Indian Journal of Engineering & Materials Sciences

Vol. 22, December 2015, pp. 686-692

Plastic deformation analysis of wear on insert component and die service life in
hot forging process
R Rajieva* & P Sadagopanb
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam 638 401, India
b
Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore 641 004, India
Received 18 July 2014; accepted 29 June 2015

One of the main critical problems in the hot forging process is the temperature rise in the die cavity and huge stresses
generated during forging operation which leads to die failure due to wear, deformation of die, cracks etc. In this study, wear
analysis is carried out in a die in local industry. The simulation of the forging process on the die and the work-piece is
carried out by using commercially available software (DEFORM). The flow of the material in the die, die filling, contact
pressure distribution, sliding velocities and temperature distribution of the die have been investigated. The depth of wear on
the die surface is evaluated using the finite element simulation and then the total wear depth was determined. By comparing
the numerical results with the measurement taken from the worn die, the wear coefficient is evaluated at different locations
of the die surface and finally an average value of wear coefficient is suggested.

Keywords: Hot forging, Finite Element analysis, Wear model, Wear coefficient.

Forging is defined as the process in which a metal thermal softening of hot forging dies. This thermal
billet or blank is shaped by tools or dies with softening effect accelerates die failures. The limiting
application of temperature and pressure. Castro et al.1 factors of die service life can occur simultaneously or
presented that the forging dies are metal blocks separately during hot forging process. Dehghani and
having cavities so shaped as to impart the desired Jafari3 described about wear as a loss of dimension
shape to a metal work-piece when they are brought between two sliding surfaces and it is related to
together. The dies have to be made by modern interactions between surfaces and more specifically
manufacturing methods from appropriate die the removal and deformation of material on a surface
materials in order to provide acceptable die life at a as a result of mechanical action of the opposite
reasonable cost. Often the economic success of a surface. Plastic deformation such as yield stress is
forming process depends on die life and die costs excluded from the wear definition if it doesn't
per piece produced. Die wear is predominantly due to incorporate a relative sliding motion and contact
material removal from the die surface by pressure and against another surface.
sliding of the deforming material. Wear resistance of Brucelle and Bernhart4 and Persson et al.5
the die material, die surface temperature, relative discussed about the high work-piece temperatures and
sliding speed at the die material interface and the high contact pressures during the forging process that
nature of the interface layer are the most significant lead to large mechanical, thermal softening, wear and
factors influencing abrasive die wear. Dai et al.2 plastic deformation of dies. Kim et al.6 indicated that
indicated that proper selection of the die material and when the initial die temperature is high, the
of the die manufacturing technique determines, to a temperature difference between die and work-piece
large extent, the useful life of forming dies. Dies may becomes small, and this small temperature difference
have to be replaced for a number of reasons, such as assists the metal flow. Long contact time between dies
changes in dimensions due to wear or plastic and deforming materials at high temperature induce
deformation, deterioration of the surface finish, thermal softening of hot forging tools. This thermal
breakdown of lubrication, and cracking or breakage. softening decreases resistance to wear or plastic
The surface hardness of a die decreases owing to the deformation. Tercelj et al.7 investigated that the initial
________________ temperature of die, heat transfer between the die and
*Corresponding author (E-mail: [email protected]) the material under deformation and the material and
 RAJIEV & SADAGOPAN: HOT FORGING PROCESS 687

environment temperature have definite influence on ∆d = k. (P.θ.∆t) … (3)

the magnitude and temperature distribution in dies.
Wei et al.8 mentioned that even though H11 steel was Eq. (3) is used to estimate wear depth during one
earlier introduced to industrial segments, it was much forging cycle/forging of one component. In order to
less studied because of popularity of H13 steel. H13 obtain total wear depth in a die for any batch quantity,
steel is well known having flexible heat treatments the equation can be rewritten as
and tribological properties. Stupkiewicz and Mroz9
and Sailesh Babu10 made a detailed study and found n

that the wear and friction are important phenomena

dfin = ∑ 1
k .Pi . θi.∆ti … (4)
occurring at tool-work-piece contact interface in
metal forming processes. Cui et al.11 had renewed where dfin is the final wear depth, n is the total number
interest in analyzing forging process by different of increments/total forging cycle in forging process
simulation techniques. Doddamani and Uday12 simulation.
significantly used simulation software in the forging
industry which determines and display a selection of Methodology
useful parameters such as, the effective plastic strain, Wear in a die depends on properties like surface
effective strain rate, effective stress, material flow, hardness, surface finish, friction coefficient,
temperature, force-time relationship. Yiping13 found lubrication, temperature etc. Forging wear is a
that there was a discrepancy in the simulated profile complex phenomenon and takes place during forging
and the worn die measured profile and they indicated as well as during ejection of the component from the
the need for modification of wear coefficient. The die. In this work, the wear analysis were carried out
objective of this research work is to simulate and on the hot forging die which is used for
analyze the closed die forging process. The results manufacturing insert component as shown in Fig. 1.
obtained from the computer simulation were The upper die and lower die cavity dimensions are
compared with the worn die measurement taken from shown in Figs 2(a) and 2(b), respectively.
the forging industry and the wear coefficients have Before starting the forging process, the dies were
been evaluated. preheated to 150°C initially to prevent die failure due
to thermal stress. Billet dimensions are shown in
Finite Element Analysis and Wear Analysis Fig. 3. Billets as shown in Fig. 4(a) were heated to
Abachi et al.14 used the wear model, which is based temperature of 1100°C. Using screw forging press of
on Archard’s wear model. From the model, it is 100 Ton capacity, the insert was forged as shown in
observed that the depth of wear is a function of Fig. 4(b).
sliding length, hardness, and normal stress and wear
coefficient. Modeling and meshing the dies
In order to establish the factors that contribute for
P ∆L die failure, modeling of the components were done to
∆d =k × … (1)
H find the component stress distribution, temperature
The relation given in Eq. (1) indicates that ∆d is
depth of wear (mm) at time increment ∆t (s), k is
non-dimensional wear coefficient, P is contact
pressure (MPa), ∆ L is sliding distance (mm) at time
increment ∆t(s) and H is hardness of die (Pa). The
sliding distance is replaced in terms of sliding
velocity as shown in Eq. (2) and wear coefficient k is
substituted for k/H as shown in Eq.(3)

∆L= θ × ∆t … (2)
where sliding velocity (mm/s) at time increment ∆t.
The Eq. (1) can be re-written using Eq. (2) which is
shown in Eq. (3) Fig. 1 – Insert component dimensions
688 INDIAN J. ENG. MATER. SCI., DECEMBER 2015

distribution and velocity of metal flow. Venkatesan and dies were modeled in CATIA V5 and meshed in
et al.15 in their study used the commercially available the software. Tetrahedral mesh type was used in this
software for finding out the die wear. In a similar simulation; this mesh type was assigned
manner, in this study commercially available software automatically by the software using automatic mesh
is used to establish die wear. The parameters like generator. In the software, the objects were
work-piece and die materials, forging machine, positioned manually by using positioning option.
forging temperature are kept the same in all the Drag option was used to drag the dies and work-
simulations using friction wear model. Work-piece piece to position. The alignment of the dies with the
work-piece and initial position of them is shown in
Fig. 5. During simulation die filling at different
stages of insert is shown in Fig. 6.

Evaluation of wear depth by using finite element simulation

The flow of the material in the die, die filling,
contact pressure distribution, sliding velocities and the
temperature distribution were evaluated for
700 iterations/cycles in numerical simulation of the
die. The input data, which were used in the simulation
for the forged part and the forging press, are shown in
Tables 1 and 2, respectively.

Fig. 3 – Billet dimensions

Fig. 2 – (a) Upper die dimensions and (b) Lower die dimensions Fig. 5 – Position of die and work piece in initial contact

Fig. 4– (a) Billet before forging and (b) forged component

 RAJIEV & SADAGOPAN: HOT FORGING PROCESS 689

Based on the literature work of Abachi et al.14, an n d fin

initial value of wear coefficient k=1 × 10-12 Pa -1 was ∑ 1
(Pi . θi.∆ti) =
10−12
… (5)
assumed and the wear at different locations were obtained
by simulation using Eq. (5) for one and 700 forging Coordinate measuring machine measurement on worn die
cycles. Figures 7 and 8 show the wear depth values Yohng et al.16 used coordinate measuring
obtained during simulation at different locations of the die machines for worn die measurements. In the present
for one and 700 forging cycles, respectively. work worn die measurements were carried at various
Table 1—Input data for finite element simulation
points using coordinate measuring machine as shown
Fig. 9 and the wear depth values are marked in mm.
Problem type Hot forging-closed The depth of wear obtained from this measurement
die with flash is compared with that obtained from the simulation
Die material H13 results.
Work-piece material EN 19
Die initial (preheating) temperature ºC. 150 Evaluation of wear coefficient
Work-piece temperature ºC. 1100
Die Hardness 45 HRC
By comparing the wear profile obtained
Heat transfer coefficient to ambient 50 W/m.K by measurement, it is found that there are some
Friction coefficient 0.3
No. of output steps 100 Table 2 – Specification of forging screw press
Initial contact distance 88.8 mm
Flash thickness 2.8 mm Parameter Value
Ultimate tensile strength of die (MPa) at 1990
room temperature Type of press Mechanical screw press
Yield tensile strength of die (MPa) at room 1650 Capacity (tons) 100
temperature Diameter of screw (mm) 132
Ultimate tensile strength of work- 930 Stroke of ram (mm) 250
piece(MPa) Number of stroke/min 25
Yield tensile strength of work-piece(MPa) 770 Power (hp) 10

Fig. 6 – Die filling at different stages of insert during forging simulation

Fig. 7 – Wear depth (mm) for k =1x10-12 Pa-1 in one cycle Fig. 8 – Wear depth (mm) in seven hundred cycles
of forging of forging
690 INDIAN J. ENG. MATER. SCI., DECEMBER 2015

discrepancies between these two which is in to 27.35×10-13 Pa-1 and the average value of wear
agreement with the work done by Yiping13 . coefficient is found to be 9.39×10-13 Pa-1. Wear
From the measured values of the depth of wear at analysis was done using the said evaluated average
different locations of the die, new values of wear value of k, and new worn out profile was obtained.
coefficient were calculated using Eq. (6). Figure 11 shows the comparison between worn die
profile obtained by simulation using the average
d true
k= n
… (6) value of wear coefficient k=9.39 × 10 -13 Pa-1 and
∑1 (Pi . θi .∆ti ). worn die profile measured by CMM. It is noted that
the theoretical estimation is in good agreement with
Figure 10 shows the dimensional wear coefficient actual measurement and justifies in using the average
values evaluated at different points in the upper die evaluated wear coefficient of 9.39×10-13 Pa-1 for die
cavity using Eq. (6) and it varies from 0.98×10-13 Pa-1 wear analysis in a similar fashion as reported by
Rodrigues and Martin17.

Result and Discussion

From the Fig. 7, it is understood that the wear
depth is larger on the central projected portion in the
upper die cavity. The maximum wear depth is around
2.142×10-3 mm which is found to be at the edge of the
central projected zone where sliding is more.
The effective stress distribution with respect to time
at die pre-heating temperature of 150oC is shown in
Fig. 12. It is observed that the stress value fluctuates
between 120 MPa to 1450 MPa, approximately.
Fig. 9 – CMM probe and the die wear measurement

Fig. 10 – Dimensional wear coefficients evaluated at different Fig. 12 Effective stresses versus time at 150ºC die preheating
points in the upper die cavity temperature

Fig. 11 – Comparison between worn die profile for k=9.39 x 10-13 Pa-1 and worn die profile Measured by CMM
 RAJIEV & SADAGOPAN: HOT FORGING PROCESS 691

Fig. 13 – Die temperatures with respect to component contact

time with 150ºC die preheating
Fig. 15 – Variation of wear depth versus temperature at die
locations 1-12

Fig. 16 – Variation of wear depth versus temperature at die

Fig. 14 – Locations 1 to 24 on the die where depth of wear is locations 13-24
evaluated
wearing out possibly due to thermal shocks and this
Figure 13 shows the die temperature with respect to
phenomenon is repeated subsequently if the forging is
component contact time. It is seen that as the time of
continued at low temperatures. It is also observed
contact of component with die increases, the die
from Fig. 15 that the die wear is slightly higher in the
temperature also increases to a maximum value of
region between 11 and 12 marked, whereas, it is
678ºC.
lower in the region between 1 to 10. This may be due
Figure 14 shows the various locations marked as
to high velocity of material flow on the die surface in
1 to 24 in the upper die cavity, where wear depths
the region 11 and 12 compared to the region
were evaluated at those locations at die preheating
1 to 10. Similarly die wear is found little higher at
temperatures varying from 0°C to 300°C and plotted
locations 20, 21 and 22 compared to that at other
in two segments with locations from 1 to 12 and 13 to
locations as shown in Fig. 15. This phenomenon is
24 as shown in Figs 15 and 16, respectively.
attributed to higher velocity of material flow where
From the Figs 15 and 16, it is observed that the
higher wear has taken place.
wear depth is at minimum level at the die temperature
of 150°C. Also, it is found that as the die temperature Conclusions
increases above 150°C, die wear also increases. From this study of H13 die and EN19 work-piece
However, it is also found that the wear increases as insert made by forging process, the following
the temperature of die decreases below 150°C. conclusions can be drawn:
Increase in wear of the die above 150°C die
temperature may be due to softening effect of the die (i) The wear depth is minimum at the die preheating
at higher temperatures. For die temperature below temperature of 150°C. Wear is found higher when the
150°C, the upper layer of the surface of the die starts preheating die temperature is above 150°C or below 150°C.
692 INDIAN J. ENG. MATER. SCI., DECEMBER 2015

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