A General Finite Element Approach for Porous and Non-Porous Metal-Forming Processes

A rigid-viscoplastic finite element flow formulation based on the Doraivelu et al. constitutive equation for a porous material is presented. The plasticity equations developed were incorporated into a two-dimensional Eulerian-based finite element code, CFORM. The code predicts the principal variables involved in powder metal forging. Numerical tests performed with the simulation of porous and non-porous materials using this formulation showed good agreement with results from other researchers. Results of this study demonstrate the flexibility of this flow formulation approach in simulating forging for both porous and non-porous materials.