Thermo‐mechanically coupled modeling and simulation of hot metal‐forming processes using adaptive remeshing method

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to model and simulate hot metal forming processes in which material undergoes large deformations with help of the Finite Element (FE) software ABAQUS using Lagrangian formulation. Extrusion of aluminum alloys and forging of steels as two examples are taken into account in this work. To this end, a material model based on thermoelastic viscoplasticity is formulated for each case. The microstructural evolution is modeled effectively with the help of internal state variables. Element distortion and contact during the simulation of large deformation processes is controlled with the help of a custom adaptive remeshing system based on Python scripting and utilizable in commercial programs such as Abaqus. Simulation results for the microstructural development during extrusion as a function of process conditions demonstrate the sensitivity of microstructure development to these conditions. Comparison of the simulation results for the microstructure evolution with corresponding experimental results show good qualitative agreement.