Advanced Pass Design in Precision Forging

So far, the pass design in precision forging has only taken into account the mechanical characteristics of the forging press, such as the required forging pressure and dynamics. To achieve pass design that takes into account the properties of workpieces, SMS Group has exclusively developed the ComForge® performance predictor. This innovative technology software can predict the strain and temperature in precision forging within seconds through a new independent model. This not only enables the optimization of pass design based on quality and workpiece attributes, but also provides users with higher economic benefits. By shortening the process chain and reducing personnel requirements, it can lower safety redundancy in the process.

SMS Group's precision forging machine SMX has over 30 years of successful experience. The notable feature of SMX lies in the hydraulic drive of the four forging dies. Compared with the traditional mechanical drive system, our hydraulic drive system has significant advantages in forging process and workpiece quality, as each forging cylinder can obtain the full forging force throughout its entire stroke. Therefore, a good penetration effect and flexible forging strategy can be achieved, and the movement of the mold can be controlled. At present, the design of precision forging processes is mainly based on the experience and knowledge of operators or the calculation of passes based on geometric shapes. Although this can provide a reliable analysis of the process sequence, forging force and dynamics, it can only give the geometric evolution of the workpiece and cannot offer more information, such as equivalent strain or temperature distribution. On the other hand, numerical simulation of free forging processes using finite element analysis (FEA) is extremely complex, requiring a significant amount of numerical calculation work and personnel with technical knowledge. Moreover, it is very time-consuming because forging processes typically involve up to hundreds of forming steps. Therefore, the process design of precision forging is usually very time-consuming and expensive, and it will lead to the selection of pass calculations with excessive safety factors (such as temperature), thereby reducing profitability. To overcome this challenge and improve the precision forging process, SMS Group has launched a newly developed software, ComForge® performance predictor, which can calculate the temperature and deformation of a given pass within seconds.

In the new intelligent forging process package, the known ComForge® has been renamed the ComForge® Pass Calculator. The ComForge® intelligent forging process package contains data on over 200 types of materials and can calculate relevant forging plans for all customers. This provides factory owners with a comprehensive database, offering trouble-free and technologically mature forging processes. After the calculation is completed, the pass count calculation is directly transmitted to the PLC of SMX and is ultimately fully automatically executed. Here, the Daoji Calculator offers a variety of forging strategies for producing round, square and rectangular bars using different hammer heads. To ensure accurate prediction of forging time and the resulting productivity, the hydraulic characteristics of the equipment will be directly applied to the pass calculator.

Next, the intelligent forging process package ComForge® will be further developed, combining the ComForge® performance predictor with SMS Group's metallographic structure calculation to achieve direct calculation and optimization of microstructure in precision forging. This will appear in the smart forging process package under the name ComForge® Performance Optimizer. In addition, by connecting the model to the control system of the precision forging machine, online analysis of temperature, strain and microstructure during the precision forging process can also be conducted.