On the effectiveness of numerical simulation in the prediction of profile distortion in extrusion

Among the so-called ‘traditional processes’, extrusion represents one of the most diffused and utilized, since it permits the production of many industrial parts and raw materials. Of course, relevant knowledge on process mechanics and practice is nowadays available in the technical literature and in properly constructed handbooks. On the other hand, the introduction of finite element simulation, as a powerful analysis and design tool, opened new perspectives. Nowadays many researchers are involved in research tasks aimed at explaining some peculiar extrusion aspects. In this paper the effectiveness of numerical simulation for a complex three-dimensional extrusion process analysis is inves…

A Laboratory Scale Equipment to Relieve Force and Pressure in Cold Extrusion of Lead Hollow Components

Nowadays, many researchers are involved in studies aimed to the explanation of some peculiar aspects regarding manufacturing processes. In this paper, an experimental campaign was carried out in order to reproduce tube extrusion starting from a cylindrical billet. In particular, the development of a proper equipment is presented: the aim was to measure both the total load, by using the testing machine load cell, and the local pressure value on the porthole. The latter task was carried out performing a proper system based on the use of a small load-cell. The tube was extruded with a good surface quality and the external area does not show any welding line evidence. Pure Lead was used for the…

A sustainability point of view on sheet metal forming operations: material wasting and energy consumption in incremental forming and stamping processes

Abstract Sustainability and sustainable production is nowadays a wide research field due the urgency of reducing environmental burdens of industrial production. Sustainable manufacturing issues are widely investigated too. In particular, due to the relevance such issues assume for automotive and aeronautical industry, the investigation of sheet metal forming processes sustainability is worth studying and, within this research fields, a certain lack of knowledge is still present. Many studies have been presented concerning the evaluation and reduction of environmental burdens in manufacturing. In this paper, the authors focus on sheet metal forming and aim to investigate both the efficient u…

Sheet Thinning Prediction in Single Point Incremental Forming

Incremental forming processes are characterized by a well known and particular feature: any deformation across the sheet plane determines sheet thinning, since the blank is fully clamped by means of a proper equipment. As a consequence, the availability of effective and reliable CAE tools capable to supply an accurate prediction of sheet thinning as a function of process parameters, represents a strong requirement for a wider practical application of incremental forming. The already available theoretical models (i.e. the sine law) do not provide, on the other hand, satisfactory results. Therefore in the paper a couple of numerical analysis strategies was applied to simulate simple increment…

Friction Stir Welding of AA6082-T6 T-joints: Process Engineering and Performance Measurement

In the paper the authors present the results of a wide range of experiments on T-parts. First, friction stir welding process engineering has been developed with the aim of determining the specific process parameters that make up the soundness of the obtained T-parts. Then the performance of the obtained T-joints has been compared with T-joints obtained by metal inert gas welding and extruded T-parts. The parts have been tested utilizing a customized bending test with the aim of highlighting their behaviour both in elastic and plastic fields.

Mechanical and microstructural characterization of titanium gr.5 parts produced by different manufacturing routes

Abstract In recent years, the aircraft industry has shifted its preference for metal parts to titanium and its alloys, such as the high-strength Titanium Grade5 alloy. Because of Titanium Grade 5 limited formability at ambient temperature, forming operations on this material require high temperatures. In these conditions, a peculiar microstructure evolves as a result of the heating and deformation cycles, which has a significant impact on formability and product quality. On the other hand, additive manufacturing technologies, as selective laser melting and electron beam melting, are increasingly being used and are replacing more traditional approaches such as machining and forging. Fundamen…

Experimental validation of optimisation strategies in hydroforming of T-shaped tubes

For three dimensional tube hydroforming operations (i.e. T or Y shaped tubes) the calibration of both material feeding history and internal pressure path during the process is crucial and many approaches to such optimization were presented; the authors developed some procedures to optimize pressure paths and punch velocity histories with the application of an integrated method FEM - Gradient based optimization tools. In this paper, an experimental validation campaign of the utilized optimization strategies is presented with the aim to assess the effectiveness of the developed procedures. An optimization procedure (gradient based techniques) was applied on the process parameters leading to t…

Innovative user defined density profile approach to fsw of aluminium foam

Metallic foams are one of the most exciting materials in the world of mechanical industry due to their reduced mass and the good mechanical, thermal and acoustic characteristics. Consequently, their application, is increasing day by day even with the important drawbacks that reduce their suitability and diffusion such as high manufacturing cost and difficulty in processing. An innovative approach is outlined in this paper that enables the production of complex shapes taking advantage of deformation processing and friction stir welding (FSW). The aim is to create customized tailored manufactured parts. The cellular construction of foams makes this approach rather challenging as the cell wall…

A sensitivity analysis on environmental sustainability in sheet metal forming

A new approach to study material bonding in extrusion porthole dies

Abstract Porthole die extrusion processes are widely spread even for most recent industrial applications. In turn knowledge base is often linked to make best expertise rather than to scientific fundaments. In the last years several FE models were developed but actual material bonding was not taken into account. In the paper a new approach is presented determining the critical value of the bonding criterion from flat rolling experiments and modelling the actual welding occurring in extrusion of complex profiles. The criterion was tested considering an industrial porthole die extrusion process and experimental parts were analysed to validate the proposed approach.

Cross Extrusion With Asymmetric Die: A Comparison Between Finite Element and Meshless Formulation Predictions

Analysis of Joint Quality along Welding Plane

Porthole die extrusion is an always more important process for industrial applications. It is, however, characterized by a considerable complexity; in fact, different parameters have to be carefully set for improving the final part. A critical zone that strongly influences the goodness of the extruded component is the so called “welding plane”. It is the junction area where material flows converge inside the welding chamber. The variables that have to be controlled for improving the material characteristics in this zone are the effective stress, the pressure and the time that the material takes to cross the welding chamber. Moreover, material temperature is another fundamental issue that in…

Environmental Comparison between a Hot Extrusion Process and Conventional Machining Processes through a Life Cycle Assessment Approach

Nowadays manufacturing technologies have to be evaluated not only for the technical features they can provide to products, but also considering the environmental perspective as well. As long as the technological feasibility of a given process is guaranteed, processes minimizing resources and energy consumption have to be selected for manufacturing. With respect to this topic, the research studies in the domain of metal processing technologies predominantly focus on conventional material removal processes as milling and turning. Despite some exceptions, many other non-machining technologies, such as metal forming processes, are still not well documented in terms of their energy and resource …

Subtractive versus mass conserving metal shaping technologies: an environmental impact comparison

The scientific studies in the domain of environmental sustainability of metal processing technologies predominantly focus on conventional material removal processes, as milling and turning. Despite some exceptions, many other non-machining technologies, such as metal forming processes, are still not well documented in terms of their energy and resource efficiency. Moreover, to properly evaluate the environmental impact of a given process, a standing-alone approach is no longer sufficient. In order to offer a valuable contribution in the domain of metal shaping sustainability, the present paper proposes a thorough methodology entailing to compare, from the environmental point of view, two tr…