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JOURNAL OF IRON AND STEEL RESEARCH, INTEXNATIONAL. 2008, 15(3) : 47-51

Abnormal Failure Analysis of H13 Punches in Steel Squeeze Casting Process

ZHANG Mi-lan' , XIAO Li-ming' , XING Shu-ming' , XIN Qiao' , GOU Jun-nian' , W U Xia-ling'

(1. Semisolid Forming Research Center, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, Beijing , China1 2. Department of Mathematics, Ili Normal University, Yining 835000, Xinjiang. China)

Abstract: In steel squeeze casting process, the working condition of a punch was very rigorous. The abnormal failure models of an H13 punch, such as plastic rubbed damnification, could not be avoided easily, Based on the analysis of the flow stress and the friction-shearing stress of an H13 punch in steel squeeze casting process, the following results were obtained: if the flow stress of an H13 punch was smaller than its friction-shearing stress, these abnormal failures could not be avoided; and if there were some protection measures that enable the flow stress to have a greater value than its friction-shearing one, the abnormal failures would not occur. In the production of 4 5 # steel valves and catenary system components, the flow stress of a lateral H13 punch without any protection measure was about 29 MPa and its friction-shearing stress was about 51 MPa, then, the abnormal failures occurred1 however, when the protection measures of the punch enabled its working temperature to have a value below 682 'C , its flow stress was greater than its friction-shearing stress, and the abnormal failures were avoided. K y words: steel squeeze casting; abnormal failure1 plastic rubbed damnificationi plastic chimbi H13 steel e

A punch in squeeze casting process is exposed to severe mechanical stress and thermal stress induced by the thermal cycling and successive squeezing operations. The abnormal failures, such as plastic rubbed damnification, are caused by the mechanical and thermal stresses. The thermo-mechanical cycles produce stress, which is close to or even greater than the yield point of a punch especially on its surface, and the problem is especially more severe in steel squeeze casting where exists high pressure accompanied by the elevated-high temperature"*''. The service life of a punch is considerably shortened owing to the thermemechanical stresses caused by the high thermal stress and hydrostatic pressurd3', and the punches are the critical problems of the reusable dies used in steel squeeze casting process. For the super integrated mechanical properties such as good hot hardness, high thermal resistance, high thermal fatigue property, and synthetical mechanical properties etc. , H13 steel is widely chosen as the material of the forming parts in steel squeeze casting
Biogrnphy:ZHANG Mi-lan(1982-), Female, Doctor, Lectureshipi

dies and is widely studied at home and Until now, few studies have been found about the abnormal failures of an H13 punch used in steel squeeze casting. In this article, flow stress theory, developed by S. Shida and H. Kolsky and H. Suzuki et al.l-[ '' was used to analyze the abnormal failures of H13 punches in steel squeeze casting process and the theory was validated in the productions of 45* steel valves and catenary system components.

Failure Mechanisms

The working condition of a punch in steel squeeze casting was very rigorous, and the abnormal failures occur only after several working sequences, T h e abnormal failure models of a punch, which were caused by co-working of the elevated-high temperature and great friction occurring when the punch was being stripped out, such as plastic rubbed damnification on the circumference and plastic chimb at the top, shown in Fig. 1 to Fig. 3. The composition of H13 steel is shown in Table 1.
Revised Date: April 2 6 , 2007

E-mail: zhangmilan - sd@sina. corn1

48

Journal of Iron and Steel Research, International Table 1 The composition of H13 steel
Composition C
0. 32-0.
42

Vol. 15

%
Si
0. 8-1. 2

Mn
0. 1-0.

Cr
4
4. 5-5.

Mo

V
0.8-1. 2

Mass percentage

1. 0-1. 5

GO. 3

GO. 03

stress of the punch was greater than its flow stress in the stripping course, fierce flows of the material at a certain depth on the surface of the punch occurred, so as t o lead to the occurrence of the abnormal failures. T h e failure models shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 were different from the thermal fatigue desquamation in the following aspects. Firstly, their forming processes were different. Before the thermal fatigue desquamation was formed on the circumference of a punch, thermal fatigue cracks occurred, and the desquamation was caused by the expansion of the cracks. However, before the failure models shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 were formed, there were no fatigue cracks. Secondly, their forming mechanisms were different. Thermal fatigue desquamation was caused by thermal pulsating stress, but these abnormal failure models were formed because the flow stress of an H13 punch was smaller than its frictionshearing stress on its circumference.

The Flow Stress of H13 Punch in Steel Squeeze Casting Process

2
T h e flow stress iff of H13 steel is affected by several factors, such as the working temperature T, the equivalent carbon w ( C > ,the average strain E , and the average strain velocity i. T h e relationships between them were expressed asCg7101 :
a,=udcw(c>

,T,1fw<r)f,<i)

(1)

As seen in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 , there were several pits, dots, and grooves on the circumference of the punch, and there was plastic chimb on the top edge, which is shown in Fig. 3. These failure models were summarized as plastic rubbed damnification. In a sequence of the steel squeeze casting process, the punch was pushed into the solidifying system of the metal being formed and then it remained there for a while determined by the pressure holding time, which was the cause of the elevated-high temperature of the punch. After a while, the punch was stripped out by a knockout force, and then serious friction occurred because of the packaging force caused by the shrinkage of the formed component and the stripping movement. If the friction-shearing

T where, T,was the equivalent temperature: T,= 1 000'

(d and f r ( 5 ) were functions depended upon the strain and strain rate, respectively. The strain function f w (5)
fw

was expressed as

fw

( 5 ) = 1.3

[ 02 !
--E

1"

- 0.3 -c

[ 0.12 1 ,

[O. 081w(c) - 0.154)

T,4-[ - 0.014w (C)

+ 0.2071 4-

the defomtion resistance function, which was expressed

Issue 3
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Abnormal Failure Analysis of H13 Punches in Steel Squeeze Casting Process

49

as: u d [ w ( c ) ,T,]=O. 28exp[--

5. 0

0. 01
w ( c ) + O . 05

could be obtained according to the formula proposed

Fig. 4 The forcing model of a punch in squeeze casting p.rocess

w ( C d w(V) w(Mo) 40 10 50 According to these formulas described above, the value of the carbon equivalent w ( C ) was 0.787 for H13 steel and then the following results were obtained: T , = 1.027, g [ w ( 0 , = 3 . 0 9 5 , m = T] 0. 144, and n = 0. 355. After several forming sequences of steel squeeze casting, the temperature of a punch remained in a certain interval. If there were no protection measures on the punch, the working temperature was around 800 %.If there were some protection measures on the punch, the working temperature was definitely lower than that without any protection measures. Associating with the equation
a

T,= - the relationship of T , < T, was ob1 000'

tained, and the following formula was obtained: isl =25.8[50. 6(Tq-1. 0 0 5 ) 2 f 0 . 9661 X (2. 350.355 - 1. 55)

and the formed component, v was Poisson's ratio, and E = ~ D , E ,Considering squeezing stress p syn. chronously, the normal stress u (as shown in Fig. 4 ) was: u = u f + p . According to the forcing equilibrium principle of the model shown in Fig. 4 , the following equation was obtained: P =sLdkcow- sina) (3) where, P was the stripping force of the punch; s was the mean circumference of the punch; L was the length of the punch packed by the formed component; k was the static friction coefficient; a was the stripping slope degree. Then, the friction-shearing stress was calculated as:
r = -P SL

(4)

. (i)O.

4
(2)

Validation and Discussion

144

3 The Friction-Shearing Stress of H13 Punch in Steel Squeeze Casting Process

The friction-shearing stress r of a punch was generated by the normal force u and the stripping movement driven by a stripping force applied by a hydropress, which is described in Fig. 4. T h e normal stress contained two parts: the shrinkage stress caused by shrinkage of the formed component and the squeezing stress generated by the forming method. The linear shrinkage ratio of the forming material between its solidus and its temperature when the punch was being stripped out was E~ ; the Young's modulus of the forming material was assumed to be E' when the punch was being stripped out. According to the relationDi Df ship of uf = E ' E / 2nD1 m + v 1 ] , where, E is

the assumed stain and u is the corresponding press' ing stress, D1and D2 were mean radius of the punch

4. 1 Brief introduction of the 45' steel valves production condition The 4 5 # steel valves were used for colliery supporting, The H13 punches of the die (shown in Fig. 5) were quenched at 1 030 ' C ; the first tempering was for 3 h at 550 . and the second tempering C was for 3. 5 h at 600 "C. After being heat treated, their hardness was within the range of HRC 48 and HRC 52. A special forging hydropress with the maximal extrusion force of 1 500 kN and the maximal die-locking force of 2 000 kN was adopted in the production. The forging hydropress contained a locking cylinder, two filling cylinders, and two lateral squeezing cylinders, so that it was able to carry out two individual motions: die locking and pressure filling. The production process was as follows: firstly, the prepared melt was poured into the lower cavity of the die. Secondly, the die was closed by the dielocking cylinder of the forging hydropress. Thirdly,

50

Journal of Iron a n d Steel Research, International

Val. 15

1, 3-Lateral

punches;

2-Lower

punchi

4-Upper

punch

Fig. 5 The die used In the production

the lower punch was pushed down to a given pressure by the lower filling cylinder. Fourthly, the upper punch was pushed down to a given pressure by the upper filling cylinder. Then, these lateral punches were pushed into the solidifying system by two lateral filling cylinders. Lastly, all cylinders were withdrawed by sequence and the fabricated component was pushed out by the lower punch. 4.2 The flow stress of the lateral punch and discussion 4. 2. 1 T h e f l o w stress o f the lateral punch in the experiment In the squeeze casting process of 45# steel valves production, the strain rate in back-moving of the lateral punch was i = l l O mm/s, thus,
0. 433.

fr<Z>=

0. 522; the average strain E was 0.01 and f , ( E ) ==.

As discussed in the former chapters, if there were no protection measures on the punch, the working temperature remained around 800 C , therefore, T , = 0.8. Associating with Eqn. ( 2 ) and the values obtained in the former chapters, the value of at was 29 MPa. 4. 2. 2 The friction-shearing stress on the surface o f the lateral punch The linear shrinkage ratio between the solidus and the temperature of 45# steel when the punch was stripped was about 1.23% ; the Youngs modulus of the forming material was about 160 GPa while the punch was stripped, and then the value of 0 was 80 MPa. The squeezing stress was assumed to be 20 MPaC; then, the value of the normal stress u was 100 MPa according to the formula u = u f p . Also, in the production, the diameter of the punch was 39 mm, the

length of the punch packed by the formed component was about 40 mm, the value of a was 0.3, and the static friction coefficient k was assumed to be 0. 25 ; based on these values and Eqn. ( 3 ) , the value of P was 130 MPa. In the production, considering the friction between the die and the punch, the value of the lateral stripping force was chosen to be 150 kN. When the lateral stripping force was 150 k N , the lateral punches were stripped limpingly; however, when the lateral stripping force was smaller than 150 k N , the stripping motion was considerably more difficult or even the punches could not be stripped out; thus, 150 kN was considered as the critical stripping force. Associating with Eqn. ( 4 1, the friction-shearing stress was about 51 MPa. 4. 2. 3 Discussions o f the plastic f a i l u r e Comparing the practical friction-shearing stress 51 MPa with the theological flow stress 29 MPa obtained above, the following result was concluded: if there were no protection measures on an H13 punch in steel squeeze casting process, the practical critical friction-shearing stress was greater than the theological flow stress, and therefore, the abnormal plastic failures could not be avoided. If there were some protection measures on an H13 punch in steel squeeze casting process, its working temperature T was definitely lower than that without any protection measures, which indicated that: T<800 C and T,<O. 8; then, fin. ( 2 ) was still suitable for calculating the flow stress of the H13 punch. Also, if the flow stress of the H13 punch was greater than its friction-shearing stress, the abnormal plastic failures would not occur, that is to say: ot>51 MPa (5) Based on Eqn. ( 2 ) and Eqn. (51, the relationship T,<O. 682 was gained. Considering Eqn. ( 2 ) , the indexes concerning the average strain E were 0.355 and 1 , and the index of the average strain velocity was 0. 144, but the index concerning the equivalent temperature T , was 2 , therefore, the effects of the average strain and the average strain velocity on flow stress af were considerably smaller than that of the equivalent temperature. Concerning the range of the average strain and the range of the average strain velocity of a punch in steel squeeze casting process, the effects of the average strain and the average velocity strain were ignored provisionally when the flow stress of the punch was discussed. This indicated that: if the working temperature of a

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Abnormal Failure Analysis of

H 13 Punches in Steel Squeeze Casting Process

51

punch was below 682 C , the friction-shearing stress would be smaller than the flow stress, and the abnormal plastic failures would not occurs in other words, if there were some protection measures that could ensure the working temperature of a punch below 682 %, the abnormal plastic failures could be avoided. Generally, if there were no protection measures on a punch in steel squeeze casting, the frictionshearing stress of a punch would be greater than its flow stress, and the abnormal failures weren t able to be avoided. T o avoid or reduce the abnormal failures, some protection measures, which were able t o enable the working temperature of a punch below 682 C , should be adopted. Using adiabatic coalc adopting the cooling systemc and adopting both simultaneously were proved to be effective in the production of the 45# valves and the catenary system components. In the steel squeeze casting processes of the catenary system components production, which were used in railway system, it was also discovered that if there were no protecting measures, the abnormal plastic failures occurred on H13 punches, and when protection measures could ensure the working temperature of an H13 punch below 680 C , these abnormal plastic failures could be avoided. In nonferrous metal squeeze casting processes the working temperature of an H13 punch is considerably lower than that in ferrous metal squeeze casting processes. A punch in nonferrous metal squeeze casting processes mainly endures thermal fatigue, and its friction-shearing . stress is smaller than its flow stress, therefore, the abnormal failures of an H13 punch in nonferrous metal squeeze casting will not occur.

and the average strain velocity of an H13 punch in steel squeeze casting process, the effects of the average strain and the average velocity strain on the flow stress of an H13 punch were ignored provisionally when the flow stress was calculated in steel squeeze casting process. Also, Eqn. ( 2 ) can be used to calculate the flow stress of an H13 punch in steel squeeze casting process. ( 3 ) In steel squeeze casting, for the elevated working temperature of an H13 punch, if there were no protection measures on the punch, the frictionshearing stress of the punch was greater than its flow stress, and the abnormal failures could not be avoided. However, if its protection measures could ensure its working temperature below 682 %, the abnormal failures could be avoided considerately.
References :

c11

Conclusions

Through the researches described above, the following results were concluded: (1) T h e mechanism of the abnormal failures of an H13 punch in steel squeeze casting process, plastic rubbed failures, was that the friction-shearing stress of the punch was greater than its flow stress. ( 2 ) Considering Eqn. ( 2 ) , the effects of the average strain and the average strain velocity were considerably smaller than that of the equivalent temperature. Associating the range of the average strain

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