Abstract
In the hot die forging, forging load and die stresses are important variables that affect the die life and selection of press capacity. During the die design and process planning stage, it is necessary to estimate these variables to avoid unexpected die failure and provide for necessary forging load to fill the die cavity. Most forging operations are of a non-steady-state in terms of metal flow stresses and temperature. Thus, prediction of forging load and pressure in closed-die forging operation is difficult. The analytical Slab method is investigated to take into account the effect of material properties, friction and heat transfer at die/material interface, press ram speed, flash dimensions, forging geometry, and billet and die temperature. The method is modified for the flow stress variation with temperature and empirical flash dimensions based on the experimental investigation. The reported modifications are validated by conducting experimentation.