René Baadjou

Investigation of flow behaviour and microstructure on X210CrW12 steel in semi-solid state

This paper describes the basic investigation on material behaviour of cold working steel X210CrW12 in semi-solid state concerning the semi-solid forging. It includes a study of flow behaviour and microstructure by means of a high temperature isothermal upsetting test applying a special cylinder sample with a shell, which is designed to avoid collapsing of samples during the compression. The flow curve of the semi-solid steel is determined by an inverse modelling via FEM using the obtained load curve of the samples and the separately obtained flow stress of the shell material. An extensive microstructure study of the compressed samples provides a comprehensive understanding on the flow mechanism of the semi-solid steel. At the end of the paper some general restrictions and remarks for the semi-solid forging process are given based on the gained results.

Automated Semi-Solid Forging of Steel Components by Means of Thixojoining

The thixoforming processes join the advantages of conventional forming technologies as forging and casting in respect of the mechanical properties and the practicable geometries. Within the framework of the Collaborative Research Centre 289 at the RWTH Aachen University intensive investigations on semi-solid processing with some steel grades have been running. For this purpose an automated thixoforging plant (thixo-cell) has been developed in a closed cooperation with several industrial partners. With this equipment multi material demonstrator components have been successfully produced by thixojoining using semi-solid X210CrW12 tool steel.

Investigations on Thermal Influences for Thixoforging and Thixojoining of Steel Components

At the Institute of Metal Forming (IBF) current investigations within the framework of the Collaborative Research Centre 289 are mainly concentrated on forming of semi-solid precursor material of the steel grades X210CrW12 and 100Cr6. One important task is the precise temperature for the composition of solid and liquid phase fraction in the preheated billet. Experimental measurements and numerical simulations show significant heat losses during transport of the billet and after its insertion into the die. These developing temperature gradients influence strongly the resulting temperature field in the formed component. In case of the forming tools the critical increase of the temperature depending on the tool material is shown. As fundamental research in the field of thixojoining the temperature development of the inserts is analysed and demonstrates the feasibility of joining higher and lower melting materials into the semi-solid matrix.

Process Window Determination for Thixoextrusion Processes Using a Steel Alloy

A direct semi-solid bar extrusion process is characterised by inserting a feed stock in a container and extruding through a forming die with a punch. Compared to conventional bar extrusion the use of semi-solid material complicates the process due to the requirement of solidification of the material. To achieve the solidification of the semi-solid bar, different basic tool concepts are presented. With a combination of these concepts experiments were carried out using the steel alloy X210CrW12 to detect the influence of the most influencing parameters press velocity, extrusion channel diameter, length and geometry. Numerical simulations enable a better understanding of the process mechanics like temperature development in the billet and forming die as well as the material flow in the deformation zone.