Analysis of void closure in open-die forging

Abstract Void closure studies have been conducted numerically and experimentally for open-die forging processes. The plane-strain FEM analysis was compared with bite forging experiments in order to determine how well the plane-strain approximation predicted the material flow in open-die forging. In addition physical modeling with plasticine was used to compare the measured and calculated deformation of the internal defect. The FEM analysis was in good agreement with the experimental results. Correlations for the computed effective strain and hydrostatic stress to the void closure were then calculated. Simulations of a solid cylinder side pressed with flat dies, V-shaped dies, and FML dies were done to determine the effectiveness of these dies at consolidating internal porosity based on the calculated strain and hydrostatic stress at the center of the billet. The V-shaped dies were found to be the most effective among those investigated. However, the press load for the V-shaped dies was also the highest.