Isothermal plastic forming of high-carbon steel

The work deals with the problem of an unconventional plastic forming process—deformation of high melting temperature alloys in isothermal conditions. The tests were performed for alloyed steel containing 0.5%C. Upsetting the process at various temperatures and strain rates was used to determine the optimum parameters of deformation. In order to obtain fine grains prior to deformation and to create the superplasticity effect, the samples were subjected to thermomechanical processing. The main experiment included axisymmetrical closed die forging. Very good filling of the groove and low loads were observed in all tests. In spite of relatively long time of deformation at high temperatures, the material maintained fine microstructure.