Towards the Numerical Prediction of Galling Onset in Cold Forming

Abstract

Aluminum alloys are materials that have a strong tendency to galling when they are cold formed. Caused by a breakdown of the lubricant film between the part and the tool, galling can have dramatic consequences on the forming operation: scratches and cracks in the surface of the piece, clogging and deterioration of tools, etc. The present work studies the galling mechanisms of the aluminum alloy 6082 during its cold forming. Trials involving the Upsetting-Sliding Test (UST) are performed first. The UST is a test bench able to simulate in laboratory conditions the contact encountered at the part/tool interface of industrial processes. Trials are achieved under varying contact pressure and lubrication. UST results show that galling is strongly influenced by tool roughness and is not accompanied by a significant increase of friction. Three sets of finite element computation of the UST are then run to predict galling onset. Lubricant and adhesion forces are not modelled in this simplified approach: only the mechanical aspects are taken into account, the chemical ones are implicitly taken into account by coefficients of friction. The Lemaitre’s and the Xue’s damage models are compared. Results show that the Lemaitre model needs the tool roughness to be modeled to detect the galling onset. The Xue model is able to detect the occurrence of galling without modelling roughness. This result is due to the used of the Lode angle with enable the calculation of damage under low stress triaxiality.