DEFORM-3D Labs

5. SPIKE FORGING - TRANSFER FROM FURNACE TO DIES

5.1. Introduction
5.2. Creating a New Problem
5.3. Setting Simulation Controls
5.4. Inserting New Objects
5.4.1. Billet
5.4.2. Top Die
5.4.3. Bottom Die

5.5. Meshing the Billet

5.6. Defining Billet Heat Transfer Boundary Conditions
5.7. Importing Billet Material
5.8. Saving the Problem and Running the Simulation
5.9. Post-Processing

5-1

DEFORM-3D Labs

5. Spike Forging - Transfer from Furnace to

Dies
5.1. Introduction
In this and the next three labs, a hot spike forging will be modeled. Since the process is hot, the
most accurate simulation will model not only the forging operation but also any heat transfer
operations that occur. The entire process will be divided as follows:
-

This lab will model a 10 second transfer of the billet from the furnace to the dies. This
is solely a heat transfer simulation.
Lab 6 will model the 2 second dwell period of the billet resting on the bottom die prior
to forging. This is also a heat transfer simulation.
Lab 7 will model the first blow of a two blow forging process.
Lab 8 will do a die change and model the second blow of the forging process.

Since the billet and dies are axisymmetric, the process could be modeled in 2D. However, in order
to further explore symmetry and other important 3D concepts, the process will be modeled in 3D
using 1/4 symmetry for the billet and the dies.

5.2. Creating a New Problem

Open the DEFORM-3D MAIN window as done in the previous labs. Click the
a new problem, and accept the default settings by clicking
again. In the field for Problem Name, call the problem Spike and click
DEFORM-3D Pre-processor will open.

5-2

icon to create

and then
. The

DEFORM-3D Labs

5.3. Setting Simulation Controls

Click the
icon to open the SIMULATION CONTROL window. Change the Simulation Title
to Spike Forging and the Operation Name to Transfer from Furnace. Make sure that the Units
are set to English and that only Heat Transfer is activated.
The total transfer time to the dies is 10 seconds. Since this is a heat transfer analysis, the steps
need to be defined as a function of time and not die stroke. Divide this operation into 50 time
steps, so that each step corresponds to .2 sec.
Click
to view the Stepping Controls. Set the Number of Simulation Steps to 50 and the
Step Increment to Save at 10. Change the Solution Steps Definition to a Constant Time Increment
of 0.2 sec. Click the

button when finished.

5.4. Inserting New Objects

To simulate this forging process, a workpiece, a top die and a bottom die need to be defined. For
this simulation, we will import all three of the objects during the setup of the initial furnace
transfer, even though technically only the billet would be required for this operation (this is done to
save time in the subsequent labs).
Click the

icon until a total of three objects are in the Object Tree.

5.4.1. Billet
Highlight Object 1 in the Object Tree. Click on the
button and change the Object
Name to Billet and change the Object Type to Plastic. Also, at the start of the simulation, the
Billet will be coming out of the furnace, so define the Temperature as 2000F. Define the billet's
geometry by importing the file Spike_Billet.STL. Use
check the geometry.

and

to

5.4.2. Top Die

Highlight Object 2 in the Object Tree and change the Object Name to Top Die. Import
Spike_TopDie1.STL as the geometry for this object. Use
check the geometry.

5-3

and

to

DEFORM-3D Labs

5.4.3. Bottom Die

Highlight Object 3 in the Object Tree and change the Object Name to Bottom Die. Import
Spike_BottomDie.STL as the geometry. Check the geometry.

5.5. Meshing the Billet

In this initial heat transfer simulation, the billet will be getting transferred from the furnace to the
dies. Since the billet is the only object that will be gaining or losing heat, it is the only object that
currently needs a mesh. Later in the process, during the dwell on the bottom die and during the
forging operation, the dies will need a mesh since they will be able to exchange heat with the hot
billet. We will mesh the dies in the next lab.
Within DEFORM, there are two different types of mesh that can be generated - Relative mesh and
Absolute mesh.
Relative Mesh - Using the relative mesh setting, the user specifies the number of solid
elements to be generated. No matter how complex the shape of the part gets, the number
of elements will remain essentially constant.
Absolute Mesh - Using the absolute mesh setting, the user specifies the size of the
elements, and the system determines the total number of elements that is required. As part
complexity increases, the number of elements tends to increase.
Both relative and absolute mesh use Weighting Factors to determine where small and large
elements should be located in an object. The default values for the Weighting Factors are shown
below and tend to work well for most simulations.

Relative mesh is the default setting and is what was used when meshing objects in the previous
labs. Using absolute mesh tends to increase simulation accuracy since a specified mesh resolution

5-4

DEFORM-3D Labs

is maintained throughout the simulation. As part complexity increases, the number of elements
increases to better describe the surface of the part.
Absolute mesh will be used to mesh the billet for this series of labs. To define the mesh using the
absolute setting, the user has to specify a minimum element size to use for the mesh. This smallest
element is typically determined by measuring the smallest feature on a die that the part will have to
form around. When a process has multiple operations, such as this one, the smallest die feature in
any operation, not just the first, should be used to define the workpiece mesh.
In this simulation, the tightest feature to form around is the radius at the base of the Top Die used
in Blow 2 (Spike_TopDie2.STL). You can import this geometry as a new object and then use the
tool to measure one of the geometry facets making up the radius on the base of the die. This
distance is about 0.08". The flow around this radius would have good resolution if the elements of
the Billet were about half of this size, or 0.04". This should be used as the value for the smallest
element in the Billet. Delete the Top Die 2 object when you are finished measuring.

Blow 1 - Top Die

Blow 2 - Top Die

button. Click the Detailed

Click on the Billet in the Object Tree and then click the
Settings tab. Change the mesh Type to Absolute and set the Min Element Size to 0.04. Also set
the Size Ratio to 3.

5-5

DEFORM-3D Labs

After changing these settings, click the

click the

button. Once the surface mesh is generated,

button.

5.6. Defining Billet Heat Transfer Boundary Conditions

For the initial transfer from the furnace to the dies, only thermal boundary conditions for the billet
are needed. The thermal boundary conditions on the dies and all deformation boundary conditions
will be added in later labs when they are needed.
button and highlight the Heat Exchange with Environment boundary
Click the
condition. In the DISPLAY window, the Billet will be shown with highlighted feature lines.
Thermal boundary conditions need to be defined for all surfaces that are exposed to the
environment. The billet being modeled is only a 1/4 section, and the two symmetry surfaces are
actually inside the real part and therefore are not exposed to the environment.

When defining Heat Exchange with Environment boundary conditions, The

button
can be used to change the Environment Temperature that is used for the simulation. Since we are
modeling the transfer of a hot billet from the furnace to the dies, the environment is at room
temperature, or 68F, which is the default setting.

5-6

DEFORM-3D Labs

Click on the curved outer surface, as well as the top and bottom surfaces of the Billet. The
selected surfaces will be highlighted in green. Use the
button to assign the boundary
condition to these highlighted surfaces. In the boundary condition list, a Defined is added under
Heat Exchange with Environment, and when the Defined is selected, the newly added boundary
condition is shown in the DISPLAY window.

5.7. Importing Billet Material

Click the
icon to open the MATERIAL window. Use the
button to load
AISI-1025(1800-2200F) into the problem. Assign this material to the Billet in the Material
section. The material for the dies is not needed yet and will be loaded in the next lab.

5-7

DEFORM-3D Labs

5.8. Saving the Problem and Running the Simulation

Now that the problem setup is complete, select File Save as and save the data to the file
Spike_FurnaceTransfer.KEY. Next, click the
window. Click

icon to open the DATABASE GENERATION

to make sure nothing was missed during the problem setup. Since no

inter-object relationships are needed for this simulation,

will appear,
which is OK. We will generate these relationships in the next lab when the Billet starts interacting
with the dies. Click
generated, use

to generate the database for the problem. After the database is

to return to the MAIN window.

in the
Start the simulation by clicking
simulation by looking at the Message file.

list. Monitor the progress of the

5.9. Post-Processing
When the simulation has finished, click on

. The DEFORM-3D Post-processor

will appear. Click the

icon and select Temperature as the variable and
as the
Scaling option. Also, right-click on the Color Bar in the DISPLAY window and select
Temperature as the ColorBar Type. This provides a more intuitive color scheme when viewing
temperatures.

State Variable menu

Temperature ColorBar Type

5-8

DEFORM-3D Labs

Play through the steps of the simulation and look at how the Billet cools down as it is transferred
from the furnace to the dies. When finished, click

5-9

to return to the MAIN window.