In the research project “AutoPress”, the IPH – Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover gGmbH and Jobotec GmbH are jointly striving to develop an automated process control of screw presses. By retrofitting and applying an optimization algorithm, the energy demand is to be reduced and the component quality increased.
digitalization, forming technology, production technology
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
Work-related illnesses and the resulting employee absences can have a major impact on productivity and competitiveness, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises. Particularly in the forging industry, the manual handling of forged parts leads to high physical stress and thus to frequent illnesses of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the hand-arm system. One possibility to counteract this circumstance is the use of ergonomic forging tongs. In the study presented here, the influence of ergonomic forging tongs on the physical stress of forging employees was investigated by simulation and experiment and compared to conventional forging tongs. Within the simulation and the experimental investigation, forging parts and forging tongs were varied. In the simulation, an ergonomics assessment of the forging situation could be evaluated using the Ergonomic Assessment Worksheet. In the experimental study, gripping force measurements and calorie measurements were used to determine the impact of handling the forging tongs on the forging employees. The results show that the use of the new ergonomically optimized forging tongs can lead to a significant physical relief for the forging employees. The knowledge gained from the ergonomically developed concepts can also be transferred in other industries.
forming technology, ergonomics
Forgings are produced in several process steps, the so-called forging sequence. The design of efficient forging sequences is a very complex and iterative development process. In order to automate this process and to reduce the development time, a method is presented here, which automatically generates multi-stage forging sequences for different forging geometries on the basis of the component geometry (STL file). The method was developed for closed die forging. The individual modules of this forging sequence design method (FSD method) as well as the functioning of the algorithm for the generation of the intermediate forms are presented. The method is applied to different forgings with different geometrical characteristics. The generated forging sequences are checked with FE simulations for the quality criteria form filling and freedom from folds. The simulation results show that the developed FSD method provides good approximate solutions for an initial design of forging sequences for closed die forging in a short time.
forging, forging sequences, CAD, automated process design, closed die forging
Forgings are produced in several process steps, the so-called forging sequence. The design of efficient forging sequences is a very complex and iterative development process. In order to automate this process and to reduce the development time, a method is presented here, which automatically generates multi-stage forging sequences for different forging geometries on the basis of the component geometry (STL file). The method was developed for closed die forging. The individual modules of this forging sequence design method (FSD method) as well as the functioning of the algorithm for the generation of the intermediate forms are presented. The method is applied to different forgings with different geometrical characteristics. The generated forging sequences are checked with FE simulations for the quality criteria form filling and freedom from folds. The simulation results show that the developed FSD method provides good approximate solutions for an initial design of forging sequences for closed die forging in a short time.
forging sequence, forging sequence planning, automation
Process Optimization through Thin Flash Prevention. Due to the good flow properties of aluminum, the material tends to flow into tool gaps during flashless precision forging and produce the so-called thin flash. For the industrial implementation of flashless precision forging processes, an innovative prediction method for thin flash as well as sealing concepts are to be developed in cooperation with an industrial partner. Simulative studies show that local form filling does not correlate with high pressure or an increased potential for thin flash.
thin flash, FEM-simulation, sealing concepts, precision forging, forming technology
In the non-circular rolling, the feasibility of rolling several mutually offset, locally non-round shaped elements into a cylindrical semi-finished product are investigated. One sub-area of the investigations is the rolling of two elliptical sections.
From three different calculation concepts for the determination of the tool engraving, one was chosen for a simulative parameter study. The main influencing variables, including the length and width of the engraving and a process window, were identified.
forming technology, manufacturing technology, FEM
In order to make the production of complex geometries as efficient as possible, several forming stages are generally used. In these, the billet is first heated homogeneously and then forged via several preliminary and intermediate stages as well as final forming. Previous investigations have shown that significant material savings can be achieved by using inhomogeneous, rather than homogeneous, billet heating. A limiting factor in the practical implementation of inhomogeneous heating is the temperature gradient between the hot and warm regions of the billet.
This study therefore investigates the influence of the length of the temperature gradient on the blank size required to achieve form filling for a given finished part geometry. For this purpose, a simulative parameter study was carried out with three temperature transitions of different lengths and two different finished part sizes.
It was shown that, depending on the finished part size and the length of the temperature gradient, between 3.31% and 17.49% material can be saved compared to a homogeneously heated billet. The length of the temperature gradient thus has a significant influence on the material savings potential.
bulk forming, inhomogeneous heating, resource efficiency, FEA
Process monitoring strategies allow wear-related conditions of forging dies to be detected and predicted. The prediction of the wear condition allows intelligent maintenance strategies. This allows residual tool life to be fully utilized, scrap to be reduced and downtime to be calculated. The content of this article is an economic analysis for calculating the payback period of a process monitoring system.
forging, process monitoring, economic efficiency
In manual solid forming, hand-guided forging tongs are used when processing forged parts. During the forging process, employees are physically stressed by high forging part weights and transmitted impacts. This physical stress leads to employee health limitations and increases absenteeism rates. Ergonomic forging tongs have been developed at IPH that lead to a relief of the forging employees.
ergonomics, forging tongs, forming technology, prevention
The results of the wear investigations will allow multidirectional processes in hot forging to be optimized in the future in a low-wear and economical manner. The determined, wear-inducing process parameters within the design guideline represent elementary basic knowledge which can be applied in a process-specific manner. In principle, the economic potential of multi-directional forging processes using of multi-directional forging processes using sliding dies depends on the application and the desired component geometries. Multi-directional forging processes forging processes offer great potential for savings and can be process design using the results obtained, they can achieve high tool life and have a positive influence on the competitive situation of companies. As a result costs for explicitly selected niche components with significantly higher with significantly increased complexity can be reduced in the future with manageable investment costs in the future. In addition to the process-specific optimization of the process parameters, in the future options for mold design adaptation with regard to local cooling or local cooling or thermal insulation of the slide-wedge wedge mechanics, in order to be able to use the systems in automated series automated series production.
Slide tools, process design, economic efficiency, solid 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
The manual handling of forged parts is physically demanding for forging employees. These physical stresses are reflected in damage to the hand-arm system and back and lead to forging employee absenteeism. In order to protect the health of forging employees, the aim is to reduce the basic stress caused by the dead weight of the forging tongs by using lightweight forging tongs.
forging tongs, ergonomics, lightweight design
Flat die rolling is a solid forming operation, in which two engraved tool plates run past each other and thereby form a cylindrical semi-finished product. The non-circular rolling can be used as a preform optimising process, where it should be possible to form local non-circular sections, for example ellipses or eccentrics, into a cylindrical semi-finished product. The material flow should be exclusively in radial direction. Initial simulations show that the requirements can be met.
non-circular rolling, cross wedge rolling, flat dies, preforms and intermediate forms, FEM
Multi-stage forging process chains are often used for the efficient production of complex geometries. Typically, these consist of homogeneous heating, one or more preform stages, and the final forging step. By inhomogeneously heated billets, the process chains can be simplified or shortened. This shall be achieved by setting various temperature fields within a billet, resulting in different yield stresses. These can influence the material flow, leading to easier production of complex parts. In this study, the influence of inhomogeneously heated billets on the forming process is investigated by means of FEA. For this purpose, two process chains including inhomogeneous heating and three homogeneously heated reference process chains are developed and compared. Each process chain is optimized until form filling and no defects occur. Target figures for the assessment are necessary forming force, the amount of material necessary to achieve form filling and die abrasion wear. For process chains with inhomogeneously heated billets, the results showed a small time window of about 5 s for a successful forming in terms of form filling. Forming forces and die abrasion wear increase for inhomogeneously heated billets due to higher initial flow stresses. However, the flash ratio decreases when billets are heated inhomogeneously. Depending on their size, inhomogeneously heated billets show up to 11.8% less flash than homogeneously heated billets. This shows a potential for the use of inhomogeneous heating to make forging processes more efficient. Subsequently, experimental tests will be carried out to verify the results of the simulations.
Inhomogeneous heating, Forging, FEA, Resource efficiency, Preform operation
To increase the economic efficiency in the production of geometrically complicated forgings, material efficiency is a determining factor. In this study, a method is being validated to automatically design a multi-staged forging sequence initially based on the CAD file of the forging. The method is intended to generate material-efficient forging sequences and reduce development time and dependence on reference processes in the design of forging sequences. Artificial neural networks are used to analyze the geometry of the forging and classify it into a shape class. Result of the analysis is information on component characteristics, such as bending and holes. From this, special operations such as a bending process in the forging sequence can be derived. A slicer algorithm is used to divide the CAD file of the forging into cutting planes and calculate the mass distribution around the center of gravity line of the forging. An algorithm approaches the mass distribution and cross-sectional contour step by step from the forging to the semi-finished product. Each intermediate form is exported as a CAD file. The algorithm takes less than 10 min to design a four-stage forging sequence. The designed forging sequences are checked by FE simulations. Quality criteria that are evaluated and investigated are form filling and folds. First FE simulations show that the automatically generated forging sequences allow the production of different forgings. In an iterative adaptation process, the results of the FE simulations are used to adjust the method to ensure material-efficient and process-reliable forging sequences.
Automatic process design, Forging, FEA, Resource efficiency, CAD
A method is presented that enables the complexity of a forging to be determined automatically on the basis of the CAD file of the forging. An automated evaluation of the forging complexity is necessary for a digitized and automated design of stage sequences in order to be able to determine important design parameters such as the flash ratio or the number of stages.
CAD, forming technology, algorithms
Forging can be used to produce components with excellent mechanical properties. However, conventional drop forging does not offer the possibility of introducing undercuts into a workpiece and creating complex geometries with one forging stroke.
forging, undercuts
