Andrij Milenin

Physical and Numerical Modelling of Wire Drawing Process of Mg Alloys in Heated Dies Accounting for Recrystallization

Magnesium-calcium alloys with increased bio-compatibility are applied in medicine for sake of high compatibility and solubility in human body. Production of surgical threads to integration of tissue may be one of the applications of those types of alloys. A new manufacturing process of thin wires made of biocompatible Mg alloys, including drawing in heated dies, was developed in Authors previous works. Conducting drawing process in conditions, in which recrystallization occurs, is the basis of the process. This allows for multi-pass drawing without intermediate annealing. Control of recrystallization after every pass using experimental method is complex so numerical simulation seems to be a rational method to design the process parameters. The purpose of the paper is developing a mathematical model of recrystallization for MgCa08 alloy, its implementation into the finite element (FE) code that simulates wire drawing and experimental verification of the numerical calculations. The first part of work was focused on the development of mathematical model of wire drawing process of Mg alloys in heated die. Proposed model takes into account thermal phenomena in the wire and in the die, plastic flow of the material, stress-strain state and recrystallization. The fracture criterion was implemented into FE code to eliminate the possibility of damage. The second part of the work was focused on experiments including upsetting and tensile tests for calibration of recrystallization and fracture models. Recrystallization model was calibrated on the basis of flow curves only what is a limitation. Therefore, experimental wire drawing on drawing bench developed by the Authors was the final stage of the work performed to validate the model. Recrystallization during wire drawing was studied. The developed computer program enables prediction of the recrystallization kinetics during wire drawing in heated die for MgCa08 alloy. The model of static and dynamic recrystallization of this alloy and complex model of the drawing process were proposed in this work, as well.

Numerical Optimization and Practical Implementation of the Tube Extrusion Process of Mg Alloys with Micromechanical Analysis of the Final Product

The paper is devoted to the development of a process of tubes extrusion from MgCa08 magnesium alloy. For optimization of extrusion process the Qform software was used. The numerical model of flow stress and fracture criterion for MgCa08 were obtained based on tension/compression measurements performed in a universal testing machine Zwick Z250. Predictions of the flow stress and deformations were modeled as well as the ductility of material. The process was optimized according to the plasticity and temperature criterions. In the optimization process, temperature of the billet and the speed of extrusion were determined. Based on the optimal parameters the extrusion of tubes with external diameter of 5 mm was performed in the laboratory press. On top of the macroscopic testing and calculations, investigations of the material microstructure and the micromechanical behavior of the material after the extrusion were performed by a combination of SEM and nanoindentation analyses. Micromechanical properties of the alloy were detected with the aid of statistical nanoindentation. Samples were characterized in terms of their microstructural defects, distribution of elastic modulus and hardness. Good particle dispersion and homogeneous-like distribution of micromechanical properties was found showing the efficiency of the extrusion process.