Marcel Graf

Development of Rolling Technology for an Iron-Based Shape-Memory-Alloy

Low cost Fe-Mn-Si based shape memory alloys (SMA) have drawn much attention during the last two decades as a cost-effective alternative to the expensive Ni-Ti based SMA. In particular, the alloy Fe-17Mn-5Si-10Cr-4Ni-1(V,C) (mass%), which has been developed at Empa shows very promising properties with regard to potential commercial applications in civil and mechanical engineering. This alloy has a higher reverse transformation temperature and larger thermal hysteresis in comparison to the Ni-Ti based alloys, which is adequate for producing stable recovery stresses at room temperature. Furthermore, recovery stresses of up to 300 MPa after heating to only 160°C can be achieved without so-called ‘training’ treatment. Furthermore, the alloy can be easily and cost effectively produced under standard air melting and casting conditions. For availability of these heavily microstructure dependent skills for civil and mechanical engineering, e.g. as prestressing elements in concrete structures or coupling/clamping devices, a process chain for manufacturing is necessary. Therefore, a hot and cold rolling technology for strip production with thermal heat treatment processes was developed at TU Bergakademie on base of experimental simulation results. The last one helps to understand the dependencies of deformation parameters, the deformation behavior and their influence to the microstructure evolution in correlation to the recovery.This paper discusses the basic material properties, recovery stress formation behavior and finally the feasibility of the alloy as reinforcing elements in civil engineering applications by using a rolling technology for flat products.

Scale Behaviour and Deformation Properties of Oxide Scale during Hot Rolling of Steel

This paper describes the possibilities for identifying temperature-dependent mechanical and thermo-physical properties of oxide scale components which are a necessary data input for a numerical simulation. Scale develops on steel surfaces in oxidising atmospheres above 570 °C and influences the surface quality as well as the roughness of semi-finished products. The main components of oxide scale are wustite, magnetite, and hematite. Intermediate layers can be formed depending on the chemical composition of the basic material, which can be assigned at the rolled samples with the help of the optical microscopy. Hence, the mechanical properties and the metal forming relevant properties of the several oxide layers are very different. Owing to these differences the deformation behaviour of the inhomogeneous oxide scale also varies during hot rolling. With this new method is it possible to determine the pure properties of the several oxide scale layers independently from each other. Thereby, the influences of the raw material as well as the alloys are excluded. The pure powder allows to characterising the physical properties by applying compression tests with similar stress condition then during hot rolling. Additionally, the 3 piont-bending tests are conducted in order to describe the fracture toughness of the oxides. The results will be implemented in a new model, which consist of single layers with specific material properties. Based on the new knowledge the forming technology can be managed and controlled to minimise the scale cracks on the surface and thus the resulting roughness as well.

Identification of Material Properties Based on Rolling Process at 4‐Stand Laboratory Mill

The general objective of the work is to estimate the properties of the material in hot strip rolling process. The authors propose a modified inverse algorithm; to make direct use of the manufacturing process instead of conventional plastometric tests. This approach allows to reduce time and costs of identification. The rolling at 4‐stand pilot mill at the Institute of Metal Forming, TU Bergakademie, Freiberg was selected. The material was C45 steel. The measured quantities of the process were rolling loads and torques, as well as temperatures. Numerical tests have shown that accuracy of torque predictions is low, therefore, the goal function of inverse analysis was defined as an average square root error between measured and FEM calculated rolling loads only. The first stage of the work was to develop the model of the hot strip rolling, which defines the direct model in the inverse analysis. This model is complex, it composes the whole roughing and finishing rolling. Based on the model and results of the ...

Modelling the influence of carbon content on material behavior during forging

Nowadays the design of single process steps and even of whole process chains is realized by the use of numerical simulation, in particular finite element (FE) based methods. A detailed numerical simulation of hot forging processes requires realistic models, which consider the relevant material-specific parameters to characterize the material behavior, the surface phenomena, the dies as well as models for the machine kinematic.This data exists partial for several materials, but general information on steel groups depending on alloying elements are not available. In order to generate the scientific input data regarding to material modelling, it is necessary to take into account the mathematical functions for deformation behavior as well as recrystallization kinetic, which depends alloying elements, initial microstructure and reheating mode. Besides the material flow characterization, a detailed description of surface changes caused by oxide scale is gaining in importance, as these phenomena affect the material flow and the component quality. Experiments to investigate the influence of only one chemical element on the oxide scale kinetic and the inner structure at high temperatures are still not available. Most data concerning these characteristics is provided for the steel grade C45, so this steel will be used as basis for the tests. In order to identify the effect of the carbon content on the material and oxidation behavior, the steel grades C15 and C60 will be investigated. This paper gives first approaches with regard to the influence of the carbon content on the oxide scale kinetic and the flow stresses combined with the initial microstructure.Nowadays the design of single process steps and even of whole process chains is realized by the use of numerical simulation, in particular finite element (FE) based methods. A detailed numerical simulation of hot forging processes requires realistic models, which consider the relevant material-specific parameters to characterize the material behavior, the surface phenomena, the dies as well as models for the machine kinematic.This data exists partial for several materials, but general information on steel groups depending on alloying elements are not available. In order to generate the scientific input data regarding to material modelling, it is necessary to take into account the mathematical functions for deformation behavior as well as recrystallization kinetic, which depends alloying elements, initial microstructure and reheating mode. Besides the material flow characterization, a detailed description of surface changes caused by oxide scale is gaining in importance, as these phenomena affect the mater...

Property Oriented Wire Rolling Technology for Mg-Al Alloys

Magnesium and magnesium alloys offer high potential as lightweight materials. Current works are mainly focused on the metal forming technologies and material development for sheet and strips to provide magnesium flat products for industrial applications. However, the technology for the production of magnesium long products for fasteners or other connecting elements is exclusive the extrusion process. A cost-efficient alternative can be the caliber rolling technology for magnesium rods and wire with regard to refined microstructure and specific required properties. But this whole process is rarely applied up to now and all material-specific as well as deformation relevant basics must be developed and additionally validated under industrial conditions. This paper gives the overview for a magnesium-specific wire rolling technology under consideration of chemical composition (AZ31, AZ61, AZ80) and their influence to final mechanical properties in correlation with the microstructure evolution along the whole process line. Therefore, the process-and material-dependent microstructural evolution during rolling process was investigated. The structural constitution is detailed by the grain size and the precipitation conditions. For the determination of the mechanical properties hardness measurement as well as tensile testing was carried out. To preliminary design and determine the material flow, the temperature distribution, and the logarithmic strain, a commercial numerical simulation tool was applied on base of the implemented material-specific deformation and recrystallization behavior. Hence, it was possible to design a magnesium specific caliber sequence for the production of fine-grained magnesium wires with Ø 8 mm and excellent mechanical properties.

Numerical simulation of metallic wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM)

Additive-manufacturing technologies have been gaining tremendously in popularity for some years in the production of single-part series with complex, close-to-final-contour geometries and the processing of special or hybrid materials. In principle, the processes can be subdivided into wire-based and powder-based processes in accordance with the Association of German Engineers (VDI) Guideline 3405. A further subdivision is made with respect to the smelting technology. In all of the processes, the base material is applied in layers at the points where it is needed in accordance with the final contour.The process that was investigated was wire-based, multi-pass welding by means of gas–metal arc welding. This was accomplished in the present study by determining the material parameters (thermo-mechanical and thermo-physical characteristics) of the welding filler G3Si1 (material number: 1.5125) that were necessary for the numerical simulation and implementing them in a commercial FE program (MSC Marc Mentat). The focus of this paper was on simulation and validation with respect to geometry and microstructural development in the welding passes. The resulting minimal deviation between reality and simulation was a result of the measurement inertia of the thermocouples. In general, however, the FE model can be used to make a very good predetermination of the cooling behaviour, which affects the microstructural development and thus the mechanical properties of the joining zone, as well as the geometric design of the component (distortion, etc.).

Novel Approach for the Determination of the Taylor-Quinney Coefficient

Within this study, a new method for the determination of the Taylor-Quinney coefficient is presented. The coefficient was identified by measuring the force-displacement-behavior as well as the temperature change resulting from an adiabatic compression test. In order to deduce the global temperature increasing of the specimen from the local measured temperature a suitable specimen geometry was designed with the use of numerical simulation. The resulting specimen allows a friction-free compression and therefore precludes a temperature increase through friction. Finally, the Taylor-Quinney coefficient of C35 steel (1.0501) was experimentally determined in the initial state as well as after a heat treatment.

Development of a Quenching-Partitioning Process Chain for Forging Components

The aim is to realize a Q&P (Quenching and Partitioning) process for a hot forged component made of low-alloyed advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) 42MnSiCr. One advantage of this steel is the low alloy concept which is cost-effective. After forging, the component is cooled down to room temperature with a subsequent heat treatment to achieve the characteristic microstructure with martensite and retained austenite. The material is annealed and then quenched to just above the martensite finish temperature (MF-temperature). Hence, in the martensitic matrix about 10 to 15% retained austenite is included. Finally, the Q&Ped material is artificially aged at 250 °C to support the diffusion process of carbon from the over-saturated martensite into the austenite. Thereby, mechanical properties of 2000 MPa for tensile strength with fracture strains of 10% can be achieved. This paper provides details of the process and material behavior for a reduction of the process chain. The goal is to develop a technology for the quenching and partitioning treatment of forged components by using the thermal energy from forging. Ideally, the quenching step should be performed in the forming dies just above the MF-temperature with additional holding on the temperature level. The majority of forged parts have different cross sections. Therefore, the cooling conditions are inhomogeneous in each cross section of the components. This cooling behavior was analyzed in laboratory tests with a forged part. Furthermore, the heat transfer coefficients were determined for different cooling media (water, air). The cooling technology was experimentally and numerically simulated in a first step for the conventional process chain (forging, cooling to room temperature, austenitisation, quenching, artificial ageing) and correlated with the microstructural evolution in combination with the component’s mechanical properties.

Closing of Shrinkage Cavities by Means of Open-Die Forging

Inner cavities in cast ingots have to be closed by means of open-die forging to guarantee the integrity of the forged components during usage. In the paper a differentiation is made between the macroscopic and the microscopic closing of natural inner cavities. Special attention is paid to the dendritic structure of the surfaces of inner cavities and their impact on the microscopic closing behavior. Additionally, investigation showed that a closing on the microscopic scale is only possible if the cavities do not come in contact to the atmosphere during hot forming. For the analysis of the cavity closing, ingots of a heat-treatable, hot-working and a cold-working steel were used. The ingots were cast, forged and the surface of the inner voids was analyzed with the help of light-microscopy, SEM and EDS for the microstructure and by using tensile tests on macroscopic scale. Also, numerical investigations were a part of the work, whereby the parameters void size, void shape and anvil-shape were varied. As a result of the numerical investigation, a so called closing function was formed. This function enables the user to calculate the necessary height-reduction for closing of inner cavities of the regarded ingot format.