Incremental forming of hybrid parts using cross-wedge rolling

Hybrid components, made of multiple materials, can meet the increasing demands for lightweight construction and functional integration in the automotive and aircraft industry. Hybrid semi-finished components are produced by applying a high-alloy cladding to a low-alloy base material before hot-forming and machining the workpiece. Throughout this process chain, workpiece deviations in the form of material distribution and material properties can occur that influence the component’s lifetime. This paper investigates whether such workpiece deviations can be detected within the process chain by analyzing process signals obtained from subsequent process steps. For this purpose, artificial workpiece deviations were introduced to hybrid semi-finished workpieces made of C22.8/X45CrSi9-3. Then, process signals during forming and machining were analyzed to determine their sensitivity to the artificial deviations. The results revealed that deviations in cladding size can be effectively monitored using signals from both forming and machining. Cladding position deviations can only be detected during machining, while forming signals are more responsive to detecting the introduced hardness deviations of approx. 100 HV0.1.

Laser hot-wire cladding, Cross-wedge rolling, Machining, Monitoring, Workpiece deviations

The Collaborative Research Center 1153 is investigating a novel process chain for manufacturing high-performance hybrid components. The combination of aluminum and steel can reduce the weight of components and lead to lower fuel consumption. During welding of aluminum and steel a brittle intermetallic phase is formed that reduces the service life of the component. After welding the workpiece is heated inhomogeneously and hot formed in a cross-wedge rolling process. Since the intermetallic phase grows depending on the temperature during hot forming, temperature control is of great importance. In this paper, the possibility of process-integrated contact temperature measurement with thin film sensors is investigated. For this purpose, the initial temperature distribution after induction heating of the workpiece is determined. Subsequently, cross-wedge rolling is carried out and the data of the thin film sensors are compared to the the temperature measurements after heating. It is shown that thin film sensors inserted into the tool are capable of measuring surface temperatures even at a contact time of 0.041 s. The new process monitoring of the temperature makes it possible to develop a better understanding of the process as well as to further optimize the temperature distribution. In the long term, knowledge of the temperatures in the different materials also makes it possible to derive quality characteristics as well as insights into the causes of possible process errors (e.g. fracture of the joining zone).

cross-wedge rolling, thin-film sensors, hybrid components, aluminum, temperature monitoring

The Collaborative Research Center 1153 is investigating an innovative process chain for the production of hybrid components. The hybrid workpieces are first joined and then formed by cross-wedge rolling. Pinion shafts were manufactured to investigate the behavior of the joining zone under increased complexity of the forming process. For this purpose, six types of workpieces produced by three types of joining processes were formed into pinion shafts. The reference process provides a shaft with a smooth bearing seat. It was found that the increased complexity did not present any challenges compared to the reference processes. A near-net shape geometry was achieved for the pinions made of steel.

hybrid components, cross-wedge rolling, hot forming, laser beam welding, LHWD welding

A new process chain for the manufacturing of load-adapted hybrid components is presented. The "Tailored Forming” process chain consists of a deposition welding process, hot forming, machining and an optional heat treatment. This paper focuses on the combination of laser hot-wire cladding with subsequent hot forming to produce hybrid components. The applicability is investigated for different material combinations and component geometries, e.g. a shaft with a bearing seat or a bevel gear. Austenitic stainless steel AISI 316L and martensitic valve steel AISI HNV3 are used as cladding materials, mild steel AISI 1022M and case hardening steel AISI 5120 are used as base materials. The resulting component properties after laser hot-wire cladding and hot forming such as hardness, microstructure and residual stress state are presented. In the cladding and the heat-affected zone, the hot forming process causes a transformation from a welding microstructure to a fine-grained forming microstructure. Hot forming significantly affects the residual stress state in the cladding the resulting residual stress state depends on the material combination.

laser hot-wire cladding, cladding, hot forming, residual stress, tailored forming

Tailored forming is used to produce hybrid components in which the materials used are locally adapted to the diferent types of physical, chemical and tribological requirements. In this paper, a Tailored Forming process chain for the production of a hybrid shaft with a bearing seat is investigated. The process chain consists of the manufacturing steps laser hot-wire cladding, cross-wedge rolling, turning and deep rolling. A cylindrical bar made of mild steel C22.8 is used as the base material, and a cladding of the martensitic valve steel X45CrSi9-3 is applied in the area of the bearing seat to achieve the strength and hardness required. It is investigated how the surface and subsurface properties of the hybrid component, such as hardness, microstructure and residual stress state, change within the process chain. The results are compared with a previous study in which the austenitic stainless steel X2CrNiMo19-12 was investigated as a cladding material. It is shown that the residual stress state after hot forming depends on the thermal expansion coefcients of the cladding material.

Tailored forming, Residual stress, Laser hot-wire cladding, Deep rolling, Hybrid Components

The Tailored Forming process chain is used to manufacture hybrid components and consists of a joining process or Additive
Manufacturing for various materials (e.g. deposition welding), subsequent hot forming, machining and heat treatment. In
this way, components can be produced with materials adapted to the load case. For this paper, hybrid shafts are produced by
deposition welding of a cladding made of X45CrSi9-3 onto a workpiece made from 20MnCr5. The hybrid shafts are then
formed by means of cross-wedge rolling. It is investigated, how the thickness of the cladding and the type of cooling after
hot forming (in air or in water) afect the properties of the cladding. The hybrid shafts are formed without layer separation.
However, slight core loosening occurres in the area of the bearing seat due to the Mannesmann efect. The microhardness
of the cladding is only slightly efected by the cooling strategy, while the microhardness of the base material is signifcantly
higher in water cooled shafts. The microstructure of the cladding after both cooling strategies consists mainly of martensite.
In the base material, air cooling results in a mainly ferritic microstructure with grains of ferrite-pearlite. Quenching in water
results in a microstructure containing mainly martensite.

laser hot-wire cladding, cross-wedge rolling, hybrid components, cladding

Due to the increased integration of functions, many components have to meet high and sometimes contradictory requirements. One way to solve this problem is Tailored Forming. Here, hybrid semi-finished products are manufactured by a joining or cladding process, which are then hot-formed and finished. For the design of hybrid components for a possible later industrial application, knowledge about properties of hybrid components is required. In this paper it is investigated how the respective process steps of the Tailored Forming process chain change the surface and subsurface properties of the applied cladding layer. For this purpose, shafts made of unalloyed steel are provided with a high-alloy austenitic steel X2CrNiMo19-12 cladding by laser hot-wire cladding. Subsequently, hot forming is carried out by cross-wedge rolling and the finishing by turning and deep rolling. After each process step, the subsurface properties of the cladding such as microstructure, hardness and residual stress state are examined. Thus, the influence of different process steps on the subsurface properties in the process chain of manufacturing hybrid shafts can be analyzed. This knowledge is necessary for the specific adjustment of defined properties for a required application behavior.

Cross-Wedge Rolling, Tailored Forming, Hybrid

The production of hybrid components involves a long process chain, which leads to high investment costs even before machining. To increase process safety and process quality during finishing, it is necessary to provide information about the semi-finished parts geometry for the machining process and to identify defect components at an early stage. This paper presents an investigation to predict variations in dimension and cavities inside the material during cross-wedge rolling of shafts based on measured tool pressure. First, the process is investigated with respect to the variation in diameter for three roll gaps and two materials. Subsequently, features are generated from the hydraulic pressures of the tools and multi-linear regression models are developed in order to determine the resulting diameters of the shaft shoulder. These models show bet-ter prediction accuracy than models based on meta-data about set roll gap and formed material. The features are additionally used to successfully monitor the process with regard to the Mannesmann effect. Finally, a sensor concept for a new cross-wedge rolling machine to improve the prediction of the workpiece geometry and a new approach for monitoring machining processes of workpieces with dimensional variations are presented for upcoming studies.

Cross-Wedge Rolling, Forming, hybrid, tailored forming

The service life of rolling contacts is dependent on many factors. The choice of materials in particular has a major influence on when, for example, a ball bearing mayfail.Within an exemplary process chain for the production of hybrid high-performance components through tailored forming, hybrid solid components made of at least two different steel alloys are investigated. The aim is to create parts that have improved properties compared to monolithic parts of the same geometry. In orderto achievethis, several materials are joined prior to a forming operation. In this work, hybrid shafts created by either plasma(PTA)orlaser metal deposition (LMD-W) welding are formed via cross-wedge rolling(CWR)to investigate the resulting thickness of the material deposited in the area of the bearing seat. Additionally,finite element analysis (FEA)simulations of the CWRprocessare compared with experimental CWR results to validate the coating thickness estimation done via simulation. This allows for more accurate predictionsofthe cladding materialgeometry after CWR,and the desired welding seam geometrycan be selected by calculating the cladding thicknessvia CWR simulation.

Cross-Wedge Rolling, Forming, hybrid, tailored forming

To manufacture semi-finished hybrid workpieces with tailored properties, a finite element simulation assisted process chain design was investigated. This includes the process steps of cross wedge rolling, hot geometry inspection, induction hardening, and fatigue testing. The process chain allows the utilisation of material combinations such as high-strength steels with low-cost and easy to process steels. Here, plasma transferred arc welding is applied to supply the process chain with hybrid specimen featuring different steel grades. An overview of the numerical approaches to consider the various physical phenomena in each of the process steps is presented. The properties of the component behaviour were investigated via the finite element method (FEM) and theoretical approaches.

Cross-Wedge Rolling, Forming, hybrid, tailored forming

In this work we present an application of the virtual element method (VEM) to a forming process of hybrid metallic structures by cross-wedge rolling. The modeling of that process is embedded in a thermomechanical framework undergoing large deformations. Since forming processes include mostly huge displacements within a plastic regime, the difficulty of an accurate numerical treatment arises. VEM illustrates a stable, robust and quadratic convergence rate under extreme loading conditions in many fields of numerical mechanics. Numerically, the forming process is achieved by assigning time-dependent boundary conditions instead of modeling the contact mechanics yielding to a simplified formulation. Based on the two metallic combinations of steel and aluminum, different material properties are considered in the simulations. The purpose of this contribution is to illustrate the effectiveness of such a non-contact macroscopic framework by employing suitable boundary conditions within a virtual element scheme. A comparison with the classical finite element method (FEM) is performed to demonstrate the efficiency of the chosen approach. The numerical examples proposed in this work stem out from the DFG Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1153 “Process chain for the production of hybrid high-performance components through tailored forming”.

simulation, FEM, bulk metal forming, tailiored forming

The aim of subproject B1 of the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1153 is to determine the formability of novel hybrid semi-finished products by means of incremental forming cross wedge rolling. Main aspect is the forming of hybrid semi-finished products made of steel, aluminium and hard material alloys. In order to reduce the component weight, the use of hybrid semi-finished products makes it possible to manufacture less stressed segments of a previously monolithic component from a light metal. To increase wear resistance, a component area (e.g. a bearing seat) can be coated with a hard material. In addition, process variables (e.g. temperature and force) are to be measured in contact between work piece and tool in the future. There are primarily two material arrangements for the semi-finished products used: coated (coaxial - demonstrator shaft 1) and joined at the front (serial - demonstrator shaft 3). One challenge is the heating of the semi-finished products necessary for forming, since the hybrid semi-finished product has different flow resistances due to the different materials and may have to be heated inhomogeneously in order to enable uniform forming.

cross-wedge rolling, forming, hybrid work pieces, tailored forming, hybrid semi-finished products

The Collaborative Research Centre 1153 (CRC 1153) “Process chain for the production of hybrid high-performance components through tailored forming“ at the Institute for Integrated Production in Hanover/Germany is opening up further potential for hybrid solid components. On the basis of a new type of production process, tailored semi-finished products already joined prior to forming are to be used.

tailored forming, cross-wedge rolling, forming, aluminium, steel

The Collaborative Research Centre 1153 (CRC 1153) “Process chain for the production of hybrid high-performance components through tailored forming” aims to develop new process chains for the production of hybrid bulk components using joined semi-finished workpieces. The subproject B1 investigates the formability of hybrid parts using cross-wedge rolling. This study investigates the reduction of the coating thickness of coaxially arranged semi-finished hybrid parts through cross-wedge rolling. The investigated parts are made of two steels (1.0460 and 1.4718) via laser cladding with hot-wire. The rolling process is designed by finite element (FE)-simulations and later experimentally investigated. Research priorities include investigations of the difference in the coating thickness of the laser cladded 1.4718 before and after cross-wedge rolling depending on the wedge angle, cross-section reduction, and the forming speed. Also, the simulations and the experimental trials are compared to verify the possibility of predicting the thickness via finite element analysis (FEA). The main finding was the ability to describe the forming behavior of coaxially arranged hybrid parts at a cross-section reduction of 20% using FEA. For a cross-section reduction of 70% the results showed a larger deviation between simulation and experimental trials. The deviations were between 0.8% and 26.2%.

cross-wedge rolling, hybrid forming, FEA, coating thickness

Within the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1153 “Tailored Forming “the manufacturing of hybrid bulk components is investigated. Therefore, a process chain consisting of joining, forming, milling and quality control has been established by multiple subprojects.Within subproject B1 of the CRC forming of hybrid parts by the incrementally forming cross-wedge rolling (CWR) process is investigated. The superior aim is to determine process limits and capabilities, when forming parts consisting of different materials joined by varying technologies.

In this paper, the investigation of cross-wedge rolling of serially arranged hybrid parts made of steel and aluminum is described. The focus of the research presented in this publication is the displacement of the joining zone of hybrid parts due to the cross-wedge rolling process. Therefore, finite element simulations have been developed, that allow the investigations of hybrid solid components. After simulation of various variations of the cross-wedge rolling process, i.e.  differently shaped tools and forming velocities, experimental trials were carried out with identical parameter sets. A comparison of simulation and experiment, showed that the simulation model is capable of describing the cross-wedge rolling process of hybrid parts. The standard deviation of the displacement of the joining zone between simulation and experimental trials is 8.8% with regard to all investigated cases.

tailored forming, cross-wedge rolling, material forming, aluminum, steel

Within the Collaborative Research Centre 1153 “Tailored Forming“ a process chain for the manufacturing of hybrid high performance components is developed. Exemplary process steps consist of deposit welding of high performance steel on low-cost steel, pre-shaping by cross-wedge rolling and finishing by milling.
Hard material coatings such as Stellite 6 or Delcrome 253 are used as wear or corrosion protection coatings in industrial applications. Scientists of the Institute of Material Science welded these hard material alloys onto a base material, in this case C22.8, to create a hybrid workpiece. Scientists of the Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover have shown that these hybrid workpieces can be formed without defects (e.g. detachment of the coating) by cross-wedge rolling. After forming, the properties of the coatings are retained or in some cases even improved (e.g. the transition zone between base material and coating). By adjustments in the welding process, it was possible to apply the 100Cr6 rolling bearing steel, as of now declared as non-weldable, on the low-cost steel C22.8. 100Cr6 was formed afterwards in its hybrid bonding state with C22.8 by cross-wedge rolling, thus a component-integrated bearing seat was produced. Even after welding and forming, the rolling bearing steel coating could still be quench-hardened to a hardness of over 60 HRC. This paper shows the potential of forming hybrid billets to tailored parts. Since industrially available standard materials can be used for hard material coatings by this approach, even though they are not weldable by conventional methods, it is not necessary to use expensive, for welding designed materials to implement a hybrid component concept.

tailored forming, cross-wedge rolling, hard material coatings, PTA

Within the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1153 Tailored Forming a process chain for the manufacturing of hybrid high performance components is developed. Exemplary process steps consist of deposit welding of high-performance steel onto low cost steel and pre-shaping the component by cross-wedge rolling (CWR), supported by an optical quality control system. A combination of a fringe projection profilometry setup with a thermal imaging camera is used to monitor the components before and after the CWR process. Both geometry and thermal imaging data are combined, assigning temperature values to 3D data points.
In this paper, the acquisition of combined temperature-geometry data is described. The data before and after the CWR is compared to the input and the result data of the forming simulation that was used to design the CWR process. The comparison shows the quality and sustainability of the heating process as well as the influence of the transportation of the hot component prior to forming. Additionally, the accuracy of the used simulation model and software are evaluated by data examination. The examination shows the limits of idealised and simplified assumptions for the simulation, e.g., a homogeneous temperature distribution before forming or the modelling of the heat transfer on contact surfaces.

tailored forming, cross-wedge rolling, material forming, aluminum, steel, optical measurement

This paper describes the production process of serially arranged hybrid steel parts, produced by combining a laser welding process with a subsequent cross wedge rolling process. The presented results are only a first approach in order to get first insights in the forming behaviour of laser welded and cross wedge rolled parts. The investigated material combination is C22 (1.0402) and 20MnCr5 (1.7147). This innovative process chain enables the production of hybrid parts. To evaluate the developed process chain, the weld and the joining zone is analysed before and after cross wedge rolling. Main results are that the joining process using laser welding enables a strong bonding between the two materials with a higher hardness in the joining zone than for the individual materials. After the forming process, the bonding of the joining zone is still present, while the hardness decreased but remains higher than of the materials themselves.

tailored forming, laser welding, hybrid parts, cross wedge rolling

In this paper, investigations about the displacement of the joining-zone of serially arranged semi-finished hybrid parts durig cross-wedge rolling are presented. The investigated material combinations are steel-steel (C22 and 41Cr4) and steel-aluminum (20MnCr5 and AlSi1MgMn). The rolling process is designed using FEM-simulations and the cross-wedge rolling process was experimentally investigated afterwards. Research priorities are investigations of the displacement of the joining-zone depending on the main parameters of cross wedge rolling. It could be shown that the forming behaviour of serially arranged hybrid parts made of steel-steel and steel-aluminum can be described using FEM. The deviation of the simulated displacement of the joining-zone compared to the trials is only about 3 %, which is a good approximation.

cross-wedge rolling, steel, aluminum, joining-zone

Most of today’s technical parts and components are made of monolithic materials. These mono-material components produced in established production processes reach their limits due to their respective material characteristics. Thus, a significant increase in production quality and efficiency can only be achieved by combining different materials in one part. Bulk forming of previously joined semi-finished products to net shape hybrid components that consist of two different materials is a promising method to produce parts with locally optimized characteristics. This new production process chain offers a number of advantages compared to conventional manufacturing technologies. Examples are the production of specific load-adapted forged parts with a high level of material utilization, an improvement of the joining zone caused by the following forming process and an easy to implement joining process due to the simple geometries of the semi-finished products.

This paper describes the production process of hybrid steel parts, produced by combining a plasma-transferred arc deposition welding process with a subsequent cross wedge rolling process. This innovative process chain enables the production of hybrid parts. To evaluate the developed process chain, coating thickness of the billet is analysed before and after cross wedge rolling. It could be shown, that the forming process leads to an improvement of the coating, meaning a more homogeneous distribution along the main axis.

process chain, plasma-transferred arc deposition welding, hybrid parts, cross wedge rolling

Different challenges arise in cross wedge rolling hybrid parts depending of the material arrangement (serial or coaxial) which need to be investigated fundamentally first.

In cross wedge rolling of serial components, the controlled forming of the joining zone is the greatest challenge. The forming behaviour of the component halves is different, depending on the flow stress of the materials used. In order to allow the forming process to be carried out in a controlled manner, the forming behaviour was first analysed with regard to the displacement and quality of the joining zone, and then possibilities were determined with which the forming can be effected in a targeted manner. For this purpose, the influencing parameters (workpiece temperature, forming speed, cross-section reduction, shoulder and wedge angle) were determined systematically using the Finite Element method, and the investigations were then verified experimentally. In order to influence the forming behaviour the investigations include structural measures (e.g. unequal tool halves) as well as process-related parameters (e.g. unequal temperature distribution).

Cross wedge rolling of coaxial components has other challenges due to the component construction. The aim is to be able to specifically influence the course of the thickness of the applied coating during the forming. Therefore finite element simulations were carried out to determine the influencing parameters. By a systematic investigation of the test parameters according to the DoE method, the layer thickness before the deformation as well as the cross-section reduction are parameters with the greatest influences on the course of the layer thickness after the deformation gave. The results obtained were subsequently verified in experimental tests.

cross wedge rolling, steel, aluminum, joining zone, coating thickness

In recent years, the requirements for technical components have steadily been increasing. This development is intensified by the desire for products with lower weight, smaller size and extended functionality, but also higher resistance against specific stresses.

The superior aim of the Collaborative Research Centre 1153 "Tailored Forming" is to develop potentials for hybrid solid components on the basis of a new process chain by using joined semi-finished workpieces.

This paper presents the approach and first results of selected subprojects for semi-finished workpiece production by composite extrusion presses, for forming the hybrid semi-finished products by means of cross wedge rolling, die forging and extrusion, and numerical failure prediction of the joining zones. This provides an overview of possible lightweight strategies in the area of bulk forming by the use of pre-joined semi-finished workpieces.

tailored forming, semi-finished workpiece production, forming, cross wedge rolling

Efficient forming of components without burr: The solution is cross wedge rolling. Hybrid billets require new investigations: Which are the optimum adjustments to be made for joint forming of cohesive bonds – for example between steel and aluminium?

cross wedge rolling, hybrid billets

Today most technical parts and components are made of monolithic materials. Nevertheless, the previously used monolithic materials reach their technological and constructive limits, so that an improvement of the component properties can be realized by hybrid parts. Forging of previously joined semi-finished products to net shape hybrid components is a promising method to produce functional adapted parts in a few process steps. This new process chain offers a number of advantages compared to other manufacturing technologies. Examples are the production of specific load-adapted forging parts with a high level of material utilization, an improvement of the joining zone caused by the followed forming process and an easy to implement joining process because of the simple geometries of the semi-finished products. This paper describes the production process of hybrid steel parts, which are produced by a combination of a deposition welding process with a subsequent hot forging (upsetting) or cross-wedge-rolling. It could be shown that the innovative process chain enables the production of hybrid parts whereby the forging processes lead to an improvement of the mechanical properties of the laser deposited material.

process chain, deposition welding, hot forging, cross-wedge-rolling