Research Article

Process design based on FE simulations and experiments of forging a complex-shaped magnesium alloy adaptor

Schools of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, P.R. China

^* e-mail: xuwc_76@hit.edu.cn

Received: 18 April 2017
Accepted: 1 June 2017

Abstract

High-strength magnesium alloys show great potentials for aviation and aerospace applications due to their special strength and low density, but these are difficult to form because of the poor formability and narrow, feasible forging-temperature ranges. Isothermal forging is an effective method to manufacture complex-shaped components with a magnesium alloy, in which the avoidance of forming defects and improvement of mechanical properties are of great concern. The process design of complex-shaped MB26 magnesium alloy adaptor based on finite element (FE) simulations and forging experiments was conducted in this study. A combined female-die was used in order to remove the adaptor forging with three branches. Different forming schemes were analyzed and compared through finite element method (FEM) simulations and forging experiments. The results showed that, compared with a one-step forging process, two-steps forging was more appropriate for forming the adaptor, which not only improved the filling quality but also reduced the forging load. In addition, the aging treatment after hot forging could only slightly improve the mechanical properties of the MB26 adaptor forging, because of the minor addition of rare earth (RE) elements.