Investigations on Thermal Influences for Thixoforging and Thixojoining of Steel Components

At the Institute of Metal Forming (IBF) current investigations within the framework of the Collaborative Research Centre 289 are mainly concentrated on forming of semi-solid precursor material of the steel grades X210CrW12 and 100Cr6. One important task is the precise temperature for the composition of solid and liquid phase fraction in the preheated billet. Experimental measurements and numerical simulations show significant heat losses during transport of the billet and after its insertion into the die. These developing temperature gradients influence strongly the resulting temperature field in the formed component. In case of the forming tools the critical increase of the temperature depending on the tool material is shown. As fundamental research in the field of thixojoining the temperature development of the inserts is analysed and demonstrates the feasibility of joining higher and lower melting materials into the semi-solid matrix.