Experimental and Numerical Study of Surface Roughness of Thin Brass Wire Processed by Different Dieless Drawing Processes

This paper examines the surface roughness of a thin brass wire (140–200 microns in diameter) after two dieless drawing (DD) processes, i.e., conventional dieless drawing (CDD) and incremental dieless drawing (IDD). In incremental dieless drawing, small increments in deformation were applied in several passes. It has been proven that the IDD process not only has a greater efficiency but also enables obtaining a wire with significantly lower surface roughness. The explanation for these effects is based on the results of the numerical modeling of both compared processes. The developed numerical model takes into consideration the initial roughness of the wire surface, shape and dimensions of grains, and their diversified mechanical properties. Nanoindentation measurements, microstructure, and plastometric studies allowed us to find the effective flow stress distribution in the grains. The IDD process was found to be much more stable and develop a much more uniform distribution of grain strain than the CDD process. More homogeneous deformation results in surface roughness reduction. Approximately 25–30% reduction in surface roughness of the wire produced by the IDD process was predicted by simulations and confirmed experimentally.

Investigation of the workability and surface roughness of thin brass wires in various dieless drawing technologies

Possibilities of improving the workability of the CuZn37 brass thin wire in a diameter of 0.14–0.18 mm produced by the dieless drawing processes were explored. The workability was defined as the maximum final longitudinal strain of the wire up to its fracture, achievable in the dieless drawing process. Two technologies of dieless drawing were developed and their workability was compared. The first one is the classical one-pass process; the second, a multi-pass one. For both developed technologies, it was possible to obtain a good-quality product but more than two times higher workability has been demonstrated for the multi-pass technology. No evident effect of the deformation temperature from the window of technologically accepted parameters on the workability was found but an increase in the temperature significantly increased the roughness of the product surface. For the same deformation temperature, the roughness of the wire obtained from the multi-pass process appeared to be significantly lower than for the one of the classical one-pass technologies.

Physical Modelling of Strain Induced Roughness of Copper Wire during Dieless Drawing Process

One of the possibilities of the dieless drawing is the production of ultrafine wire. In this case, it is possible for additionally stretch the wire, obtained in the conventional way. This may allow to obtain a wire of smaller diameter than the industry produces. However, the significant problem is the increase of the strain induced roughness of wire during dieless drawing. This problem has become important due to the fact that the resulting roughness can be comparable to the diameter of the wire and significantly reduce the workability. Thus, the solution of these problems requires plastometric studies of the material, physical and numerical modeling for prediction the roughness of the wire under conditions of dieless drawing. The experimental study shown, that the surface roughness of the copper wire after dieless drawing increases significantly at a deformation temperature above 300°C. The total roughness is associated both with the formation of oxides and the strain induced roughness.

Transformation of Surface Roughness of Mg Alloy Tubes During Laser Dieless Drawing

The paper investigates the transformation of surface roughness of tubes made from magnesium and magnesium alloys as a function of their longitudinal strain during laser dieless drawing. Experimental studies on three materials (AZ31, MgCa08, and pure Mg) have shown that the dependence of roughness on the longitudinal strain is nonlinear and exhibits a minimum. The proposed explanation for this is that the transformation of surface roughness occurs following two mechanisms. The first mechanism involves stretching of the tube and the decreasing of existing roughness with the increasing elongation. The second mechanism is based on the strain-induced surface roughening phenomenon. This mechanism leads to an increase in roughness with the increasing elongation. To analyze these mechanisms, a numerical model of roughness formation is used. It is experimentally shown that the position of the minimum roughness concerning the tube longitudinal strain is correlated with the stress-strain curve of the material under laser dieless drawing conditions. The obtained results provide a practical way to reduce surface roughness of tubes produced by the laser dieless drawing process. According to the proposed method, to achieve minimum roughness, it is necessary to keep the longitudinal strain under a specific value. This value is close to the strain, which corresponds to the maximum stress on the stress-strain curve of the material for temperature and strain rate, corresponding laser dieless drawing conditions.

Improving the workability of materials during the dieless drawing processes by multi-pass incremental deformation

The paper explores the new method of improving the workability of materials in the dieless drawing processes. The proposed method is based on the implementation of a multi-pass incremental deformation. Moreover, in each pass, strain and strain rate sensitivity of flow stress should be positive and significant. An approach based on the finite element calculation of instability coefficient of plastic deformation and simultaneous modeling of material ductility were applied for prediction of the workability. Two dieless drawing processes have been investigated. The difference was related to the heating system—induction heating and laser heating. FE simulations and experimental tests for three materials, two magnesium alloys (MgCa0.8 and MgNi19) and pure copper were performed. It was shown that the most effective increase in workability by multi-pass deformation can be achieved using laser dieless drawing. This is possible due to the shorter heating area and, as a consequence, the larger strain rate, which leads to better stability of the deformation process.