. In this calculation the interrelations between the fraction of dynamically recrystallized microstructure, the evolution of post-dynamically recrystallized microstructure and the final grain size have been considered. Both, the calculated final microstructure and the evolution of rolling force and ring geometry calculated stand in good agreement with the experimental investigations.

Experimental Investigations of Different Tool Concepts for Rotary Peen Forming

Abstract: Rotary Peen Forming (RPF) is a new peen forming process, comparable to Shot Peen Forming (SPF), in which the shot is held by a flexible connection and moved on a circular trajectory Hence, RPF uses less machine components and therefore offers a compact machine design and a more flexible use than SPF Just as conventional Shot Peen Forming the RPF process causes localized plastic deformation but involves tangential components which can create shear deformation in the plastic layer In this paper, three different RPF tool concepts are compared and the applicability of Rotary Peen Forming for the production of slightly curved parts is analyzed The first design offers a stochastic impact distribution, the second design leads to deterministic impacts The third one is a further enhancement of the previous designs and combines the advantages of both In contrast to previous tests a new, stiffer testing setup was used which offers good comparability of the tool concepts Particularly the forming potential in terms of the realization of high curvatures and the surface quality are investigated Depending on the tool concept the surface quality differs significantly, but generally RPF allows the forming of curvatures that are commonly used for aerospace structural parts

Application of a Fast Calculation Model for the Process Monitoring of Open Die Forging Processes

Abstract: To provide a high quality of forged products, a homogeneous distribution of material properties has to be achieved inside the ingot. As the properties are not visible from the outside, an online monitoring during the forging process is required. By using modern measuring equipment and fast calculation models, the equivalent strain, temperature and average grain size in the core fibre of a forging ingot can be calculated parallel to the process. Software implementing the fast calculation models has been established and connected to the measuring system of two different open die forging presses. Two experimental forging processes with ten passes have been performed (20 ton steel ingot, 750 kg Ni-base alloy ingot). Parallel to the process, the current strain, temperature and average grain size in the centre of the ingot are visualised in the graphic user interface and recorded by the process monitor. It was shown that the calculation speed is high enough to allow online capability. After finishing the process, the developed software can further be used to analyse in detail the impact of every single stroke or pass on the whole process. Additionally, information like minimum or maximum grain size or recrystallized fraction is calculated and can be used to get insight into the process and optimize its design. Comparing the metallographically measured average grain size from experiment with the grain size estimated by the process monitor, the average deviation of three measured points is less than 13 %.

Advances in the Twin-Roll Strip Casting of Strip with Profiled Cross Section

Abstract: Direct thin strip casting is an economically end energetically smart process for the production of steel strip. In a single process step, liquid steel can be cast and directly rolled to hot strip in thicknesses ranging from one to four millimeters. With the use of specifically profiled casting rolls it is possible to produce strip with optimized cross-sections, allowing this process to compete with tailor welded and tailor rolled blanks for the production of a class of products already widely applied in industry. Numerical and experimental studies proved the feasibility of this concept and additional simulations were used to optimize the profile to be used for the experiments. A thickness variation of one millimeter from the edge to the center could be successfully achieved. However, the dimensional precision and the roughness distribution along the cross section of the produced strip were not satisfactory. Additional profiles were applied for the experimental analysis leading to better roughness distribution and geometrical accuracy. In order to further improve the uniformity of properties along the profiled section it is necessary to increase the homogeneity of the microstructure. The coating and surface preparation of the casting rolls play a very important role in the strip casting process as they strongly affect the solidification behavior. This observation lead to the idea of selectively coating the casting rolls, applying a less conductive layer on the areas where the casted profile is thinner. Thus, a more homogeneous solidification front can be obtained. The effect of a locally modified casting roll coating on the solidification is numerically investigated and the results applied for the selection of the coating parameters to be used for the experiments.

Interaction Effects between Strip and Work Roll during Flat Rolling Process

Abstract: During the flat rolling process (cold or hot), the strip flatness and thickness profile are highly influenced by the interaction effects between strip and work rolls. To understand and analyze these effects a new modeling concept was developed. Within this concept, the tool simulations are separated from the process simulation. With the help of an automatic coupling module, the influences of the tool effects are realized within the process simulation. With this modeling concept, three types of interaction phenomena are studied and validated using experiments: elastic roll effects during the cold rolling process, work roll thermal effects during the hot rolling process and tribological effects (abrasive wear) on the process simulation. It was also shown that, compared to the single FE model, this modeling concept is relatively faster and suitable for large 3D models without losing the quality of the predicted results.

Recent developments in modeling of hot rolling processes: Part I - Fundamentals

Abstract: The numerical simulation of industrial rolling processes has gained substantial relevance over the past decades. A large variety of models have been put forward to simulate single and multiple rolling passes taking various interactions between the process, the microstructure evolution and the rolling mill into account. On the one hand, these include sophisticated approaches which couple models on all scales from the product's microstructure level up to the elastic behavior of the roll stand. On the other hand, simplified but fast models are used for on-line process control and automatic pass schedule optimization. This publication gives a short overview of the fundamental equations used in modeling of hot rolling of metals. Part II of this paper will present selected applications of hot rolling simulations.

Optimization of Superplastic Forming Processes for High Volume Production in Aeronautics

Abstract: Superplastic forming (SPF) is a well-known and widely used sheet metal forming process especially useful for the production of very complex and light thin sheet metal components. The superplastic behavior of a material is highly dependent on the temperature and occurs only at a narrow range of strain rates with an optimum value that is unique for each material. Within the aeronautic industry, this process is mainly used to form complex sheet metal parts made of the titanium alloy Ti6Al4V in heat affected areas and areas where corrosion resistance plays an important role. Even though the process times of SPF are often in the range of hours and therefore recurring costs are very high, the process is sometimes still the only choice when it comes to the forming of Ti6Al4V sheet metal parts for aeronautic or aerospace applications. To overcome the problem of long process times and high costs, in recent years, a lot of research did happen with the goal of temperature reduction during forming or forming at higher strain rates. Especially the change in the aeronautic industry towards high volume production is increasing the competition between suitable forming technologies and the SPF technology can only persist if both goals, reduction of process time and recurring costs are reachable. In this paper we will address those goals and show highly useful numerical procedures to make the SPF process ready for the next generation of aerospace manufacturing.

Die and Process Design for Hot Forging of a Gear Wheel – A Case Study

Abstract: Gearing components are an example for widely used machining parts in engines. Nowadays the development and optimization of materials and process chains are driven towards a concurrent improvement of final product properties and production efficiency. Excellent mechanical properties needed for gearing components e.g. high load capacity and high fatigue resistance depend on a fine homogeneous microstructure in the final product. Efficiency in gear manufacturing can be optimized by increasing the temperature during processing, which allows for lower forging loads and lower die stresses, thus improving die life in terms of mechanical fatigue. Additionally, increasing the temperature during case hardening reduces the process duration significantly. Hence process efficiency also increases. To meet the need of a fine homogenous microstructure, dynamic recrystallization has to be initiated during hot forging and grain growth has to be avoided during dwell times and case hardening. This grain size control can be achieved by applying micro-alloying concepts. Recently, an Nb-Ti-based alloying concept for case hardening steels was introduced, which increases fine grain stability and therefore potentially allows for higher forging and case hardening temperatures, leading to improved process efficiency [1]. In this paper a 25MoCr4-Nb-Ti steel grade is characterized in terms of flow resistance and microstructure evolution by hot compression tests and annealing experiments. The processing limits of this material in terms of abnormal grain growth are determined and a JMAK-based microstructure model considering these limits is presented and implemented in the FE-Software DEFORM 3dTM. The model is used in a case study to design a laboratory scale forging process for lowest possible die stresses and finest possible grain sizes. Experimentally measured grain sizes and forging loads from forgings at the laboratory scale are used to evaluate the process design. It is shown that considering microstructure evolution in process design is absolutely necessary to jointly optimize for process efficiency and final properties. The application of the Nb-Ti-based micro-alloying concepts allows for lower die stresses and thus seems to reduce mechanical fatigue of the dies compared to conventional case-hardening steels. [1] S. Konovalov et. al.: Testcase gearing component. In: G. J. Schmitz, U. Prahl (Ed.): Integrative Computational Materials Engineering, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2012, ISBN 978-3-527-33081-2

Recent developments in modeling of hot rolling processes: Part II - Applications

Abstract: This publication gives a short overview of current developments in modeling and simulation of hot rolling processes of metals at the Institute of Metal Forming of RWTH Aachen University. It is based on the fundamentals treated in Part I also contained in this conference issue. It features applications in the field of fast on-line models, where a fast multi-stage rolling model and an analytical approach for predicting the through-thickness shear distribution are presented. In addition, a new concept for sensitivity analysis by automatic differentiation is introduced and discussed. Finally, applications of rolling simulations in the field of integrated computational materials engineering are presented with a focus on TWIP and linepipe steels as well as aluminum.