NUMERICAL SIMULATION METHODS AND THEIR APPLICATION IN MATERIAL HOT-WORKING

With the development of modern science and technology, especially computer science, the numerical simulation method has been widely used in material hot-working. Mary achievements have been made in this field by using the numerical simulation method. The numerical simulation method, especially finite element method fully described in this paper.Applications of the numerical simulation method in material hot-working are also discussed. Finally, the future of the numerical simulation method is outlined.

Development and application of a new hot-work die steel for hot stamping

A new hot-work die steel for hot stamping was developed, and used the die for mass production. The produced die showed good performance owing to its high heat conductivity and wear-resistant characteristics. Two different benchmarking hot-work die steels were investigated, and then compared in terms of their impact ductility, temper characteristics ,heat conductivity, and thermal stability. The result of the high-temperature friction wear test indicated that oxidative wear was the main mode in high temperature. On the basis of the comparison and test results, the alloying composition of the new hot-work die steel was especially designed. The new die steel showed good performance with good wear-resistant quality, as well as temper hardness and heat conductivity of HRC 50 and 34.3 W/（ m ~ K）, respectively. Furthermore, without surface plasma nitriding, the die made of the new steel had no obvious galling with 6 142 strokes. After surface plasma nitriding, the die completed 40 000 strokes with good surface. The die life is expected to exceed 200 000 strokes.

Chromizing treatment of the surface-nanocrystallized AISI H13 steel and the improved wear resistance

A hot-working AISI H13 tool steel was subjected to a combined process consisting of surface nanocrystallization(SNC)and chromizing treatment successively.The composition,microstructure,hardness and wear resistance of the chromized layer were characterized by using the scanning and transmission electron microscopy,a nano-indenter and a tribo-meter.It was shown that a continuous chromized layer of approximately 30 μm in thickness was formed on the SNC specimen after a dual chromizing treatment at both 600℃ and 1050℃ consecutively,as thick as about 3 times of that on the coarse-grained specimen after the same chromizing treatment.In addition,the wear resistance of the SNC-chromized specimen was enhanced significantly,due to a smaller grain size and a higher hardness,as well as smoother gradient variations of the microstructure,composition and hardness across a greater depth in the formed chromized surface layer.

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of 55NiCrMoV7 hot-work die steel during quenching and tempering treatments

55NiCrMoV7 hot-work die steel is mainly used to manufacture heavy forgings in the fields of aerospace and automobile.This study aims to clarify the effects of heat treatment on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of the steel,in order to find out an optimal heat treatment scheme to obtain an excellent balance of strength,ductility and toughness.The steel was quenched at temperature from 790℃ to 910℃ followed by tempering treatments of 100–650℃ for 5 h.The mechanical property tests were carried out by tensile,impact toughness and hardness.Optical microscope(OM),scanning electron microscope(SEM)and transmission electron microscope(TEM)were used to observe the austenite grains,lath martensite,carbides and fracture morphology.The results show that the quenching temperature mainly influences the austenite grain size and the volume fraction of undissolved carbides(UCs),while the tempering temperature mainly influences the size and morphology of the martensite with a body centered cubic(BCC)and the carbides with a face centered cubic(FCC).The mechanical properties of the steel,including yield and tensile strength,ductility,impact toughness and hardness,get an excellent balance at a quenching range of 850–870C.As the tempering temperature increases,the yield and tensile strength and hardness decrease,while the ductility and impact toughness increase.These variation trends can be further verified by fracture SEM observation and analysis.Combined with a macro-micro coupled finite element(MMFE)modeling technique,the cooling rate,microstructural evolution and yield strength of the steel were predicted and compared with the tested data.