A study of flow-through phenomenon in the press forging of magnesium-alloy sheets

The finite element analysis and experimental approach were employed to examine the flow-through phenomenon occurred in the press forging of AZ31 magnesium-alloy sheets. The material properties tests suggest that the press forging of AZ31 sheets is required to be performed at temperatures higher than 300 °C. An optimum element size was determined first to simulate the appearance of flow-through and the finite element analysis reveals that the formation of flow-through is mainly due to the insufficient material in the neighborhood of the embossment. The finite element simulation results also indicate that the sheet thickness and the dimension of the embossment are the major factors affecting the occurrence of flow-through. Based on the sheet thickness and the embossment dimensions, the limiting curves for the occurrence of flow-through were established in the present study to predict if the flow-through would occur. These curves provide an important guideline for the press forging design.