Plastic Deformation Behavior of Micro-Alloyed Cold Forging Steel

Micro-alloyed cold forging steel has been developed to rule out heat treatment process before forging in order to save energy consumption. These non heat-treated cold forging steels utilize the work hardening during cold working to ensure the mechanical properties. In other words, the required strength of forged part is achieved by work hardening with the accumulation of plastic strain during the cold working. Therefore, the plastic deformation characteristics should be carefully understood for successful process design. Evolution of both microstructure and plastic characteristics of micro-alloyed cold forging steel has been investigated in the present study. For the optimization of forging processes, finite element analysis and die life predictions were carried out.