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. 2020 Feb 5;13(3):711.
doi: 10.3390/ma13030711.

Determining Conditions for Thermoplastic Processing Guaranteeing Receipt of High-Quality Wire Rod for Cold Upsetting using Numerical and Physical Modelling Methods

Konrad Laber  1 , Marcin Knapiński  1
Affiliations

Determining Conditions for Thermoplastic Processing Guaranteeing Receipt of High-Quality Wire Rod for Cold Upsetting using Numerical and Physical Modelling Methods

Konrad Laber et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

This paper presents the results of research with regard to determining the conditions of the thermoplastic processing of steel wire rod for cold upsetting, which ensures that a finished product with an even and fine-grained microstructure, without a clear banding and with increased cold deformability is obtained. The material used for the studies was 20MnB4 low carbon steel, and the studies were carried out on wire rod with a final diameter of 5.5 mm. Numerical modelling of the analysed process was carried out using commercial FORGE 2011® and QTSteel® programs, based on the finite element method. The GLEEBLE 3800® metallurgical process simulator was used for the physical modelling studies. The obtained theoretical and experimental results were then verified in industrial conditions. Based on the obtained results, it was found that the optimum strip temperature before deformation in the RSM finishing block of the rolling mill is about 850 °C. The best cooling variant after the deformation process was the one in which the cooling rate was 10 °C/s. Such parameters of thermoplastic processing ensure that a final product with a favourable complex of mechanical and technological properties as well as a fine-grained, even microstructure, lacking clear banding, is obtained.

Keywords: mechanical and technological properties; numerical modelling; physical modelling; thermoplastic processing; wire rod with increased cold deformability.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Real DTTT diagram for 20MnB4 steel [55]. Reproduced with permission from Laber, K., Koczurkiewicz, B., Determination of optimum conditions for the process of controlled cooling of rolled products with diameter 16.5 mm made of 20MnB4 steel, Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Metallurgy and Materials—METAL 2015; published by Tanger Ltd., 2015.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Change in yield stress of 20MnB4 steel during physical modelling of 16.5 mm diameter wire rod rolling, strip temperature in REDUCED SIZING MILL (RSM) block 860°C [58]: (1) sequence of four deformations; (2) single deformation. Reproduced with permission from Laber, K., Dyja, H., Koczurkiewicz, B., Sawicki S., Physical modeling of the wire rod rolling process of 20MnB4 steel, Proceedings of the VI Scientific Conference Rolling Mill Practice 2014. Processes-Tools-Materials; published by Akapit, 2014.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Impact of strain rate and temperature on yield stress of C35 steel: (a) at strain value 30%; (b) at strain value 17%.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Sample results of numerical modelling of wire rod rolling process for rolling stand No. 1 in the RSM rolling mill block (rolling pass No. 28 in whole rolling period): (a) temperature distribution in strip exit plane from the strain zone; (b) strain intensity distribution in strip exit plane from strain zone; (c) strain rate intensity distribution; (d) stress intensity distribution in strip exit plane from strain zone.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Change in 20MnB4 steel grade temperature (after subsequent passes) during 5.5 mm diameter wire rod rolling, in all rolling stands.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Influence of cooling rate after rolling process on percentage share of microstructure components on 5.5 mm diameter wire rod cross-section made of 20MnB4 steel.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Influence of cooling rate of 5.5 mm diameter wire rod after rolling process on hardness and mechanical properties.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Change in 20MnB4 steel grade stress during physical modelling of 5.5 mm diameter wire rod rolling process.
Figure 9
Figure 9
20MnB4 steel microstructure after physical modelling of 5.5 mm diameter wire rod rolling process: (a) cooling method W1-1, magnification 200×; (b) cooling method W1-2, magnification 200×; (c) cooling method W1-4, magnification 500×; (d) cooling method W1-5, magnification 500×.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Influence of cooling rate after physical modelling of 5.5 mm diameter wire rod rolling process on mechanical properties and ferrite grain size of 20MnB4 steel.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Thermogram examples of temperature distribution on wire rod surface: (a) before rolling mill stand No. 1; (b) at entry to roller conveyor of STELMOR® line.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Microstructure of 5.5 mm diameter wire rod of 20MnB4 steel after rolling process in industrial conditions: (a,b) cooling method W1-4; (c,d) cooling method W1-5; (a,c) longitudinal section, magnification 200×; (b,d) cross-section magnification 500×.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Examples of tensile curves of 5.5 mm diameter wire rod made of 20MnB4 steel: (a) cooling method W1-4; (b) cooling method W 1-5.
Figure 14
Figure 14
View of wire rod manufactured in accordance with W1-5 variant after upsetting process with relative plastic strain: (a) 50%; (b) 67%; (c) 75%.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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