Cambridge University Engineering Department

ENGINEERING TRIPOS PART IIA

MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING TRIPOS PART IIA

Module 3C1: Materials processing and design

Module 3P1: Materials into products

WROUGHT ALLOY PROCESSING

1. Introduction to wrought alloy deformation processes
1.1 Overview of deformation processes
1.2 Deformation mechanisms: hot vs. cold working

2. Fundamentals of plasticity – (mostly) revision

2.1 Stress states in 3D
2.2 Yield criteria
2.3 Plastic strain and flow rules
2.4 Plane strain conditions

3
3. Equilibrium analysis
3.1 Forging
3.2 Sheet and wire drawing
3.3 Rolling – forging analogy
4. Upper bound analysis
4.1 Forging
g g
4.2 Extrusion
4.3 Machining
5. Temperature rise in deformation processing

6. Microstructure evolution in wrought alloy processing

6 1 Microstructural
6.1 i l characteristics
h i i off wrought
h alloys
ll
6.2 Case Study: Extrusion of heat-treatable Al alloys

References
Kalpakjian S., Manufacturing Processes for Engineering Materials, Addison Wesley,
CUED Libraryy JN49
Edwards S.L. and Endean M., Manufacturing with Materials, Butterworths,
CUED Library JA146
Cambridge Engineering Selector (CES EduPack 2011 or 2012)
Web-based resource on Aluminium Technology: AluMATTER
htt //
http://www.aluminium.matter.org.uk
l i i tt k
H.R. Shercliff
October 2012
1
1. Introduction to wrought alloy deformation processes
11 O
1.1 Overview
i off deformation
f i processes
Deformation processing (or forming) is the shaping of material in the solid state:

Machining is also a plastic deformation process, used for refining shape or finish, and adding
features (holes, threads etc.).
Each process class is used for a fairly specific geometric shaping activity, so there is little
direct competition between them. But other processes compete with forming, e.g.
- forging vs.
vs casting vs.
vs powder processing
- extrusion vs. welded assembly of plate

Why carry out deformation processing?

1. Geometry: forming long, thin-walled shapes (i.e. high aspect ratio, difficult to cast).
2. Low waste: forming processes mostly “near net shape”.
3 Tolerance
3. T l andd surface
f finish:
fi i h usually
ll goodd (and
( d can be
b corrected
t d by
b machining)
hi i )
4. Microstructure: cast microstructures usually coarse – need to be refined by
deformation (and heat treatment) to enhance properties.
5. Energy and cost efficient: temperatures below melting.

Some disadvantages:
1. High forces and complex control systems are required: can be high capital cost,
with expensive high strength steel tooling.
2. Multiple stages (including machining) often needed due to physical limits on
achievable shape changes and complexity.
3. Metals work-harden with cold deformation and often require intermediate annealing
to enable further deformation.

2
1.2 Deformation mechanisms: hot vs. cold working
Key aspects of understanding how processes work (e.g. to control and model them):
- deformation geometry (plane strain, axisymmetric, 3D)
- tool/workpiece interactions (friction, heat transfer)
- temperature history (governs deformation mechanism)

Steady-state processes Non-steady-state processes

(fixed deformation pattern through (component geometry and deformation
which material flows) pattern continuously changes)

Rolling hot or cold Forging usually hot

Extrusion usually hot Sheet metal forming cold
Wire drawing cold
Machining cold

“Hot” and “cold” refer to whether the material is pre-heated before forming – but all
deformation generates heat, so even a cold-worked part may undergo some heating.
Th average temperature during
The d i forming
f i determines
d i the
h deformation
d f i mechanism.
h i

Cold working Hot working

plastic yielding: high strain–rate creep:
T < 0.3 Tm, typical  = 1–105 s-1 T > 0.5 Tm, typical  = 1–103 s-1
T ,  : little influence on yield response T ,  : strong influence on yield response
deformed, elongated grains; recrystallised, equiaxed grains;
anisotropic mechanical properties isotropic mechanical properties
modest forming in tension viable must be worked in compression
((work hardening
g suppresses
pp necking)
g) ((dynamic
y softening:
g necking
g in tension))
good surface finish and tolerance poor surface finish (oxidation) and tolerance
(differential thermal contraction)

How hot is hot?

Material Hot working temperatures (0.5 – 0.95 Tm)

Steels 800 – 1300 oC (i.e. austenite in C steels)

Al alloys 300 – 500 oC

3
 Constitutive behaviour (stress-strain response)
Elastic-plastic stress-strain curves for cold deformation in tension (Materials Databook):

- cold deformation leads to work hardening

- elastic strains small ( 0.1%), and may be neglected for most forming processes

NB. forming processes (hot or cold) are mostly compressive (to avoid the necking instability
in tension),
), allowing
g much larger
g pplastic strains,, typically
yp y 10s to 100s of %.

For processing at high temperatures (hot working), the stress-strain response is typically:


A steady-state (constant) flow stress is a result of a balance between dislocation accumulation
(work-hardening) and dislocation annihilation (by dynamic recovery). This is typical of
aluminium alloys.
Other alloys (steels) undergo dynamic recrystallisation – new grains forming, growing, and
work hardening in a continuous cycle (again reducing the flow stress).
Dynamic recovery and recrystallisation depend on both the strain-rate and the temperature
(i.e. diffusion-controlled thermally activated processes), see figure.

4
Plastic analysis of forming processes
Modelling of forming processes has many potential applications and benefits:
- co-design of components and the forming equipment used to make them
(t give
(to i confidence
fid that
th t the
th process willill work,
k cutting
tti costs
t andd scrap rates)
t )
- offline evaluation of sensitivity to fluctuations in process parameters, in order to determine
optimum set-points for these parameters
(e.g. metal temperature, process speeds, friction conditions)
- prediction of temperature and deformation histories throughout a component, as input to
understanding or modelling the distribution of microstructure and properties.

Most modelling of deformation processes uses advanced numerical methods (finite element
methods, FEM, or computational fluid dynamics, CFD), combining metal flow and heat flow.
This enables detailed prediction of the behaviour of a given design processed in a particular
way (provided the models, input data and implementation are robust!).

Analytical
A l i l methods
h d requirei simplification
i lifi i off the h problem,
bl but
b give
i a quick
i k overall
ll sense off
how the processes work, and the influence of key process variables. They also provide simple
checks on sophisticated numerical analyses.

The simple analytical calculations here predict forces, energy input, and temperature rise
g deformation pprocessing,
during g, usingg two approaches:
pp
• Equilibrium analysis: find a stress field which satisfies equilibrium and produces
yielding (hence flow) at every point.
• Upper bound analysis: find a displacement field which satisfies compatibility and
allows the deformation to occur. Equate internal and external work done.

Numerical methods can handle the complex elastic-plastic stress-strain behaviour (such as strain-
rate and temperature-dependent yielding).

For analytical methods, we approximate Elastic limit,

uniaxial yield stress, Y
g
the uniaxial stress-strain curve as rigid
perfectly-plastic (i.e. neglect elastic strain, plastic flow
and assume a constant yield stress).
Stress

infinite Young’s modulus, E

Strain, 

Deformation processing is inherently three-dimensional, so the analysis also requires:

- a yield criterion applicable to any stress state, determining when plastic flow occurs
- a flow rule relating the resulting plastic strains (or strain-rates) to the stress state.

5
2. Fundamentals of plasticity (mostly revision of IB Structures)

2.1 Stress states in 3 dimensions

zz general stress 3 in terms of
state principal stresses
σ1
 xx  xy  xz   1 0 0
  0  0 
 yx  yy  yz   2

xy yx yy   zx  zy  zz   0 0  3 


xx σ2

For any general stress state we can find a set of  (yy, xy)
principal
i i l axes. TheTh stress
t tensor
t for
f these
th axes
contains no off-diagonal (shear) terms – only
three principal stresses along the three axes. 2θ
1 2 
Mohr’s circle allows rotation of axes in two
dimensions about one principal axis

(xx, -yx)

2.2 Yield criteria

The yield criterion defines the limit of elasticity under any possible combination of stresses.
The mean or “hydrostatic” stress is defined as  m  13 (1   2   3 ) .
The hydrostatic stress has no effect on yielding in metals (although it does affect yielding in
polymers, and also affects fracture). We can separate any stress state into its hydrostatic and
p
deviatoric components:

1 0 0   m 0 0  1   m 0 0 
     
 0 2 0    0 m 0   0 2 m 0 
0  
0 3   0  
0 m   0 0  3   m 


The yield criterion becomes a condition about the deviatoric stress tensor – i.e. yield
occurs when some function of the deviatoric stress tensor reaches a critical value.

6
Tresca yield criterion
Yi ld occurs when
Yield h theth maximum
i shear
h stress
t reaches
h a critical
iti l value.
l Taking
T ki Y as the
th yield
i ld
stress in uniaxial tension, and using Mohr’s circle, this gives:

max  1  2 , 2  3 , 3  1 Y
Usually p stresses so that  1   2   3 . Hence:
y define the principal
p

1  3  Y

Von Mises yield criterion

According to the von Mises criterion, yield occurs when the elastic shear strain energy reaches
a critical value,, which leads to :

1   2 2   2   3 2   3  1 2  2Y 2

Both criteria can also be written in terms of the Mohr’ss circle for pure shear
Mohr
yield stress in pure shear, k. 
k
The principal stresses are then k

1 = + k; 2 = 0 ; 3 = - k k 3 1


so the two yield criteria can be written as: k

Tresca: 1 – 3 = Y = 2k

von Mises: (1 – 2)2 + (2 – 3)2 + (1 – 3)2 = 2Y2 = 6k2

NB. the relationship between Y and k changes: for Tresca, Y = 2k ; for von Mises Y = √3k
It is
i possible
ibl to test experimentally
i ll which
hi h criterion
i i is i better,
b by
b measuring
i Y and
d k on the
h same
sample of material (and under combined tension and shear). The differences between the two
criteria are relatively small (at most 15%).

7
2.3 Plastic strain and flow rule

Plastic deformation conserves volume. Thus, in terms of principal strain increments:

d1  d2  d3  0

Once the yield criterion is satisfied we need a flow rule to relate the plastic strain to the
stress. In an isotropic material the principal axes of stress and strain-rate coincide.

The Levy-Mises flow rule states that the plastic strain increment in each principal direction is
proportional to the deviatoric stress component in that direction i.e.

d1, d 2 , d3    1   m ,  2   m , 3   m 

d1 d 2 d 3
This can be written as:  
1   m  2   m  3   m

Written in terms of the three d1 d 2 d 3

 
principal stresses only, it becomes: 1  12 ( 2   3 )  2  12 (1   3 )  3  12 (1   2 )

2.4 Plane strain conditions

In plane strain, one dimension of the deforming geometry is much larger than the others and
there is no strain in that direction (giving 2D,
2D in-plane
in plane deformation).
deformation)
Plane strain is a common simplifying assumption in forming, e.g. for rolling, slab extrusion or
drawing, some forging problems, and machining.
If the principal strain in the 2 direction is zero (i.e. 2 = 0), then from the Levy-Mises equation:
d2
 non - zero and finite
2  12 (1  3 )

Thus: 2 = ½ (1 + 3).

i.e. 2 will be the intermediate principal stress and 1 > 2 > 3
3) on planes at 45
The maximum shear stress will be ½ (1- 45° to the 1 and 3 axes
By the Tresca yield criterion: 1 – 3 = Y = 2k
By the von Mises yield criterion: 1 – 3 = 2Y/√3 = 2k

So for plane strain, the two yield criteria are the same, in terms of the pure shear yield stress k.
Using the uniaxial yield stress Y, they differ by about 15%. The higher value governing yield
by the von Mises criterion, 2Y/√3 , is sometimes called the “plane strain yield stress”.
8
 3 Equilibrium analysis

g g
3.1 Forging
Open die forging

Impression / Closed die forging

Analysis of plane strain forging (revision of IB Materials)

Consider open die forging of a long rectangular slab using wide dies. The slab and dies are
long in the z direction, with plastic flow restricted to the xy plane – i.e. plane strain conditions.

F y
p(x)
τ(x) z x

dx Take unit depth into the diagram

2h Slab width 2w, height 2h
x
For convenience,, take  +ve when
τ(x)
( ) compressive for this problem.

w Assume Coulomb friction:  =  p

Purpose of calculation: find forging load F.

Approach: find pressure distribution at die face p(x) and integrate
integrate.

p(x)
The stress state is non-uniform – consider
τ(x)
the vertical mid-plane: this must be
loaded in compression, to balance the
inward friction forces on the top and dx
bottom of each half of the billet.
2h σx (σx + dσx)
Hence we must consider the equilibrium
of an element of width dx, height 2h

τ(x) p(x)
( )

9
Equilibrium in the x-direction:  x  d x . 2h   x . 2h  2 . dx  0
d x 
  
dx h
Principal directions:
At the element centre, there is no shear (due to symmetry): x and y are principal stresses.
At the element surface, there is shear stress due to friction – but consider the Mohr’s circle for
a moderate value of :
Hence to a good approximation,
x and y (= p) are also principal
stresses at the surface.

Recall that for plane strain:

d zz  0
z is the intermediate principal stress
i.e. principal stresses: p > z > x

Yield criteria:
dp d x
Fi t consider
First id Tresca:
T p  x  Y    0
dx dx
dp 
Hence:  
dx h

Friction law: Coulomb friction:    p

Hence: dp    p
dx h
dp  μ
Separate variables and integrate:     dx  ln (p)   x  C
p h h

Boundary conditions:
At x = w, x = 0. Combining this with the yield criterion p – x = Y gives at x = w, p = Y.

μ p μ 
Hence: ln(Y )   w  C and thus:  exp  w  x ( x  0)
h Y h 
When x < 0 the direction of friction is reversed, and the solution becomes:
p μ 
 exp  w  x  x  0
Y h 

NB: if we had used the von Mises criterion, p   x  2Y / 3 , the expressions for p/Y
would be increased by the factor of 2/√3.
10
‘friction hill’ w = 4h w = 2h

50
5.0 50
5.0
μ = 0.4
4.0 4.0

3.0 3.0

p/Y
p/Y

2.0 2.0

10
1.0 10
1.0
μ = 0.1
0.0 0.0
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1

x/w x/w

To calculate the total forging load F, integrate p(x) over the die surface (depth D into page):

w 2DhY   w 
F  D  p( x) dx   exp   1 ( 2/√3 using von Mises)
w    h  

Note that the target result – the load required to yield the slab – depends on a combination of:
- material parameters: yield stress, Y
- process operating conditions: friction between die and workpiece, 
- design parameters: the geometry of the slab – depth D, height h, width w

Note in particular the sensitivity to the aspect ratio, w/h:

- the high value of p/Y sets a limit on how thin a component can be forged
- the thin flash formed at the edge in impression die forging accounts for a significant share of
the total load

Plane strain compression without friction

In the limit   0 (frictionless dies), the results become: p = Y, and F = 2DwY (using
Tresca’s criterion). Check this for yourself!

Recall that by the Tresca criterion, p = Y = 2k , where k is the shear yield stress.
Furthermore, by the von Mises criterion, p = (2/√3) Y = (2/√3)  k/√3 = 2k .
So the pressure on the dies in plane strain compression with frictionless dies is 2k (whichever
criterion is used). This geometry can therefore be used in a compression test to measure 2k
for the material directly.
The conversion to uniaxial yield stress Y depends on whether the material response is closer
to Tresca or von Mises.

11
Summary of the equilibrium method for finding forming pressures/loads:
1. Assume a set of (approximate) principal directions.
2. Assume a friction law. The usual choices are : Frictionless (τ = 0), Coulomb
friction (τ =μp), or sticking friction (τ = k, where k is the shear yield stress.)
3. If the stress state is not uniform, consider the equilibrium of an element to get a
differential equation relating stresses in the direction of variation.
4 Assume a flow rule and yield criterion.
4. criterion (N.B.
(N B the difference between von Mises and
Tresca amounts to only 15% difference in the predicted stresses for plane strain).
5. Use the flow rule and yield criterion to relate the principal stresses.
6. Decide which principal stress is required for the problem in hand – e.g. for the vertical
forging load we needed p(x). Thus we eliminated the other unknown stress x to
give
i a differential
diff ti l equation
ti ini the
th required
i d stress,
t p.
7. Solve for the variation of this stress in the x direction by integrating subject to
appropriate boundary conditions.
8. For loads on the tooling, integrate the pressure over the tool area.

Forging of a disc (not on syllabus)

Exactly the same principles apply for the analysis

of forging of a disc. The friction acts radially
inward giving an axisymmetric friction hill.
inward, hill

In this case, all three strains are non-zero (i.e. in

the r, z and  directions). A further relationship
between the strain components (i.e. volume
conservation) is needed to find and eliminate the
second unknown principal stress (in the hoop
direction,  

The resulting pressure distribution p(r) is again integrated to find the forging load:

 h  2  
 1  2  Y R  h 
2 R 
F  2 Y    exp  
2  2 
    h  

Note the similarities to the plane strain case – the forging load depends on Y, , h and R,
and is particularly sensitive to the thickness to diameter ratio, h/2R.

12
 3.2 Sheet and wire drawing
To reduce the thickness of a long product requires a continuous process, in which the material is
forced through shaped tooling . In sheet drawing, a flat strip is pulled through a profiled die with
the die exit determining the final dimensions; the axisymmetric equivalent is wire drawing.
C id the
Consider th plane
l strain
t i drawing
d i off a wide
id sheet
h t between
b t frictionless
f i ti l dies:
di
w 3


ho 1
2

hi σdraw

Assume zero friction.

Take compressive stress +ve.

Depth D into the page is large, so plane strain conditions apply, with d2=0.
p
dh
p


zoom in on detail…. 2 sin 
dh
 1  d 1 1 p
2 tan 
dh
2  dh
p
2
dh
3 2 tan 
Equilibrium: hdh h dh
Resolve horizontally. 1  d 1   1  p  0
2 2 2
h d 1  1 d h  pdh  0

dh dh
Resolve vertically. 3  p  3  p
2 tan  2 tan 

Yield criterion: no flow in the 2 direction so 2 is intermediate; the Tresca criterion gives:
3  1  Y hence p  1  Y
NB: In this case we want the stress in the x-direction (at exit), rather than the distribution of p
with x, so we don’t switch to a differential in p, but eliminate p leaving a differential in 1.

Combining the yield criterion with horizontal equilibrium: h d 1  Y d h  0

Integrate and use boundary conditions at entry ( = 0) and exit ( = - draw

d ):

0 hi h 
dh
 d 1  Y   draw  Y ln  i  13
-draw ho h  ho 
Notes:

1. This analysis used the Tresca criterion – using von Mises instead, replace Y with 2Y/3
(as plane strain)

2. Note that σdraw may not exceed the yield stress Y (or the material fails in tension at the
exit). This gives a maximum draw ratio:

h  h  h  h
Y ln i   Y  ln i   1   i   e  2.718 i.e. o  37% (for von Mises: 43%)
 ho   ho   ho max hi

3. A back tension σback may also be applied at the inlet. This has no effect on the initial
analysis but changes one of the boundary conditions: at the inlet, h=hi , σ1 = -σback . Hence:
h 
draw  back  Y ln  i 
 ho 
So the draw stress is increased by the back tension, reducing the maximum draw ratio.
But increased tension along the strip reduces the pressure needed to reach yield – hence
back tension reduces wear of the die.

4. The same analysis can be applied to plane strain extrusion, simply by another change in
boundary conditions: at the inlet, σ = + σext (compression), and at the outlet σ = 0.
The inlet material must then be enclosed, but the compressive stress is not limited by the
yield stress – so greater reductions in section are possible.
5. The analysis can readily be extended to include the effect of friction on the die (giving
additional terms in the equilibrium equations).

Wire drawing

Wires are drawn in tension through a sequence of

well-lubricated conical dies. Typical reduction in
area per pass = 10
10–40%.
40%. Work hardening is needed
to avoid tensile failure at the die outlet, but the
material may then require intermediate annealing.

Wire drawing may be modelled using an equivalent axisymmetric analysis to sheet drawing.
The resulting expression for the draw stress, for the case of Coulomb friction on the die wall, is:
 cot  
 1    A 2  
 draw  Y 1   1   
  cot     A1  

Note that the observations above on the maximum draw ratio and the effect of back tension
apply equally to wire drawing,
drawing and a change in boundary conditions to an inlet compression
switches the analysis to extrusion of a solid cylinder.

14
3.3 Rolling
Rolling is a steady-state, continuous process for forming long prismatic shapes.

Cast Ingot

"Bloom“ or "Slab"

Flat Rolling (sheet, strip, plate) Section Rolling (I-beams etc)

Rolling mill designs:

Reversing mill: material passes backwards and forwards through the same mill stand, which is
incrementally closed before each pass. Used for “breakdown” rolling of ingot/thick slab, and
f section
for i rolling.
lli
Tandem mill: several mill stands (typically four) in connected series. Used for strip/sheet/foil,
i.e. stock material that is thin enough to be coiled after rolling. The strip accelerates
considerably as its thickness is reduced (due to conservation of volume).

Analysis of rolling: by analogy with forging

Rolling of wide strip or plate can be thought of as an adaptation of plane strain drawing in
which the tapered gap between stationary dies is replaced by the gap between rotating rolls.
In this case some friction between rolls and strip is essential, since it is friction that draws the
material into the roll bite (rather than a drawing stress at outlet, or compression at inlet).
2w
ll radius
roll di R
vi ω
F
ho

hi
vo

τ F

Note that the friction direction reverses in the roll bite at the neutral plane, i.e. the point where
the local speed of the strip = the peripheral roll speed, v = R .

Note also that conservation of volume means that hivi = hovo .

15
 F
The contact patch, width 2w, is actually relatively
small compared to the radius R; and the reduction
per pass is modest (the figure above is
exaggerated). hi  ho
2h 
2
The deforming volume may be approximated to a
rectangular block, width 2w, and height 2h
given by the average of the inlet and outlet
thicknesses. 2w

The roll bite is therefore directly analogous to the geometry used for analysis of plane strain
forging, assuming the neutral plane falls on the plane of symmetry.
Hence the rolling pressure distribution will be a friction hill, as in forging, and we can estimate
the rolling load directly using the result for plane strain forging (assuming the Tresca criterion):

2 DhY    w 
F   exp   1
   h  

Provided the friction coefficient is reasonably low, we can assume w/h << 1. This allows the use
of the approximation exp(w/h)  1 + w/h+ (w/h)2/2 , giving:

2DhY   w  1  w  
2

F    
   h  2  h  
It is more convenient to express the rolling force in terms of the roll radius R and heights hi and
ho. Consider the contact geometry:
2
2w   R  hi  ho   R2
2
R  2 
hi  ho hi  ho
Typically  R giving
2w 2 2
2w  R hi  ho 

Substituting for w and h gives:

  R (hi  ho ) 
F  D Y  R (hi  ho )  
 hi  ho 

As before, this result combines parameters of the material, process and the geometry of the strip.

Estimation of rolling torque and power

The roll closing force F acts at an offset distance w from the roll centre. The rolling torque is
thus approximately T = F . w, and the power requirement (for each roll) is then P = T . for
a rotational speed . This analysis is crude but gives the correct trends.
16
Controlling load and thickness
To reduce rolling loads:
- reduce yield stress Y (i.e. hot rolling)
- reduce friction  (but note that some friction is
required to draw in the strip)
- make small reductions per pass hi - ho (and tandem roll)
- reduce roll radius R

Note that small radius rolls will bend, so larger backing rolls
are used to reinforce the work rolls in a cluster mill design.
design
Hydraulic jacks apply loads, continuously adjusted, to the roll
stack. This ensures that a uniform material thickness (or
gauge) is produced, both across and along the strip.
Cluster mill

Effects of tension at the inlet (back tension) and outlet (front tension)
Front and/or back tension are used in rolling, and have the effect of:
- reducing the pressure needed to cause yielding (as in sheet/wire drawing)
- reducing the magnitude of the friction hill (and shifting the neutral plane)
- reducing the rolling load, torque and power
The analysis with forward/back tension follows the forging analogy, but with a change in
boundary conditions at entry and exit.

b f

Notes:
1. If a sufficiently large back tension is applied, the neutral point can be shifted to the outlet,
and the rolls begin to slip. This can be used experimentally to estimate the friction coefficient .

2. In multi-stand tandem rolling, the forward tension on one stand = the back tension on the
next. Why must this tension be carefully controlled?

17
 4 Upper bound analysis
Upper bound theorem: Propose any mechanism of plastic collapse of a body and estimate the
load required by equating the internal rate of energy dissipation to the rate at which the external
l d do
loads d work;k the
h estimated
i d load
l d will
ill then
h beb above
b or equall to the
h correct value
l (i.e.
(i it
i will
ill
represent an upper bound).

Any compatible mechanism of deformation may be chosen, but we can consider limiting cases in
which all the deformation occurs in narrow shear bands, with the solid divided into rigid blocks
sliding over each other, and the shear yield stress k acting at their interfaces.
The upper bound method with sliding blocks is highly effective for three reasons:
(a) we do not have to satisfy equilibrium equations.
(b) the upper bound loads are often surprisingly close to the correct collapse loads.
(c) the load estimate is often insensitive to the exact choice of mechanism.
The method applies to 2-dimensional plane-strain problems only.

4.1 Forging
Consider again plane strain forging of a long square block between frictionless dies:

v F
Depth D into page
A
A
B
B
C D h C D
E E
O (fixed) O (fixed)

F
h
Equate external rate of work with internal rate of energy dissipation:

External power = F . v
Internal power =
 Interface area  shear yield stress k  relative sliding velocity at interface
all interfaces

18
 To find the relative sliding velocity of the blocks, construct a velocity diagram (hodograph):
Interface length velocity internal power
o,e bc h / 2 v / 2 khDv / 2
bd h / 2 v / 2 khDv / 2
ce h / 2
 v / 2
 khDv / 2
ed h / 2 v / 2 khDv / 2
c v
d Total 2khDv
Equate external and internal power :
F .v  2 k h D v  F  2k h D
a,b
So pressure on die p = F/hD = 2k

Reminder: rules for constructing a velocity diagram (hodograph)

1 Label all regions of the model which move relative to each other (convention: upper case)
1.
2. Define an origin, corresponding to a stationary component of the system.
3. Draw the reference velocity vector of the unknown force.
4. Draw construction lines for the velocities of the moving blocks, either relative to the
stationary components, or relative to each other. [Recall that the relative velocity between two
sliding blocks must act parallel to the interface between the blocks.
blocks Why is this? ]
5. The intersections of these construction lines give the velocity vectors of the labelled regions
of the model (convention: lower case)
6. The relative velocities between sliding blocks can be scaled to the reference velocity, by
measurement from a scale drawing, or trigonometry.

It is efficient to use the symmetry of the problem to reduce the number of shear planes to be
considered, e.g. in the forging problem, take two mirror planes to split the problem vertically
and horizontally – and consider the horizontal mirror plane to be stationary.

v/2 F
c o
A
B
v/2
O h √2 (v/2)
fixed C D
E
O
a, b
v/2 F
External power = 2  F . v/2 = F . v
Internal power = 4  (k D). b = 4  (k D) . √2 (h/2) . √2 (v/2)
D) BC . Vbc
=2kDhv

Hence F=2khD as before.

19
Effect of aspect ratio on forging pressure
As we change the ratio of width b to height h in the forging problem, we can construct many
different feasible deformation patterns. From the upper bound theorem, any kinematically
correct pattern will constitute an upper bound – hence the pattern giving the lowest pressure will
b closest
be l to the
h correct answer.
The following four patterns are all kinematically admissible but each will be favoured for
different ranges of h / b. Values of pressure p given are for the case of zero friction on the dies.

A: h >> b
B: h > b

h/2

p
 2.83
2k
p 3b 7 h
 
2k 2 h 18 b

C: h ≈ b D: h << b

p 1b h p
    1
2k 2  h b  2k

3.5

3
Pressure p/2k

A
2.5
B
2

1.5
C
1
D
0.5
0 2 4 6 8 10
h/b
20
4.2 Extrusion
Extrusion uses compressive loading to
force a billet ((usually
y hot)) through
g a die
to make a shaped, prismatic section.
With soft metals (e.g. hot aluminium)
very large reductions in area can be made
in a single step.

Die design
For solid cylinders, square or angled dies may be used. With a square die, a dead metal zone
forms, leading to intense shearing (and heating).

The design of dies for complex hollow sections is considered in a later case study.
For upper bound analysis, we consider plane strain extrusion of a flat strip.

Upper bound analysis of plane strain extrusion

Consider extrusion of a strip of thickness 2h from a billet of thickness 4h through a square die.
Assume sticking friction on the die wall, and consider half of the problem (due to symmetry).
The width of the strip (out of the page) is D. This geometry is referred to as direct extrusion.

Die O

F/2 C
h External power = F.v/2
A
Ram B
v
D 2v h

centre line
l h

21
Velocity diagram:
o,c
v a v d Internal
Interface g /h
length velocity
y /v power /(hDkv)
p ( )
OA l/h (oa) 1 l/h
AB 2 (ab) 1 2
BC 2 (bc) 2 2
BD 2 (bd) 2 2
b
Total l/h + 6

Equate external and internal power:

l 
F .v / 2  h D k v   6   F  2 D k l  6h 
h 

Consider an alternative die design: indirect extrusion

O, moving Die
die O

C fi d die
fixed di
F/2
A
Ram B
v
D 2v h

l h

The analysis is identical, except that O now moves with A so no shear work is done on
interface oa.
Hence: F  2 D k 6h

4.3 Machining
Machining processes use a hard tool to selectively remove a softer material. Most components
g some machining.
undergo g Numericallyy controlled machines ggive highg reproducibility
p y and
accuracy.
There is a wide range of machining processes: turning, shaping, milling, drilling, tapping, grinding.
The underlying mechanism is largely the same: plastic deformation of a thin surface layer or
groove of material.
g shear strains are imposed
Large p g ((103 s-1) – this can cause
on the chipp and strain-rates are high
temperature rises of the order of 1000C in steels.

22
Machining – upper bound analysis
Consider the idealised machining geometry below – orthogonal machining – with in-plane
deformation, and a depth into the page which is larger then the chip thickness (i.e. plane strain).
First, neglect friction on the tool face – giving a single primary shear zone.

C Velocity diagram:
T  
α   (   )     (   )
2 2
Rake angle
d φ c
vcw
α
v
F t π/2-α v φ w
W

Find vcw using the sin rule :

v vcw v cos 
  vcw 
sin  / 2  (  )  sin  / 2  )  cos(  )

Equate external and internal power :

d d v cos  F k d cos 
F .v  D . vcw . k  D k i.e. 
sin  sin  cos(  ) D sin  cos(  )

The optimal solution will be the minimum value of F/D which is when f  sin  cos(  )
is a maximum with respect to  :

f
 cos  cos(  )  sin  sin(  )  cos(    )  cos(2  )  0


Principal solution :   (/2  /4).

F 2 k d . cos 
Substituting into the expression for F gives : 
D 1  sin 

In practical machining, there is a secondary shear zone associated with friction on the rake face
of tool (neglected above). This can be included by adding a term for the power dissipation on
the tool, e.g. assuming sticking friction over the length of the tool face, with a relative velocity
given by the chip exit velocity.
velocity

23
5. Temperature rise in deformation processing
Effect of temperature rise during deformation processing
All of the plastic work is dissipated as heat. The workpiece temperature depends on:
- thermal
th l properties
ti off the
th metal
t l andd tooling;
t li
- component geometry;
- heat transfer conditions (to the tooling, coolant or atmosphere).

Influences of temperature history:

• variations in T, and  lead to variations in microstructure, and properties;
• severe surface deformation can cause local melting and a poor surface finish (e.g. extrusion)
or tool damage (e.g. machining);
• temperature rise may be essential for a combined deformation and heat treatment
(e.g. extrusion of heat-treatable aluminium alloys).

Estimate of temperature rise

Many of the analyses led to estimates for the power input, Q . For example:
- rolling: power (per roll) = torque  angular velocity
- drawing, extrusion, machining: external power in upper bound analysis
From conservation of energy, assuming adiabatic heating and a uniform temperature rise:
power input Q
T  
(volume deformed per second)  (volumetric heat capacity) A  v  C

How accurate is this approach?

1. The assumption of adiabatic heating
will lead to an over-estimate, since there
will be some heat loss to the tooling.

2. If all of the heating occurs in e.g. workpiece and

primary shear zones, through which all tool temperatures
the material ppasses,, the temperature
p rise in machining
will be reasonably uniform. But if
significant heating occurs in secondary
shear zones at the surface (i.e. due to
friction on the tooling), a temperature
gradient will be set up, and the peak
p
temperature rise will be higher
g than the
average value calculated.

To assess whether there is time for temperature gradients to even out, we compare the speed of the
material with the speed of heat conduction.
To do this, estimate the thickness of the deformation zone, d , and an interaction time, t (the time
that
h material
i l takes
k to pass through
h h the
h deformation
d f i zone).) The
Th distance
di that
h heat
h could ld travell in
i this
hi
time is approximately a t , where a is the thermal diffusivity. If d >> a t , temperature
gradients will remain.

24
6. Microstructure Evolution in Wrought Alloy Processing

6.1 Microstructural characteristics of wrought alloys (Revision – mostly)

Recovery and recrystallisation
Central to metal forming are the mechanisms of recovery and recrystallisation.
These may occur both during forming (“dynamic”) and after forming, during
annealing (“static”).
These mechanisms fulfill several important purposes:
- to maintain ductility (enabling large strains without cracking);
- to reduce forming loads (dynamic softening balances work hardening;
annealing eliminates prior work hardening);
- to control final grain structure.

Recrystallisation stems from the recovered subgrain structure, determined by:

- prior deformation conditions (T,  and  );
- alloy composition.
There are two main sites for nucleation of recrystallisation:
- grain boundaries, second phase particles.

Grain boundary nucleation

Larger subgrains at grain boundaries act
as the nuclei for recrystallised grains.

Particle-stimulated nucleation (PSN)

Wrought alloys contain fine-scale, hard,
second phase particles and dispersoids
(e.g. in Al alloys, intermetallic compounds
of Al with Mn, Cr, Fe, Zr).
The dislocation density is greater around the
hard particles, locally increasing the driving
force for recovery and recrystallisation.

Courtesy: Prof. J. Humphreys,

University of Manchester

25
Grain size control by recrystallisation
Recrystallisation requires a minimum strain level (typically 5% for cold deformation).
Further strain leads to a decrease in recrystallised grain size (the number of nuclei
increases). Similarly, there is a minimum temperature needed to trigger
recrystallisation. This also falls with increasing strain, as it gets easier to start the
process as the stored energy increases (LH figure below).
The recrystallised grain size has a complex dependence on:
 plastic strain (RH figure below)
 deformation strain-rate and temperature
 annealing temperature (for static recrystallisation)

Deformation processing is always inhomogeneous (due to geometric complexity,

friction and heat transfer). Even in simple geometries such as flat strip rolling it is
difficult to maintain uniform deformation across a rolled strip, and from one end of a
coil to the other. In forging and extrusion deformation is very inhomogeneous. Hence
different parts of the component will have different grain sizes, or may not
recrystallise at all in some places. This can lead to problems with variable properties,
anisotropic deformation behaviour, poor surface finish, localised corrosion etc.
Hot-rolling can allow deformation and recrystallisation in a single-stage process.
Continuously cast steel is hot-rolled immediately after solidification, which produces
a fine-grained homogeneous structure.
A subtle hidden benefit of recrystallisation relates to a reduction in impurity
segregation (left by the prior casting process). As the new grain boundaries sweep
through the material, they can drag some impurity atoms with them, partially
levelling out concentration gradients – another mechanism for chemically
homogenising cast material.

26
Heat-treatable Al alloys – age hardening
Aluminium dissolves up to 10% of Mg, Cu, Zn, Si, Li. Typical heat-treatable
alloys contain at least two major alloy additions. The steps in age hardening are:
(i) Solution heat treat, in the single phase region of the phase diagram.
(ii) Quench to achieve a supersaturated solid solution.
(iii) Age at room temperature (natural ageing) or at a temperature in
o
the 150–250 C range (artificial ageing).

Solution treat

Quench
Quench Age

Age

Artificial ageing: hardness and yield YIELD Artificial

STRESS ageing
stress rise to a peak in about 5-24 Natural
or ageing
hours (the "T6 temper") and then fall.
HARDNESS
Natural ageing: slow rise to a plateau
hardness over 1-28 days (the "T4
temper").

Log (AGEING TIME)

Mechanism of age hardening

The shape of the ageing curve results from the interaction of a number of effects:
(i) rapid initial fine-scale precipitation from supersaturated solid solution.
(ii) particle coarsening (i.e. steady decrease in the number of particles, with
an increase in mean size and spacing), through one or more intermediate
precipitates, eventually reaching the equilibrium phases.
(iii) decrease in coherency (i.e. crystallographic matching) of the particle-
matrix interface, as the particles coarsen and transform.
(iv) transition from dislocations shearing the particles while they are small
and coherent (the rising part of the curve), to dislocations bypassing the particles
when they are well-spaced and incoherent (the falling part of the curve).

27
6.2 Case Study: Extrusion of heat-treatable Al alloys

Hollow sections are made by building a mandrel into the die (held from behind by
radial supports). The metal flow splits round the radial supports, then is forced
together in a longitudinal friction weld beyond the mandrel, leaving an internal
channel the same shape as the mandrel.
Multi-channel sections require many mandrels mounted sequentially along the die,
generating complex 3D flow to produce the prismatic shape. Such dies can be very
expensive (£100k).

(Source: Hydro Aluminium)

Critical features of extrusion:

- die design
- extrusion loads and speed, and optimisation of cooling schedules
- surface finish, product distortion and cracking
- temperature and microstructure evolution (deformed grains, age hardening)

28
Temperature history and microstructural control in extrusion

T (oC) HOMOGENISATION
EXTRUSION

QUENCH
PREHEAT

DIRECT AGE
CHILL
CAST
INGOT
TIME
Microstructural evolution: key ideas
- deformation and thermal histories are closely coupled
- shaping and microstructure control are achieved simultaneously
- the deformation/ageing stages inherit microstructure from upstream processes
(e.g. casting and homogenisation)
- deformation processing must leave the material with good properties for
downstream processing (e.g. heat treatment and welding), and for the
product’s performance in service

Example of complex multi-process microstructure evolution

Prior processing history (casting and homogenisation) can have an important effect
on extrusion and age hardening.
Al alloys contain intermetallic second phase particles and dispersoids (Al with Fe,
Mn or Cr) formed during casting/homogenisation. Their size and number density
depends on composition, and homogenization temperature & time.
Dispersoids are used to control recrystallised grain size (by PSN), but can act as
nucleation sites for precipitation of coarse, non-hardening phases during
quenching. This effectively removes solute from the supersaturated solution, and
hence lower peak aged strength. The tendency for an alloy to suffer from this is
known as quench sensitivity.
Quench sensitivity is a particular problem when it is difficult to impose a fast
cooling rate – e.g. thick rolled plate, or extrusions of complex shape (which are
more likely to distort).

29
T HARDNESS
T6 peak
TE aged
hardness

Alloy 1

Alloy 2

log(TIME) 1 2 5 10 20 50
o
log(COOLING RATE) ( C/s)

C-curve for precipitation of coarse Hardness after artificial ageing, for

(non-hardening) precipitates low dispersoid density (alloy 1) and
high (alloy 2).

Example: quench sensitivity in high strength aerospace alloy 7010.

(Source: Alexis Deschamps, INP Grenoble)

Transmission electron micrographs of coarse  precipitates nucleated on tiny

spherical dispersoids during the quench. Each precipitate has “used up” the
surrounding solute, as indicated by the absence of fine-scale precipitation near the
 precipitates during subsequent ageing.
The final microstructure is a micro-composite of: normal peak-aged regions, and
very soft precipitate-free regions. The net effect is an intermediate hardness, up to
50% below the peak-aged value.

30