Some materials that are difficult or impossible to forge cold can be successfully formed at higher temperature, thus
expanding the range of materials used in cold forging. Many materials must be annealed prior to cold forging. For
example, for medium-carbon to high-carbon steels, a long spheroidize anneal may be necessary. In parts requiring
extensive deformation, one or more intermediate anneals may be necessary to counteract the effect of work hardening.
Increasing the forging temperature can eliminate the need for these relatively costly and energy-intensive anneals. Within
limits determined by the metallurgical response of the workpiece material, the process temperature can be adjusted so that
the strength level in the forging is at the desired level. This can help to eliminate the need for heat treatment after forging.
Some geometries that may be difficult to forge cold can be readily accomplished with increased forging temperature. For
example, for a given material, thinner flanges and sharper corners and shoulders could usually be produced at increased
temperatures. A given material can generally accommodate greater deformation before cracking when forged at higher
temperature, and a given geometry can sometimes be forged in fewer stations in comparison with cold forging.
Selection of the process temperature will be based first on the workpiece characteristics to ensure that the metal flow
stress is low enough to allow forging on available equipment and that workability is sufficient to allow the required
deformation without cracking. Unfortunately, in comparison with what is needed, the literature contains limited data on
material flow stress and workability as a function of temperature.
At relatively low temperatures, flow stress is primarily a function of strain. At higher temperatures, strain is less important
than strain rate. At intermediate (warm) temperatures, both strain and strain rate may be important. Flow stress data can
be presented in either graphical or tabular form. In the case of the latter, values of coefficients for a constitutive equation
are tabulated.
Both strain dependent and strain-rate dependent coefficients have been obtained for numerous materials by utilizing the
least-mean-square-fit technique to calculate the coefficients from stress-strain curves. An empirical expression for the
strain dependency of the flow stress, , is:
= K( )
n
(Eq 2)
where is the true or logarithmic strain, and K and n are empirical constants. Strain dependent data for carbon steels are
shown in Table 1 and data for alloy steels in Table 2.
Table 1 Mechanical properties of carbon steels
Average strain rate: 8 mm/mm/s (8 in./in./s). Source: Ref 2
Testing temperature °C (°F)
Steel grade
and
condition
(a)
Property
(b)
25 (75) 205
(400)
400
(750)
455
(850)
510
(950)
565
(1050)
620
(1150)
675
(1250)
815
(1500)
K
f
, MPa
(ksi)
. . . 525 (76)
615 (89)
660 (96)
615 (89)
505 (73) 400 (58) 295 (43)
172 (25)
TS, MPa
(ksi)
370 (54)
275 (40)
310 (45)
340 (49)
330 (48)
290 (42) 250 (36) 205 (30)
110 (16)
YS, MPa
(ksi)
. . . 90 (13) 95 (14) 115 (17)
115 (17)
140 (20) 140 (20) 145 (21)
55 (8.2)
RA, % 80 80 72 70 77 87 93 97
98
1005 HR
n
. . . 0.28 0.30 0.28 0.26 0.21 0.17 0.12
0.18