Forming Quality Research on the Variable-Diameter Section of the Hollow Axle in Three-Roll Skew Rolling.

The hollow axle is the key component of the high-speed train, and the realization of high-quality forming is the key to ensure the safety of train operation. In this paper, the specimen of the variable-diameter section of the hollow axle is taken as the research object, and the generation mechanism of surface spiral mark defects and the formula of spiral mark depth of variable-diameter section in the TRSR (three-roll skew rolling) process with variable roll spacing are explored. The external roundness error and the function C to measure the wall thickness uniformity of the cross-section were taken as the evaluation indexes and the single-factor simulation experiment was established and simulated in the software Simufact.forming16.0 to obtain the influence law of each process parameter on the external roundness error and wall thickness uniformity of the rolled piece. Orthogonal tests were designed and the order and optimal combination of process parameters on the forming quality were obtained by range analysis and ANOVA analysis. The research results provide theoretical guidance for improving the forming quality of the variable-diameter section of the hollow axle in three-roll skew rolling, and promote the transformation of the TRSR process to high performance and accurate forming.

Multi-Step Forming Simulation and Quality Control of Aluminum Alloy Automobile Rear Upper Control Arm.

Aluminum alloy is widely used in automobile parts because of its light weight and good process performance. In view of the complex structure of aluminum alloy automobile rear upper control arms, multiple forming processes and the difficulty in quality control, in this paper, we propose a rolling-forging composite process to produce a rear upper control arm. Based on the reasonable volume distribution of the blank by cross-wedge rolling, multi-step forging was carried out. Finite element simulation of thermomechanically coupled multi-step forming was carried out using DEFORM software. Based on a comparison of the traditional process and the proposed rolling-forging composite forming process, we concluded that the rolling-forging composite process can greatly reduce the material cost and the forming force, resulting in superior product performance. The coarse-grain structure of products at different process temperatures was analyzed by a crystal-phase experiment. The results show that the process temperature of the multi-step process, as well as the heat treatment temperature and time have an important influence on the coarse-grain structure of the product. The optimal preheating temperatures for preforging and final forging dies were determined to be 335 °C and 350 °C, respectively; a preheating temperature of 530 °C and a solution time of 45 min resulted in the least coarse-grain surface structure. The research results provide a theoretical basis for improving the multi-step forming quality of automobile rear upper control arms.

Microstructure and Texture Evolution in Low Carbon and Low Alloy Steel during Warm Deformation.

Warm compression tests were carried out on low carbon and low alloy steel at temperatures of 600−850 °C and stain rates of 0.01−10 s−1. The evolution of microstructure and texture was studied using a scanning electron microscope and electron backscattered diffraction. The results indicated that cementite spheroidization occurred and greatly reduced at 750 °C due to a phase transformation. Dynamic recrystallization led to a transition from {112}<110> texture to {111}<112> texture. Below 800 °C, the intensity and variation of texture with deformation temperature is more significant than that above 800 °C. The contents of the {111}<110> texture and {111}<112> texture were equivalent above 800 °C, resulting in the better uniformity of γ-fiber texture. Nucleation of <110>//ND-oriented grains increased, leading to the strengthening of <110>//ND texture. Microstructure analysis revealed that the uniform and refined grains can be obtained after deformation at 800 °C and 850 °C. The texture variation reflected the fact that 800 °C was the critical value for temperature sensitivity of warm deformation. At a large strain rate, the lowest dislocation density appeared after deformation at 800 °C. Therefore, 800 °C is a suitable temperature for the warm forming application, where the investigated material is easy to deform and evolves into a uniform and refined microstructure.

Nonlinear resonance decomposition for weak signal detection.

This paper attempts to investigate the behaviors of coupling stochastic resonance (CSR) subject to α-stable noise and a periodic signal by using the residence-time ratio. Then, a nonlinear resonance decomposition is designed to successfully enhance and detect weak unknown multi-frequency signals embedded in strong α-stable noise by decomposing the noisy signal into a series of useful resonant components and a residue, where the residence-time ratio, instead of the output signal-to-noise ratio and other objective functions depending on the prior knowledge of the signals to be detected, can optimize the CSR to enhance weak unknown signals. Finally, the nonlinear resonance decomposition is used to process the raw vibration signal of rotating machinery. It is found that the nonlinear resonance decomposition is able to decompose the weak characteristic signal and its harmonics, identifying the imbalance fault of the rotor. Even the proposed method is superior to the empirical mode decomposition method in this experiment. This research is helpful to design the noise enhanced signal decomposition techniques by harvesting the energy of noise to enhance and decompose the useful resonant components from a nonstationary and nonlinear signal.

The Chosen Aspects of Skew Rolling of Hollow Stepped Shafts.

The paper presents chosen aspects of the skew rolling process of hollow stepped products with the use of a skew rolling mill designed and manufactured at the Lublin University of Technology. This machine is characterized by the numerical control of spacing between the working rolls and the sequence of the gripper axial movement, which allows for the individual programming of the obtained shapes of parts such as stepped axles and shafts. The length of these zones and the values of possibly realizable cross-section reduction and obtained outlines are the subject of this research paper. The chosen results regarding the influence of the technological parameters used on the course of the process are shown in the present study. Numerical modelling using the finite element method in Simufact Forming, as well as the results of experimental tests performed in a skew rolling mill, were applied in the conducted research. The work takes into account the influence of cross-section reduction of the hollow parts and the feed rate per rotation on the metal flow mechanisms in the skew rolling process. The presented results concern the obtained dimensional deviations and changes in the wall thickness determining the proper choice of technological parameters for hollow parts formed by the skew rolling method. Knowledge about the cause of the occurrence of these limitations is very important for the development of this technology and the choice of the process parameters.

Influencing Factors of Void closure in Skew-Rolled Steel Balls Based on the Floating-Pressure Method.

Due to the instable conditions caused by the wear of rollers, macro voids inevitably occur in skew rolling steel balls. Macro voids in rolled balls greatly weakens the mechanical properties, resulting in the scrapping of about 23% of all skew rolling balls. This paper adopts the floating-pressure method (FPM) to eliminate macro voids in rolled steel balls, and mainly focuses on the investigation of the influencing factor void closure in skew-rolled balls. The research contents are listed as follows: Firstly, the mechanical model of FPM eliminating void in rolled steel balls is established, and the theoretical relationship between influencing factors of void closure is obtained. Then, the metal flow behaviors, the stress distribution and the effect of process parameters on void closure are revealed by numerical analysis. Subsequently, based on the uniform design method, the prediction equation of the required temperature and air pressure for compacting various inferior rolled balls with different diameter by FPM is deduced. Finally, the FPM experiment is carried out to verify the results of numerical analysis. The research results provide theoretical guidance for eliminating macro voids in skew-rolled steel balls.

Rapid measurement of the fourth-order texture coefficient by laser ultrasonic surface acoustic waves based on a neural network expert system.

In anisotropic materials, texture components and orientation density directly affect the surface acoustic waves' (SAW) velocity dispersion and SAW velocity variation. In this paper, a texture feature recognition and analysis system for a neural network is constructed based on the corresponding characteristics of texture components and orientation density and SAW velocity dispersion and variation by combining laser ultrasound technology with the partial texture analysis method, which is used for the identification and analysis of texture type and feature. At the same time, based on the relationship between surface wave velocity and the fourth-order texture coefficient, an expert system for accurate prediction of the fourth-order texture coefficient is constructed. Then, the fourth-order texture coefficients predicted by the neural network expert system (NNES) are compared with the texture coefficients measured by electron backscattered diffraction. The results show that the NNES can not only quickly identify and analyze texture features, but also accurately predict the fourth-order texture coefficients.

Study on Near-Net Forming Technology for Stepped Shaft by Cross-Wedge Rolling Based on Variable Cone Angle Billets.

Considering problems about concaves at the stepped shaft ends, this paper established the plastic flow kinetic theories about metal deforming during the cross-wedge rolling (CWR) process. By means of the DEFORM-3D finite element software and the point tracing method, the forming process of stepped shafts and the forming mechanism of concaves at shaft ends were studied. Based on the forming features of stepped shafts, rolling pieces were designed using variable cone angle billets. Single-factor tests were conducted to analyze the influence law of the shape parameters of billet with variable cone angle on end concaves, and rolling experiments were performed for verification. According to the results, during the rolling process of stepped shafts, concaves will come into being in stages, and the increasing tendency of its depth is due to the wave mode, the parameters of cone angle α, the first cone section length n. Furthermore, the total cone section length m has an increasingly weaker influence on the end concaves. Specifically, cone angle α has the most significant influence on the quality of shaft ends, which is about twice the influence of the total cone section length m. The concave depth will decrease at the beginning, and then increase with the increasing of the cone angle α and the first cone section length n, and it will decrease with the increasing of the total cone section length m. Finite element numerical analysis results are perfectly consistent with experimental results, with the error ratio being lower than 5%. The results provide a reliable theoretical basis for effectively disposing of end concave problems during CWR, rationally confirming the shape parameters of billets with a variable cone angle, improving the quality of stepped shaft ends, and realizing the near-net forming process of cross-wedge rolling without a stub bar.

Texture in steel plates revealed by laser ultrasonic surface acoustic waves velocity dispersion analysis.

A photoacoustic, laser ultrasonics based approach in an Impulsive Stimulated Scattering (ISS) implementation was used to investigate the texture in polycrystalline metal plates. The angular dependence of the 'polycrystalline' surface acoustic wave (SAW) velocity measured along regions containing many grains was experimentally determined and compared with simulated results that were based on the angular dependence of the 'single grain' SAW velocity within single grains and the grain orientation distribution. The polycrystalline SAW velocities turn out to vary with texture. The SAW velocities and their angular variations for {110} texture were found to be larger than that the ones for {111} texture or the strong γ fiber texture. The SAW velocities for {001} texture were larger than for {111} texture, but with almost the same angular dependence. The results infer the feasibility to apply angular SAW angular dispersion measurements by laser ultrasonics for on-line texture monitoring.