Validation of Frictional Studies by Double-Cup Extrusion Tests in Cold-Forming

A. Barcellona, L. Cannizzaro (2), Dipartirnento di Tecnologia e Produzione Meccanica. University of Palermo; A. Forcellese, F. Gabrielli, Dipariirnento di Meccanica ed Aeronautica, University of Ancona; Italy Received on January 8,1996

Abstract Studies on frictional conditions in cold-forming have shown that, for a given lubricant, friction factor values are strongly affected by the test method. In the present paper, different cold-forging processes of an aluminium alloy, are modelled by a FEM numerical code using the m values obtained by both the double cup extrusion and ring compression tests. It appears that the m values given by the ring tests can be effectively used in the simulation of upsetting processes, while the m values derived by the double cup extrusion tests are more appropriate for predictions in extrusion and closed-die forging operations.

Kevwords: friction tests, forming, finite element method

1 Introduction

In forging processes, lubrication plays a crucial role in filling the die cavities; furthermore, since friction produces an increase in pressures and forces and reduction in forgeability. lubricants are necessary to reduce die pressures and to prevent undesirable effects such as adhesion, scoring of the workpieces and die wear that affect tolerances and surface finishing of the products, These critical aspects are more severe in closed-die forging since die pressures are very high because the workpiece is completely constrained in the die cavity. Lubrication in forging has been studied by means of several testing methods (l), (3), (4). Among the (2), most used techniques, the ring compression test consists in an upsetting of a ring sample between two flat platens; friction at the platen piece interface obstacles the radial expansion while the ring height is reduced and the internal hole diameter expands less than expected or decreases: the higher is the friction, the smaller is the final internal diameter. Theoretical and numerical analysis of the frictional test method (5). (6), (7), (8) have led to curves from which the friction factor m (or the coefficient of friction p) can be determined by measuring the hole diameter at different height reductions. It should be noticed that, due to the very simple and small contact area at the ring-platen interface, lubricant expulsion is not prevented and the lubricant film during the compression may became very thin. This can make the ring test not reliable as general method for evaluating the lubrication effects, in particular when pressure are very high. An alternative testing method for measuring interfacial friction during metal-forming operations consists of a combined forward and backward extrusion in which two cups are generated by the simultaneous action of oppo-

site punches inside a cylindrical container. In this approach the ratio between backward and forward extrusion cup heights is controlled by the frictional conditions at the container-workpiece interface (8). If friction is very low, the two cup heights will assume similar values, while in severe frictional conditions, the forward extrusion cup is prevented. Recent studies (11) on frictional conditions in cold-forming have shown that, for a given lubricant, friction factor values are strongly affected by the test method (a), (10). (11). The Authors have shown that the double cup extrusion process is strongly influenced by the friction shear factor and furthermore no significant influence of the initial sample geometry on friction was observed. In this paper an analysis of a practical cold forging operation carried out by using grease as lubricant is presented. The friction factor for this lubricant was determined both with double cup extrusion and ring test methods that provided different values. This cold-forging process of an aluminium alloy, in which both extrusion and upsetting flows take place, has been modelled by a FEM numerical code using the m values obtained by both the double cup extrusion and ring compression tests. The load versus displacement data and the deformed patterns at different stages of the process are compared with the experimental results obtained in similar conditions by using the same lubricants of the frictional tests. It appears that the m values given by the double cup extrusion tests are more appropriate for predictions in closed-die forging operations.

2. The friction tests

The tests were carried out on a AA 6082 aluminium alloy supplied in the form of 30 m m diameter extruded bars and, subsequently, solutioned at 530 'C,

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3hlfurnace cooled. Tension tests ( 11) provided the following constitutive equation of the material:

workpiece-punches and workpiece-dies have been taken into account by means of the constant friction model:

r = m -Oe9 where ow is the equivalent flow stress and &q IS the equivalent plastic strain The double cup extrusion tests were performed by using two opposite punches, one of which moving with a constant speed into a cylindrical container; the punch heads were designed according to the ICFG specifications for cold extrusion tooling (12) and container and punches diameters were selected in order to maximise the difference in height between backward and forward cup, besides to avoid punch buckling effects. The tests were performed using ground cylindrical specimens with a nominal diameter of 20 m m and heights equal to 20 and 30 mm; the experiments have shown that the initial sample geometry has no significant influence on the test results (10). Several lubricants were investigated; the results were reported in previous paper (8). (1 1). the lubricants were a multi purpose extreme pressure (EP) grease with small particles of disulphide of Molybdenum ( MoS2), polytetra fluoroethylene (PTFE) spray coating, mineral oil and alcohol; the tests were carried out up to 75% of the initial sample height. The backward and forward cup heights were expressed by the distance between the highest and the lowest points of the cups. As a result, the two cup heights were strongly influenced by the employed lubricant The ring compression tests were performed by means of two flat ground platens made by the same tool steel used for the previous double cup extrusion test tooling. The rings had an initial ratio among outer diameter, inner diameter and height equal to 6.312 and the same lubricants employed for the double cup extrusion tests were used in the ring tests; the compression was carried out up to a punch stroke of 50% of the initial ring height. 2.1 The friction test numerical analyses An incremental procedure and a variational approach based on the "Upper Bound" theorem have been used to perform a finite element analysis of the friction tests by means of a numerical code (13) for forming applications. By means of this code both the axisymmetric double cup extrusion and ring process were simulated. Regarding the former, an average number of 18 remeshings was required by the simulation. The punch and the container wall were described by three rigid contact surfaces A constant velocity has been assigned to the upper punch and the process, taking advantage of the automatic remeshing capabilities of the code, has been analysed up to a punch stroke equal to 75 % of the initial billet height. As far as regard the ring compression, the dies were modelled by two rigid contact surfaces and the process has been analysed up to a stroke equal to 50% of the initial specimen height. Frictional effects at the interface

fi

where 7 is the frictional shear stress 2.2 ExDerimertal and numerical results The r ratio between the backward extrusion cup height and the forward one has been plotted versus the punch stroke over the initial height of the workpiece respectively for the experimental and numerical studies: friction factors ranging from 0.01 to 0.25 were determined for the investigated lubricants (8). In particular. the experimental data obtained using the EP grease fitted the numerical curves predicted for m=0.030.05 up to a punch stroke of 70%. Concerning the ring compression test, the experimental data obtained using EP grease fitted the numerical curve with m=0.2. The comparison between the m values obtained with the two different friction test methods has shown that the shear friction factors resulting from the double cup test are lower than those obtained by the ring test. As already mentioned, this behaviour should be attributed to the very simple and small contact area at the ring-platen interfaces that makes lubricant expulsion easier than in the double cup extrusion; as a consequence, the interfacial lubricant film in the ring compression test is thinner. Furthermore. the accumulated plastic strain in the zone of the workpiece close to the external edge of the upper punch is higher than in the corresponding area in proximity of the lower punch. Due to the strain hardening of the material, this causes flow stresses in the backward extrusion region that are higher than those in the forward extrusion one. This hinder the formation of the backward cup more than the forward one with a reduction of the r ratio. The friction tests permitted to characterise. by both double cup extrusion and ring compression tests, the frictional behaviour in cold-forging conditions of the AA 6082-die material interface.

3. The closed-die forsina Drocess

Small scale forging experiments were carried out by using the dies shown in the FEM model of fig. 1; all the fillet radii has been chosen equal to 1 mm. The billet had an initial diameter and height of 17 m m and 25 m m respectively. The die geometry and the initial billet dimensions were selected in order to obtain a component by means of a cold forging operation involving both extrusion and upsetting flows. The lubricant employed for the close-die forging operation was the extreme pressure (EP) grease with small particles of MoS,. It was already shown that, for this lubricant. the comparison between experimental and

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numerical results gave the rn values equal to 0.03-0.05 in the double cup extrusion test and to 0.2 in the ring compression test. For this reason two different numerical analysis of the closed-die forging process were performed using m=0.04 and m=0.2 respectively. The simulations were carried out on a workstation, with a mean CPU time 31 1500 seconds. The deformed configuration of the workpiece aRer die strokes of 6 and 11.66 mm, predicted using m = 0.04, are shown in fig. 2 3. It appears that. starting from the beginning of the process, both the extrusion and upsetting flows take place concurrently. Moreover, the workpiece diameter, d, on the equatorial plan is smaller than the one, D, on the workpiecedie interface were the upsetting flows occurs (fig 2). Such behaviour is apparent until D reaches its maximum value; subsequently, the opposite trend is observed (fig. 3). A similar behaviour is obtained in simulating the closed-die forging process with n=0.2. Also the experimental configurations of the workpiece show the same trend of the numerical predictions (figg. 4-5). The comparison between predicted and experimental results has been carried out on the basis of the main dimensions of the workpiece at different strokes of the mobile half die. Predicted and experimental values of d, D and H, where H IS the workpiece height, after die strokes of 2, 6, 11.66 mm are summarised in table I.

25.0 20.0 15.0 10.0

5.0

0.0

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0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 Fig. 1 FEM model of the closed-die forging operation.

31.2 26.8 22.4 18.0 13.6 9.2 4.8 0.4

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FEM m=0.2 17.38 2 6 18.90 26.60 11.66 2 17.73 6 19.04 11.66 20.00 2 24.29 6 22.15 22.50 21.63 11.66 Table 1. Comparison between predicted and measured Experimental dimensions of the workpiece.

Stroke

Fig. 2 Predicted workpiece configuration with m=O 04 after die stroke of 6 mm.

30.0 25.0 20.0 15.0 10.0

The dimensions predicted with m=O.04 are systematically closer to the experimental values than those predicted with m=0.2. Table I shows also that the difference between FEM and experimental data increases with increasing the die stroke. This can be attributed to the numerical analysis that has been carried out with a rigidplastic formulation; the elastic strain of the dies in the forging experiments leads to a different geometry from the predicted one where elastic strain was not taken into account. Such discrepancy increases with increasing the elastic strain, namely, with the mobile half die stroke. In the fig. 6 the load versus displacement data are shown for the two numerical simulations and for the experimental process; the employed y-axis graphic scale does not consent to appreciate the difference between the numerical curye and the actual one but the numerical values obtained with m=0.04 are closer to the experimental data.

1
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1

5.0
0.0
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Fig. 3 Predicted workpiece configuration with m=0.04 after die stroke of 11.66 mm.

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and double cup extrusion) have allowed to obtain, by means of numerical analyses, friction factors equal to 0.04 and 0.2 for the same lubricant. - The value obtained by the double cup extrusion test, employed in the numerical analysis, have shown the best predictive capabilities in terms of metal flow and load versus displacement data.

5. Acknowledaements This wcrk has been made using MURST 40% and 60% funds. 6. References ( 1 ) Im. Y.T., Vardan. 0. Shen. G.. Altan, T., 1988. Investigation of Metal Flow in Non-Isothermal Forging Using Rings and Spike Tests, Annals of the CIRP, vol.
Fig.4 Experimental forged workpiece after a punch stroke of 6 mm.

37:225-230. (2) Male, A.T. Cockroft, M.G., 1964. A Method for the
Determination of the Coefficient of friction of Metals under Conditions pf Bulk Plastic Deformation, J. of the Institute of Metals vol. 9338-46 (3) Ghobrial, M.I.. Lee, J.Y.. Altan. T I Bay, N , Hansen. B.G., 1993, Factors Affecting the Double Cup Extrusion Test for Evaluation of Friction in Cold and Warm Forging, Annals of the CIRP, vol. 42:347-351. J.A.H., Kals, J.A.G., 1986, (4) Ramaekers, Mathematical Representation of Friction in Metal Forming Analysis, Annals of the CIRP. vol. 35137-140. ( 5 ) Shen. G., Vedhnayagam, A,, Kropp, E., Altan, T.. 1992. A Method for Evaluating Friction Using a Backward Extrusion-Type Forging, J. Mat. Proc. Tech., VOI. 331109-123. (6) Udagawa, T., Kropp, E., Altan, T., 1990, Friction and Metal Flow in Precision Forgin of Aluminum Alloys, Adv. Tech of Plasticity. vol. 1133-39. (7) Danckert. J. 1988, Analysis of the Ring Test Method for the Evaluation of Frictional Stresses in Bulk Metal Forming Processes, Annals of the CIRP, vol. 37:217-

Fig.5 Experimental forged workpiece after a punch stroke of 11.66 mm.

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(8) Forcellese. A. Gabrielli, Barcellona, A,, Micari, F., 1995, The Role of Friction in Cold Extrusion of Aluminum Alloy, II Convegno AITEM. 137-145. (9) Forcellese. A,. Gabrielli. F.. Tantucci, F., 1995, An Experimentals Investigations on Extrusion Processes of an Aluminium Alloy, Proc. of the Conference EUROMAT'95:301-306. 10) Barcellona, A,, Forcellese, A,, Gabrielli, F., Micari, F., 1995, Effects of Mechanical and Geometric Features of Workpiece on Friction Behaviour in Double Cup Extrusion, Proc. of the 9th Int. Cold Forging Congress, Solihull. UK. 231-237. ( 1 1 ) Forcellese. A,, Gabrielli, F.. Barcellona, A.. Micari, F , 1994, Evaluation of Friction in Cold Metal Forming, J. Mat. Process Technol., vol. 45:619-624. (12) International Cold Forging Group: 1967-1992. Obiectives. History. Published Documents. ICFG Documents no 6/82:73-91 (13) Oh, S.I.. Wu, W.T., Tang, J.F., Vedhanayagam, A,. 1991, "Capabilities and Applications of FEM code DEFORM: the Perspective of the Developer" J. of Material Processing Technology, vol. 27: 25-42.

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4 . Conclusions
A closed-die forging operation involving both extrusion and upsetting processes, was been performed in order to validate friction test methods and results. - Two different friction tests (ring compression

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