Steel thixoforming, influence of forming parameters on the microstructure

Forming of parts in the semi-solid state is quite a complex process, especially for high melting point alloys such as steel. A reason for this complexity is the amount of parameters involved in the process. Among these we could quote liquid fraction, shear rate, shape factor, contiguity, tool temperature, agglomeration level, heating rate, protecting gas, temperature distribution, lubricant. Of course all of these parameters don’t have the same order of importance. In this paper we show the influence of a set of chosen parameters and we highlight their effects on the microstructure and so, on the deformation behavior. The studied parameters are the heating conditions, the tool temperature, the part temperature, the thermal exchanges between the part and the dies and the forming rate.