Investigating the effects of process parameters on the cross wedge rolling of TC6 alloy based on temperature and strain rate sensitivities

Abstract

In this work, the influences of the initial deformation temperature (T0), area reduction (φ) and rolling speed (n) on the cross wedge rolling (CWR) of TC6 alloy were investigated with a 3D elastic-plastic coupled thermomechanical and microstructural finite element (FE) model based on temperature and strain rate sensitivities. The developed model was suggested to be reliable by comparing the simulated results to those of thermal tests, hot compression tests and CWR experiments. The distribution of the volume fraction of the alpha phase gradually increased from the centre to the outer layer. With increases in the initial deformation temperature (T0), the average volume fraction of the alpha phase (AVF) decreases. Moreover, the standard deviation of the volume fraction of the alpha phase (SDF) was smaller in sections S1 and S2 than that in section S3, which means that the alpha phase is more uniformly distributed in the deformed region. With increases in the area reduction (φ), the AVFs and SDFs decrease, which also indicates the improvement of distribution homogeneity. Additionally, the sensitivity rate of the area reduction (R(φ)AVF) was lowest when the area reduction (φ) was between 51 and 64%. Rolling speed (n) should be controlled to balance the two competitive thermal mechanisms. The max-min permissible rolling speed is related to the initial deformation temperature (T0), and it should be approximately 8\xa0r/min in the present study.