Welded preforms for forging

While tailor-welded preforms are commonly used in sheet forming, to date, similar technology has not been developed for bulk forming. In the present paper, the results of a study that was conducted to investigate the feasibility of solid-state welded preforms in forging is presented. Both same-metal and bi-metal combinations were considered and results indicate that in general friction welded preforms have adequate workability based on upsetting and side pressing tests, although flow tends to be concentrated in the lower strength alloy for bi-metal preforms. Mechanical properties obtained from tensile testing of specimens machined from side pressed preforms indicate that mechanical properties of welded preforms are comparable to that of the as-received base metal pieces. While further work is needed to develop the process, results to date confirm that friction-welded preforms have potential for use in bulk forming applications.