Numerical and Experimental Advances in Metal Processing

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Metal Casting, Forming and Heat Treatment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 February 2025 | Viewed by 4719

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Interests: manufacturing processes; metal forming technology and processing; sheet metal forming; numerical simulation; experimental validation; material testing and constitutive modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, R. Dr. Roberto Frias, 400, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal
Interests: metal forming processes; material characterization; constitutive modelling; numerical simulation; experimental validation; inverse optimization techniques
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to provide the most recent advances in the manufacturing processes of metallic materials and to identify directions both in experimental and numerical research, including the requirements for sustainable technologies and processes.

The covered topics will be of major interest for scientists and professionals working at universities, research institutes, laboratories and industries concerned with established and novel manufacturing methodologies using conventional and emerging materials.

A key aspect is proper process design in order to guarantee the compliance of the final product with the intended functionality, while at the same time minimizing resource usage. Metal processing optimization and the strength of the final products, including their fatigue performance, could be anticipated at the design stage by resorting to advanced modelling, including numerical simulation (e.g., FEA). The continuous development of these technologies and processes, research on suitable numerical tools and models, and experimental procedures allow proper process design for tailored product performance, which is mandatory for industry competitiveness and the sustainability of society.

The Special Issue will cover, but will not be limited to, the following topics:

  • Formability in metal forming processes;
  • Modeling and designing of forming and joining processes;
  • Ductile damage and fracture: experiments, modeling and numerical prediction;
  • Modeling of anisotropic behavior in plasticity;
  • Inverse identification of constitutive material models;
  • Additive, subtractive and hybrid manufacturing;
  • Emerging manufacturing processes;
  • Intelligent metal processing technologies.
  • Processes of lightweight metals and numerical modeling;
  • Product design and process optimization;
  • Mechanical performance of products.

Dr. Abel Dias dos Santos
Dr. Abílio M. P. De Jesus
Dr. Rui L. Amaral
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • manufacturing
  • metals
  • manufacturing processes
  • fatigue
  • fracture
  • product design
  • finite element analysis
  • structural integrity
  • surface integrity
  • residual stresses

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 7720 KiB  
Article
Hot Deformation Behavior and Processing Maps of Vapor-Phase-Grown Carbon Nanofiber Reinforced 7075Al Composites
by Mengying Zhu, Zhefeng Xu, Junhua Wu, Satoshi Motozuka, Caili Tian, Jianglong Gu and Jinku Yu
Metals 2024, 14(11), 1245; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14111245 - 1 Nov 2024
Viewed by 479
Abstract
The present study prepared 7075Al composites reinforced with vapor-phase-grown carbon nanofibers (VGCNFs) using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. Constitutive equations of the composites were calculated, and thermal processing maps were constructed by performing thermal compression tests on the VGCNF/7075Al composites at deformation [...] Read more.
The present study prepared 7075Al composites reinforced with vapor-phase-grown carbon nanofibers (VGCNFs) using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. Constitutive equations of the composites were calculated, and thermal processing maps were constructed by performing thermal compression tests on the VGCNF/7075Al composites at deformation temperatures ranging from 300 to 450 °C and strain rates from 0.01 to 1 s−1. This study analyzed the microstructural evolution of the VGCNF/7075Al composites during the thermomechanical processing. The experimental results demonstrated that dynamic recrystallization (DRX) primarily governed the softening mechanism of VGCNF/7075Al composites during thermomechanical processing. At high strain rates, a combination of dynamic recovery (DRV) and DRX contributed to the softening behavior. The incorporation of VGCNFs results in higher dislocation density and a larger orientation deviation within the 7075Al matrix during the thermomechanical deformation process, providing stored energy that facilitated DRX. The activation energy for deformation of VGCNF/7075Al composites was 175.98 kJ/mol. The constitutive equation of the flow stress showed that a hyperbolic sinusoidal form could effectively describe the relationship between flow stress, strain, strain rate, and temperature of VGCNF/7075Al composites. The optimal thermomechanical deformation parameters for VGCNF/7075Al composites were 400–450 °C and 0.01–0.1 s−1 when the strain ranged from 0.05 to 0.15. For strains between 0.25 and 0.35, the optimal thermomechanical parameters were 380–430 °C and 0.01–1 s−1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical and Experimental Advances in Metal Processing)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 12375 KiB  
Article
Effect of Material Extrusion Method on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Copper Parts
by Naiara Aldeiturriaga, Itziar Fraile, Erika Dominguez, Aitor Zuriarrain, Pedro José Arrazola and Daniel Soler
Metals 2024, 14(8), 941; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14080941 - 17 Aug 2024
Viewed by 775
Abstract
In the present study, three extrusion-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies were considered: Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), Pellet Extrusion Process (PEP) and Atomic Diffusion Additive Manufacturing (ADAM). In order to compare these technologies, the same initial material was employed: a copper filament commercialized by [...] Read more.
In the present study, three extrusion-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies were considered: Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), Pellet Extrusion Process (PEP) and Atomic Diffusion Additive Manufacturing (ADAM). In order to compare these technologies, the same initial material was employed: a copper filament commercialized by Markforged® (Waltham, MA, USA). The copper filament was employed as received for ADAM and FFF technologies and shredded for PEP technology. Different printing parameters were studied for each technology (except for ADAM, which does not allow it) and the manufactured disc-shaped and tensile test parts were debindered and sintered under the same conditions. Part density, micrography and mechanical properties were analyzed. The density was observed to change with geometry, showing a relative density of around 95% for the tensile test parts through all the technologies but lower relative densities for the disc-shaped parts: around 90% for ADAM, between 85–88% for PEP and between 90–94% for optimized FFF printing parameters. The micrographies present big cavities between infill and contour for ADAM, whereas such cavities were not observed in either PEP or FFF parts. On the other hand, the parts made with PEP showed less and smaller porosity, but they had poor surface finishing, indicating that some printing parameters should be readjusted. Finally, the FFF parts had a better finishing but exhibited a non-uniform pore distribution. Concerning the mechanical properties, all the printed parts show similar properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical and Experimental Advances in Metal Processing)
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 25787 KiB  
Article
Machine-Learning-Assisted Design of Novel TiZrNbVAl Refractory High-Entropy Alloys with Enhanced Ductility
by Xinyi Zhao, Zihang Wei, Junfeng Zhao, Yandong Jia, Shuo Cao, Dan Wang and Yucheng Lei
Metals 2024, 14(8), 894; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14080894 - 5 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1307
Abstract
Refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) typically exhibit excellent high-temperature strength but limited ductility. In this study, a comprehensive machine learning strategy with integrated material knowledge is proposed to predict the elongation of TiZrNbVAl RHEAs. By referring to the ductility theories, a set of cost-effective [...] Read more.
Refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) typically exhibit excellent high-temperature strength but limited ductility. In this study, a comprehensive machine learning strategy with integrated material knowledge is proposed to predict the elongation of TiZrNbVAl RHEAs. By referring to the ductility theories, a set of cost-effective material features is developed with various mathematical forms of thermodynamic parameters. These features are proven to effectively incorporate material knowledge into ML modeling. They also offer potential alternatives to those obtained from costly first-principles calculations. Based on Pearson correlation coefficients, the linear relationships between pairwise features were compared, and the seven key features with the greatest impact on the model were selected for ML modeling. Regression tasks were performed to predict the ductility of TiZrNbVAl, and the CatBoost gradient boosting algorithm exhibiting the best performance was eventually selected. The established optimized model achieves high predictive accuracies exceeding 0.8. These key features were further analyzed using interpretable ML methods to elucidate their influences on various ductility mechanisms. According to the ML results, different compositions of TiZrNbVAl with excellent tensile properties were prepared. The experimental results indicate that Ti44Zr24Nb17V5Al10 and Ti44Zr26Nb8V13Al9 both exhibited ultimate tensile strengths of approximately 1180 MPa and elongations higher than 21%. They verified that the ML strategy proposed in this study is an effective approach for predicting the properties of RHEAs. It is a potential method that can replace costly first-principles calculations. Thermodynamic parameters have been shown to effectively predict alloy ductility to a certain extent. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical and Experimental Advances in Metal Processing)
Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 2990 KiB  
Article
Cold Rolling Technology Optimization for EN AW 4343/3003/4343 Cladded Aluminum Alloys and Influence of Parameters on Microstructure, Mechanical Properties and Sustainable Recyclability
by Bojan Kropf, Peter Cvahte, Matija Arzenšek and Jakob Kraner
Metals 2024, 14(2), 230; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14020230 - 14 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1626
Abstract
The present study investigates the accumulative roll bonding process applied to the EN AW 3003 aluminum alloy, serving as a composite material on both sides and consisting of the EN AW 4343 aluminum alloy. For the characterization of the optical microscopy, corrosion tests [...] Read more.
The present study investigates the accumulative roll bonding process applied to the EN AW 3003 aluminum alloy, serving as a composite material on both sides and consisting of the EN AW 4343 aluminum alloy. For the characterization of the optical microscopy, corrosion tests with saltwater acetic acid and mechanical properties before and after the braze test were employed. The numerical simulations accurately predicted the industrial cold rolling values for the rolling force and surface temperature. The most comprehensive understanding of the cold rolling parameters for both side-cladded materials was achieved by combining predictions for cladded and uncladded materials. The thickness of the cladded layer presented as a percentage after roll bonding was 18.7%. During the cold rolling and annealing, the cladded thickness was increased to 24.7% of the final 0.3 mm of the total cold-rolled product thickness. According to the performed braze test for final thickness, the ultimate tensile strength and yield strength were decreased, and the elongation increased to 18.1%. In addition to the described changes in mechanical properties, the material’s anisotropy improved from 5.4% in the cold-rolled condition to 2.0% after the braze test. After multiple re-meltings of the cladded material, the analyzed chemical compositions allow for recycling and reuse as different 4xxx, 5xxx, and 6xxx alloys. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Numerical and Experimental Advances in Metal Processing)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop