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A B S T R A C T Dies for hot forging operations are subjected to coupled mechanical and thermal cycles
which deeply influence their thermo-mechanical fatigue life. Crack initiation and propagation on die surface are induced both by thermal gradients acting in the layer near the
contact surface with the billet and by the superimposed stresses due to the mechanical
cycles.
At present, die life cannot be estimated either by experimental tools, or by simulation
software. Therefore, a programme of research has been started in this field. A new laboratory test has been developed that is able to reproduce in specimens the thermo-mechanical
conditions derived from industrial cases. A description of the test equipment and the relevant procedure is summarized in the first part of the work. Then, the paper focuses on
the experimental investigation of a typical hot forging die steel. Design of Experiments
(DoE) techniques were used in designing and analysing the experimental programme.
A thermo-mechanical fatigue life assessment model, based on the experimental data and
using response surface methodology (RSM), is proposed. Effects on life, due to variation
of some forging parameters, are evaluated.
Keywords design of experiments; forging die; life assessment; response surface
methodology; thermo-mechanical fatigue.
NOMENCLATURE
k = Number of variables
N = Predicted number of cycles to failure
N E = Real number of cycles to failure
T max = Maximum temperature cycle
T min = Minimum temperature cycle
x i,j = Variables
Y (T) = Yield strength at temperature T
i = Model coefficients
= Experimental error
eq = Equivalent von Mises stress
2 = Variance
INTRODUCTION
c 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 28, 10251034
high production rates). For these reasons, different failure mechanisms can prevail: wear, plastic deformation and
thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) cracking. Differently
from wear and plastic deformation, where the damage is
gradually incremented during service life and progressive
defects in the forged parts are immediately evident, the
cracks due to fatigue are growing, but an effect on the
formed parts is not so evident, so the failure seems to appear suddenly when the crack reaches a macro depth and
the die fails.1 In this case, production is interrupted and
damaged die components must be replaced, and this causes
great economic losses and significant delay in production.
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G. A . B E RT I a n d M . M O N T I
data which are not too far from the operating industrial
conditions.
To this end, a new simulative laboratory test has been
developed that is suitable for
T H E S I M U L AT I V E T E S T
r The
c 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 28, 10251034
T H E R M O - M E C H A N I C A L FAT I G U E L I F E
The whole cycle covers an interval of time which is usually less then 10 s and, despite small modifications of the
local geometry of dies due to wear, fatigue and plastic deformation, the forming load can be assumed to be constant
during the production batch.
The development of life assessment models requires experimental data relevant to die life, process parameters,
temperature and stresses to be collected from industrial
processes. This activity is expensive and time consuming.
Moreover, the reliability of these data is doubtful because
many industrial processes are not under control, meaning
that some process parameters and conditions can change
without any record of them being taken, leading to a wide
scatter in results.
On the basis of these considerations, the study of TMF
phenomena that occur in dies for hot forging operations
requires the employment of laboratory tests performed
under conditions close to those occurring in the dies during hot forging operations.4 This kind of test is also called
a simulative test.
As pointed out by other authors,5 TMF in the dies is
caused by significant factors such as the thermal gradient
in the layer near the die surface, the maximum and minimum temperature cycle, the heating/cooling rate and the
stress evolution during the cycle. The levels of these parameters, which must be replicated in the simulative test, have
been determined by numerical and experimental analysis
of industrial forging cycles. The results of the analysis are
summarized in Table 1 and more details of this work can
be found in Refs [6] and [7].
However, the literature about simulative fatigue testing
for hot forging is still sparse. Even so, by analysing the
state of the art of fatigue testing at high temperature and by
comparing testing parameters that are usually controlled
with those assumed to be significant in forging, one can
conclude that
i laboratory tests based on IF are easier and cheaper, but
they lead to non-conservative life prediction,
ii laboratory tests based on traditional TMF testing procedures are usually performed at a very low frequency
(the period usually exceeds 1 min810 , which is far from
Target
200400
550700
818
515
<Y (T)
c 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 28, 10251034
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those of real forging cycles), and the temperature distribution in the specimen is usually uniform or thermal
gradients are far from those occurring during hot forging, and
iii most of available tests are suited to testing material or
testing the product, and do not focus the attention on
the process and the tooling.
To overcome these limits and to reach the objectives previously discussed, a new testing procedure, pertaining to
the process-simulative category, is proposed.
In this regard, it is important to remark that, on a specimen, an exact replication of the thermo-mechanical conditions of the dies cannot be achieved because the state
of stresses in the die is three-axial and the thermal field
is affected by the thermal capacity of the die or, in other
words, by its dimensions. Therefore, some simplifications
in the test configuration should be considered, whilst trying to replicate the industrial forging conditions as closely
as possible.
Test configuration design
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the TMF test
should be composed of simultaneous temperature and mechanical load cycles, generating a thermal gradient in the
cross section of the specimen and reaching levels of temperature and stress similar to those reached in the dies
during real production.
The proposed test is based on a architecture of the system
consisting of one main module and three sub modules
(mechanical load, heating, cooling)11 ; the control diagram of
the whole system is shown in Fig. 1.
The geometry of the specimen is defined to (i) obtain
an effective thermal gradient in the cross section of the
specimen, (ii) guarantee efficient cooling in the central
part of the specimen, (iii) generate a state of stress that is
concentrated in this area, and (iv) limit the manufacturing
costs of the specimen.
To these ends, different configurations have been explored and the optimal geometry satisfying these requirements has been set up. The final geometry is that of the
specimen with the notch represented in Fig. 2 (the notch
increases both the thermal gradient and the stress).
Cyclic mechanical load and temperature are varied simultaneously in phase, meaning that the maximum tensile
load is coincident with the maximum temperature (forming phase) and the minimum load is applied at the minimum temperature (cooling phase).
With regard to the thermal cycle, the heating power and
cooling parameters (heating frequency and air pressures)
were determined to replicate the thermal cycle as stated in
the experimental plan. The thermal gradient has been generated by controlling the temperatures at the front- and
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G. A . B E RT I a n d M . M O N T I
back-surface as defined in the experimental plan. Heat removal from the back surface of the specimen is induced by
forced convection (back cooling with compressed air) and
the corresponding convection coefficient of heat removal
has been determined and kept constant for the whole
experiment.
The mechanical cycles were designed in terms of forces to
be applied to the ends of the specimen (load control of
servo-hydraulic) to obtain the required stress in the cross
section. Because the thermal gradient affects the state of
stress in the specimen section, the load to apply to the ends
of the specimen to obtain the eq /Y(T) ratio at the specimen notch during the forming phase was evaluated using a numerical fully coupled thermo-mechanical analysis
code. In the cooling phase the minimum load was chosen to be equal to zero, to simulate the unloading phase,
and so the stress state was affected only by the thermal
gradient.
The experimental apparatus
The specimen is heated by a high-frequency induction
system activated by comparison of the programmed temperature on the notch and the measured temperature at
the same location.
The specimen temperature is controlled by a K-type
thermocouple spot welded on the notch tip (Tc1 in Fig. 2);
a second thermocouple acquires the temperature at the
bottom of the cross section (Tc2 in Fig. 2). The time con-
E X P E R I M E N TA L P R O C E D U R E S
c 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 28, 10251034
T H E R M O - M E C H A N I C A L FAT I G U E L I F E
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c 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 28, 10251034
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G. A . B E RT I a n d M . M O N T I
Si
Mn
Cr
Mo
0.36
0.20
0.25
5.00
1.30
0.45
Source of
variation
F-value
P-value
T max
T min
eq /Y(T)
543.72
566.48
579.88
0.0018
0.0018
0.0017
Curvature
167.72
0.0059
Factor levels
Design factor
Low
High
T max ( C)
T min ( C)
eq /Y(T)
600
300
0.55
680
380
0.95
c 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 28, 10251034
T H E R M O - M E C H A N I C A L FAT I G U E L I F E
The analysis of results obtained from the screening experimental design confirms that all three factors affect
significantly the specimen life, and a curvature in the response should be expected. These considerations suggest
the use of RSM, to obtain a more accurate model of specimen life.
Response surface methodology
Response surface methodology or RSM is a collection of
mathematical and statistical techniques that are useful for
modelling and analysing problems13 where a response of
interest is influenced by several variables and where the
objective is to optimize this response, as well as to quantify
the relationship between the measured response and the
considered input factors.
In this work, RSM analysis was carried out by employing
a BoxBehnken design on the same factors as in the previous experimental design, but with three levels for each
factor (Low, Medium and High). The experimental plan
and results in terms of number of cycles of specimen life
(as obtained from the experimentation) are reported in
Table 5.
R E S U LT S A N D D I S C U S S I O N S
k
i xi +
i=1
k
ii xi2 +
i=1
i j xi x j +
(1)
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i< j
Specimen
T max
( C)
T min
( C)
Heating
time (s)
Cooling
time (s)
eq /Y(T)
NE
(cycles)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
600
640
640
640
680
680
640
600
600
640
680
600
640
680
640
340
300
340
300
340
340
380
300
340
340
300
380
340
380
380
1.30
2.60
2.45
2.60
3.45
3.45
2.30
1.45
1.30
2.45
3.60
1.15
2.45
3.30
2.30
0.75
1.00
0.90
1.00
1.10
1.10
0.80
0.85
0.75
0.90
1.20
0.65
0.90
1.00
0.80
0.95
0.55
0.75
0.95
0.95
0.55
0.55
0.75
0.55
0.75
0.75
0.75
0.75
0.75
0.95
8447
11 844
2372
396
665
2050
12 242
11 823
23 887
1211
379
14 250
1654
1147
1519
c 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 28, 10251034
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G. A . B E RT I a n d M . M O N T I
Table 6
ANOVA
Source of variation
Model
T max
T min
eq /Y(T)
T 2max
T 2min
(eq /Y(T))2
T max T min
(eq /Y(T)) Tmax
(eq /Y(T)) Tmin
Residual
Lack of fit
Pure error
Total
Sum of squares
df
Mean square
F-value
P-value
6.9787 108
3.6674 108
2.7801 106
1.9009 108
5.0768 107
7.7208 106
4.0418 107
6.8807 105
4.9386 107
1.3141 105
7.8250 106
7.1384 106
6.8656 105
9
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
5
3
2
7.7541 107
3.6674 108
2.7801 106
1.9009 108
5.0768 107
7.7208 106
4.0418 107
6.8807 105
4.9386 107
1.3141 105
1.5650 106
2.3795 106
3.4328 105
49.55
234.34
1.78
121.46
32.44
4.93
25.83
0.44
31.56
0.08
0.0002
<0.0001
0.2401
0.0001
0.0023
0.0770
0.0038
0.5366
0.0025
0.7836
6.93
0.1287
7.0569 108
14
Specimen
T max
( C)
T min
( C)
Heating
time (s)
Cooling
time (s)
eq /Y(T)
NE
(cycles)
N
(cycles)
Error
(%)
16
17
18
19
596
650
679
613
341
289
324
347
1.30
2.60
3.60
1.30
0.75
1.00
1.20
0.75
0.50
0.57
0.63
1.12
27 902
9842
909
4931
29 796
8500
930
6178
6.8
13.6
2.3
25.3
Validation runs
Table 7 allows a comparison between the estimations
provided by the model developed with experimental
data (some experimental tests have been excluded in the
determination of the model to validate it). It shows that
the proposed heuristic model is acceptable to predict
TMF life. The maximum error is under 7%, if the process
c 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 28, 10251034
T H E R M O - M E C H A N I C A L FAT I G U E L I F E
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minimum temperature of experimental plan, and this reduction has a detrimental effect on life.
Effect of maximum temperature, minimum
temperature and stress state on specimen life
In the region of experimentation, the specimen life is
maximized (N = 26 190) for the following combination
of process parameters: Tmax = 600 C, Tmin = 380 C and
eq /Y(T) = 0.55. Therefore, the forging process should
be fine tuned to reach these conditions as closely as possible by (i) reducing the resting time of the forged part in the
die, (ii) keeping the ratio eq /Y(T) during the whole forging cycle under 0.55, and (iii) adopting a cooling regime
without drastic effect on die temperature (long or real effective cooling have a detrimental effect on life).
Response surface plots
The surface plots relevant to the number of cycles are
shown in Figs 68. The factors that are not in the plot are
kept at their optimum level.
It is possible to remark that (i) all plots exhibit a curvature according to the quadratic model, (ii) the maximum
temperature and the eq /Y(T) ratio contribute equally to
reducing the TMF life, and (iii) an increase of minimum
temperature from 300 C to 380 C contributes to an extended lifetime, but this factor cannot compensate for the
reverse effect due to an increase of the other factors (maximum temperature and eq /Y(T) ratio).
CONCLUSIONS
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G. A . B E RT I a n d M . M O N T I
REFERENCES
1 Lange, K., Cser, L., Geiger, M. and Kals, J. A. G. (1992) Tool
life and tool quality in bulk metal forming. Ann. CIRP 41,
667675.
2 Diaz, F. A., Patterson, E. A., Tomlinson, R. A. and Yates, J. R.
(2004) Measuring stress intensity factors during fatigue crack
growth using thermoelasticity. Fatigue Fract. Engng. Mater.
Struct. 27, 571583.
3 Fang, J. R., Jiang, Q. C., Guan, Q. F. and Wang, S. Q. (2001)
The characteristics of fatigue under isothermal and
thermo-mechanical load in CrNiMo cast hot work die steel.
Fatigue Fract. Engng. Mater. Struct. 25, 481488.
4 Okrajni, J. and Plaza, M. (1995) Simulation of the fracture
process of materials subjected to low-cycle fatigue of
mechanical and thermal character. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 53,
311318.
c 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Fatigue Fract Engng Mater Struct 28, 10251034