Pilot the Industrialization of am Preforms to Expedite the Forging Process

In forging industries, the design and fabrication of preforms are critical for ensuring defect-free metal flow and complete die cavity filling with minimal material loss. In conventional manufacturing, 2 to 7 preforming steps are involved in forging components with higher complexity, strain requirements, tooling costs, and lead times. Significant thermo-mechanical processing is needed to obtain a homogenized structure. In addition, the lead time to machine the dies and heat treatment can take up to six months, costing $100K to $500K. In defense applications, minimizing lead times for low-volume forging production is paramount to meet the time-sensitive demands of warfighters. Additive Manufacturing (AM) enables the production of intricate preforms in fewer steps, reducing lead times and tooling costs and promoting significant material, energy, and cost savings.

In the current work, three AM routes- powder bed fusion, binder jetting, and directed energy deposition are used to fabricate preforms close to the forged part shape. The effect of location on the performance of preforms was studied by performing microstructural and mechanical investigations. Hot compression tests were performed at different temperatures, strain rates, and strains to observe their effect on AM parts' microstructure and mechanical properties. The effect of hot forging on mechanical and microstructural properties of selective laser melted and wire arc additive manufactured 316L stainless steel part was studied. The work strives to obtain optimized components with desired fine-grain microstructure and high mechanical properties. This research explores the possibility of integrating AM in forging operations to expand the range of products and services and create new market opportunities for metal forgings.