Designing Hot Working Processes of Nickel-Based Superalloys Using Finite Element Simulation

Knowledge of correct flow stress curves of Ni-based alloys at high temperatures is of essential importance for reliable plastomechanical simulations in materials processing and for an effective planning and designing of industrial hot forming schedules like hot rolling or forging. The experiments are performed on a computer controlled servohydraulic testing machine at IBF. To avoid an inhomogeneous deformation due to the influence of friction and initial microstructure, a suitable specimen geometry and lubricant is used and a thermal treatment before testing has to provide a microstructure, similar to the structure of the material in the real process. The compression tests are performed within a furnace, which keeps sample, tools, and surrounding atmosphere on the defined forming temperature. The uniaxial compressions were carried out in the range of strain rates between 0.001 and 50s−1 and temperatures between 950 and 1280°C. Furthermore, two-stage step tests are carried out to derive the work hardening and softening behavior as well as the recrystallization kinetics of the selected Ni-based alloys. At the end of this work a material model is adapted by the previously determined material data. This model is integrated into the Finite Element program LARSTRAN/SHAPE to calculate a forging process of the material Alloy 617.