Die wear reduction by multifactorial Design of Experiments applied to forging simulations

Both wear and fracture mechanisms of 32CrMoV12 dies after hot forging were investigated through SEM and metallographic tests. In order to contain wear mechanisms and to prevent fracture occurrence, a multifactorial Design of Experiments (DoE) has been executed on the Finite Element simulated process. Considered design factors have been limited to process parameters directly modifiable in the actual industrial process. Two step forging cycle has been accounted in the evaluation of stress distribution on the dies and in the estimate of die wear. Despite high process variability, the possibility to effectively hinder fracture and to control most of the wear sources was demonstrated.