3D FEM simulations and experimental validation of plastic deformation of pure aluminum deformed by ECAP and combination of ECAP and direct extrusion

Rigid-viscoplastic 3D finite element simulations (3D FEM) of the equal channel angular pressing (ECAP), the combination of ECAP + extrusion with different extrusion ratios, and direct extrusion of pure aluminum were performed and analyzed. The 3D FEM simulations were carried out to investigate the load–displacement behavior, the plastic deformation characteristics and the effective plastic strain homogeneity of Al-1080 deformed by different forming processes. The simulation results were validated by microstructure observations, microhardness distribution maps and the correlation between the effective plastic strain and the microhardness values. The 3D FEM simulations were performed successfully with a good agreement with the experimental results. The load–displacement curves and the peak load values of the 3D FEM simulations and the experimental results were close from each other. The microhardness distribution maps were in a good conformity with the effective plastic strain contours and verifying the 3D FEM simulations results. The ECAP workpiece has a higher degree of deformation homogeneity than the other deformation processes. The microhardness values were calculated based on the average effective plastic strain. The predicted microhardness values fitted the experimental results well. The microstructure observations in the longitudinal and transverse directions support the 3D FEM effective plastic strain and microhardness distributions result in different forming processes.     

纯铝等径角挤扭新工艺变形

等径角挤扭(ECAPT)是结合等径角挤压(ECAP)和挤扭(TE)两种典型的大塑性变形(SPD)工艺而产生的一种新型细晶材料制备技术。利用刚塑性有限元技术对纯铝1100ECAPT工艺变形特征进行模拟研究,获得了等效应变和等效应力的大小及分布规律,分析了挤压载荷随变形时间的变化规律及其对试样变形的影响。结果显示,在模具拐角和螺旋通道处,等效应变得到有效积累,最终呈层状分布,且相对较为均匀,应变分布均匀性也得到一定改善,等效应力在上述两处区域达到最大。采用纯铝进行室温3道次ECAPT实验,测量试样显微组织和力学性能的变化。结果表明,实验结果与模拟结果具有较好的一致性;晶粒得到了明显细化,屈服强度、抗拉强度与显微硬度等力学性能得到明显提高,但试样塑性略有降低。     

镁合金复合挤压工艺的有限元模拟

研究将普通挤压和等通道角挤压工艺结合而开发出的新型复合挤压工艺。采用有限元技术建立具有不同摩擦系数和不同转角的模型,模拟镁合金复合挤压过程,分析复合挤压力变化特征,以及挤压过程的应变累积情况。结果表明,摩擦系数增大或者通道角减小,复合挤压的挤压力和等效应变增加。摩擦和转角均会引起变形的不均匀性,摩擦因数越大,通道转角越小,其不均匀性越大。在摩擦因数为0.3,通道转角为120°时可以获得较大且均匀的等效应变。     

螺旋通道长度对纯铝粉末多孔材料等径角挤扭变形的影响

针对等径角挤压和挤扭两种工艺的不足,在充分发挥各自优势的基础上,提出了一种新型的大塑性变形工艺——等径角挤扭(Equal Channel Angular Pressing and Torsion,ECAPT)。采用DEFORM-3D软件对纯铝粉末多孔材料等径角挤扭成形过程进行单道次三维有限元模拟,重点分析螺旋通道长度对变形试样挤压载荷、等效应变、致密行为等场量变化规律的影响。结果表明,相比于传统的ECAP变形,ECAPT工艺螺旋通道的存在,可大大增加变形试样内部的静水压力;合理的螺旋通道长度,可有效提高变形试样的累积应变量和应变分布均匀性,显著改善变形试样的整体致密效果。文章在综合考虑最优数值模拟结果的基础上,自行设计了螺旋通道长度为30mm的ECAPT模具,并进行了相关实验验证,证明了所建立有限元模型的可靠性。     

FEM and metallurgical analysis of modified 6082 aluminium alloys processed by multipass ECAP: Influence of material properties and different process settings on induced plastic strain

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) is a very interesting method for modifying microstructure in producing ultra fine grained (UFG) materials. It consists of pressing test samples through a die containing two channels, equal in cross section and intersecting at an angle Φ. As a result of pressing, the sample theoretically deforms by simple shear and retains the same cross sectional area to repeat the pressing for several cycles.Two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) simulations of both one and four ECAP passes of two modified aluminium alloys were performed in order to investigate the deformation state of processed workpiece and, moreover, the effect of different strain hardening rate, die geometry (in terms of variation of channel outer angle) and friction on deformation distribution and magnitude. FEM results showed a lower equivalent plastic strain on the outer side of both cross and longitudinal sections of the billets after one and four passes. Microhardness tests performed on the same sections of ECAP processed billets supported these findings. Moreover, FEM analysis indicated that a higher strain hardening rate means a greater strain inhomogeneity on cross section of the processed billet when the channel outer angle is small. As the channel outer angle increases and when friction is computed, the effect of strain hardening on strain inhomogeneity tends to decrease, while the die geometry and friction affect plastic strain distribution more than the hardening behaviour of the studied alloys.     

Equal channel angular extrusion of NiTi shape memory alloy tube

As a new attempt, equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) of nickel–titanium shape memory alloy (NiTi SMA) tube was investigated by means of process experiment, finite element method (FEM) and microscopy. NiTi SMA tube with the steel core in it was inserted into the steel can during ECAE of NiTi SMA tube. Based on rigid-viscoplastic FEM, multiple coupled boundary conditions and multiple constitutive models were used for finite element simulation of ECAE of NiTi SMA tube, where the effective stress field, the effective strain field and the velocity field were obtained. Finite element simulation results are in good accordance with the experimental ones. Finite element simulation results reveal that the velocity field shows the minimum value in the corner of NiTi SMA tube, where severe shear deformation occurs. Microstructural observation results reveal that severe plastic deformation leads to a certain grain orientation as well as occurrence of substructures in the grain interior and dynamic recovery occurs during ECAE of NiTi SMA tube. ECAE of NiTi SMA tube provides a new approach to manufacturing ultrafine-grained NiTi SMA tube.     

Springback prediction for incremental sheet forming based on FEM-PSONN technology

In the incremental sheet forming (ISF) process, springback is a very important factor that affects the quality of parts. Predicting and controlling springback accurately is essential for the design of the toolpath for ISF. A three-dimensional elasto-plastic finite element model (FEM) was developed to simulate the process and the simulated results were compared with those from the experiment. The springback angle was found to be in accordance with the experimental result, proving the FEM to be effective. A coupled artificial neural networks (ANN) and finite element method technique was developed to simulate and predict springback responses to changes in the processing parameters. A particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm was used to optimize the weights and thresholds of the neural network model. The neural network was trained using available FEM simulation data. The results showed that a more accurate prediction of springback can be acquired using the FEM-PSONN model.     

Finite element simulation of deformation behavior in friction welding of Al-Cu-Mg alloy

Friction welding is one of the most effective and widely used solid-state joining methods in modern industries. Plastic deformation of interface material is the essence of friction welding, and welding process parameters affect the welding quality greatly. To understand the friction welding process better, it is important to calculate the temperature, stress, and strain fields of welding interface material in the welding process. In this paper, continuously driven friction welding of Al-Cu-Mg alloy round bars that are commonly used in aerospace structures are calculated with the finite element method (FEM). FEM calculations and results are explained and discussed in much detail. For example, depending on experiments as reference, FEM results show that a temperature of 490 °C, which is below the low value of Al-Cu-Mg alloy melting point, is obtained at the end of 0.6 s of friction welding. During the whole process of friction welding, the calculated equivalent strains increase monotonously, and the equivalent strain at the center of circular section of interface material is the largest.     

Equal Channel Angular Extrusion of TB2 Alloy under Different Die Designs by Finite Element Method

采用有限元数值模拟方法研究了不同模具结构设计对TB2合金(Ti-5Mo-5V-8Cr-3Al)等通道弯角挤压过程的影响。与传统模具几何设计特点相比,新型等通道弯角挤压模具设计的内转角半径要大于外转角半径且均与模具内壁相切。针对模具不同内转角半径和外转角半径对等通道弯角挤压过程的影响,分析了TB2合金等通道弯角挤压过程的变形行为和应变均匀性。结果表明,随着内转角半径分别从1 mm升高至3,5,7和9 mm,TB2合金等通道弯角挤压后的应变均匀性更好和挤压载荷明显增大,较小的外转角半径能够使TB2合金挤压后获得较好的应变均匀性。综合内转角半径和外转角半径的有限元分析结果,当外转角半径为4 mm,内转角半径为5 mm时,TB2合金经等通道弯角挤压后具有最为理想的应变均匀性分布。     

Finite element simulations of deformation behavior in equal channel angular pressing using a rotated die

A new die design for equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) of square cross-section billet was proposed by a 45 rotation of the inlet and outlet channels around the channel axes. ECAP utilizing the rotated and conventional dies was simulated in three dimensions using the finite element method. Conditions with different material properties and friction coefficients were studied. The billet deformation behavior was evaluated in terms of the spatial distribution of equivalent plastic strain, plastic deformation zone and load history. The results show that the rotated die appears to produce billets with a smaller deformation inhomogeneity over the entire crosssection and a greater average of equivalent plastic strain at the cost of a slightly larger working load. The billet deformation enters into a steady state earlier in the case of the rotated die than the conventional die under the condition of a relatively large friction coefficient.     

Effect of particle characteristics on deformation of particle reinforced metal matrix composites

The particle characteristics of 15% SiC particles reinforced metal matrix composites (MMC) made by powder metallurgy route were studied by using a statistical method. In the analysis, the approach for estimation of the characteristics of particles was presented. The study was carried out by using the mathematic software MATLAB to calculate the area and perimeter of each particle, in which the image processing technique was employed. Based on the calculations, the sizes and shape factors of each particle were investigated respectively. Additionally, the finite element model (FEM) was established on the basis of the actual microstructure. The contour plots of von Mises effective stress and strain in matrix and particles were presented in calculations for considering the influence of microstructure on the deformation behavior of MMC. Moreover, the contour maps of the maximum stress of particles and the maximum plastic strain of matrix in the vicinity of particles were introduced respectively.     

纯铝等径角挤技术(Ⅱ)--变形行为模拟

通过有限元模拟和坐标网格，对纯铝等径角挤过程的变形行为进行了模拟和试验。结果表明，纯铝在单道次等径角挤压过程中所需的载荷随着样品位移的增加大致可分为快速增加、缓慢增加、快速增加、载荷值趋于稳定、载荷下降5个阶段。由于样品外部在主要变形区的流动速率比样品内部的快，因而样品在等径角挤压过程中会出现不均匀变形，样品底部沿宽度方向的塑性变形量明显少于样品顶部和中部的，坐标网格法实验结果也证明了这一点。在等径角挤压过程中，样品不同部位的应力状态不一致，样品内部存在压应力→拉应力的转变，样品外部存在压应力→拉应力→压应力的转变。摩擦消除后，有效应变有所增加，但并不能降低样品变形的不均匀性；采用尖角模具既能产生更大的剪切应变，又能提高变形的均匀性。     

Process Parameter Investigations of Backward Extrusion for Various Aluminum Shaped Section Tubes Using FEM Analysis

In this article, a FEM investigation has been carried out to analyze the backward extrusion of aluminum tubes which have internally and externally shaped sections. ABAQUS/Explicit finite element method was used to solve the problem. As a result, the distribution of stress, strain, and spatial velocity in the deformation region were obtained. Grid deformation patterns were also studied using the FE simulation to observe the material flow during the process. Initial billets with various cross sections such as rectangular, elliptical, hexagonal, octagonal, and square shapes were utilized in the simulations. Also various shaped punches such as circular and elliptical sections were employed for this analysis. In this article, the influence of the process parameters such as friction factor and reduction in area on the extrusion pressure was studied. The effects of reduction of area and friction factor on the configuration of free surface and velocity field have been investigated too. The results obtained from the present study were compared with analytical and experimental works and acceptable agreements were observed.     

单螺杆泵定子和螺杆的有限元分析

单螺杆泵定子橡胶是决定泵寿命和效率的关键部件.本文采用有限元法对定子的性能进行分析,得到了定子在均匀压力和压差作用下的应力、应变云图及变形量随压力变化的分布规律;对定子和螺杆进行接触计算,结果表明:定子与螺杆在圆弧顶接触时,剪应变和变形最大;定子两圆弧对角磨损最严重,同时定子的磨损随过盈量增大而明显增大.由于目前还没有能够直接对实际工况下的定子橡胶的变形和受力状态进行测试的有效手段,本文为定子的优化设计提供了理论基础和有效的数值模拟方法.     

State of strain in the tube sinking process

The FEM calculations of the drawing stress and the effective strain distributions in the tube sinking process were performed. The calculations were done for various process parameters, including different profiles of the working part of the die. Experimental investigations included tube sinking tests of the 1H18N10T steel (approx. 18 % Cr and 10 % Ni). The Vickers hardness (HV5) distributions on the tube cross sections and longitudinal sections, in the deformation zone as well as in the drawn product, were examined. The effective strain distributions were determined basing on HV5 measurements and experimentally obtained hardness curve. The results of experiments were compared with the FEM calculations. The formulated conclusions confirm the usefulness of the method based on hardness measurements in the analysis of the strain fields in drawn products.     

圆形工件等通道转角挤压应变分布和塑性变形区的三维有限元分析

利用三维有限元方法模拟了圆形工件的等通道转角挤压过程,分析了工件上应变分布情况,其与理论值和二维模拟的结果符合较好.通过对稳定变形阶段塑性变形区的分析,探讨了应变分布不均匀的原因,所得结果有利于理解工件变形过程和优化工艺设计.     

Continuous dynamic recrystallization of AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel

The high-temperature deformation behavior of AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel was studied by torsion tests. The deformation tests were performed in the temperature range of 900–1100°C and strain rate range of 5.0×10⁻² −5.0/sec. The evolutions of flow stress and microstructure show the characteristics of continuous dynamic recrystallization (CDRX). The flow stress gradually decreased with strain over the peak stress without steady state. Below the 100% effective strain, grains appeared in small angle grain boundaries with a misorientation of 3–9°. In addition, when heavy deformation (>300%) was applied, higher misorientation (∼15°) was achieved. The tendency of CDRX increased with increasing strain rate and decreasing temperature. The dependence of CDRX grain size on the strain rate and temperature was discussed.     

新型镁合金大变形技术的研究与验证

研究了一种正挤压与等通道挤压相结合的新的Extrusion-Shearing(ES)变形方法。应用有限元法对ES变形过程进行了计算机模拟,表明ES技术可以大大提高累积应变和动态再结晶晶粒的体积分数。在Gleeble1500热模拟机上安装ES成形模具,对ES成形挤出的棒料进行微观组织观察,并对热模拟的数据进行处理。结果表明,ES成形可以细化晶粒并提高成形的均匀性。计算机模拟和热模拟实验表明,ES成形是一种新型的镁合金大塑性变形方法,可以有效细化晶粒、提高组织的均匀性     

等截面侧向挤压的力学分析

等截面侧向挤压是实现材料纯剪切变形的有效方法。通过网格实验研究了等截面侧向挤压过程中材料的变形情况 ,结果表明塑性变形区仅位于模具通道拐点连线附近。通过几何分析推导出等截面侧向挤压等效应变计算公式 ,通过上限分析推导出等截面侧向挤压变形力计算公式 ,理论计算结果与实测值进行了对比。     

Deformation Behavior of 6061 Aluminum Alloy Through Tube Channel Pressing: Severe Plastic Deformation

The deformation behavior of solid solution-treated AA6061 tubes in a novel severe plastic deformation process named Tube Channel Pressing has been assessed. In order to do so, an analysis based on the finite element method and dislocation density model is utilized, and microhardness measurement is carried out to verify the trends of analysis results. By comparing FEM results with experimental data, the optimized geometrical parameters controlling the deformation behavior of the tube in tube channel pressing are determined to obtain the best strain homogeneity and minimum dimensional changes in tube.