Steel thixoforming, influence of forming parameters on the microstructure

In this work, we study the influence of different parameters on the final microstructure of the part. For this we used a trial geometry which is formed of a kind of hollow cylinder with different widths. This variation of widths is interesting because it creates high shear rates in the part. The most common defects occurring during the forming are cracks and porosity. They are shown on Fig. 1. These defects, which have an influence on the part quality, have been detected after analysis of the first produced parts. This leads us to investigate in order to detect their origins and make the needed improvements.