A new tailored solution to predict blow efficiency and energy consumption of hammer-forging machines

Abstract

Energy saving has become a real issue in process management and has led to the analysis of the energy consumption of forging machines, for the purpose of optimization. This study focuses on the amount of energy lost due to machine behaviour during the forming process. A spring-mass-damping model of the machine and tools system is associated with a billet model to describe hammer-forming operations only during the forging phase. Themodel parameters are identifiedwith experimental measurements of process variables during a stroke, providing parameters specifically adapted to the machine-tools system. Then, model predictions are validated by the experimental upsetting of steel and aluminium billets. The model accurately predicts forging process variables for consecutive blows with different materials. The decrease in process efficiency and the evolution from inelastic to elastic blows after several strokes on the same billet are also predicted by the model. This methodology provides a new, tailored solution that enables forging manufacturers to predict the forging energy consumption of their own machines. The approach developed in this work concerns gravity drop hammers but is also transferable to other energy-driven machines.