Thixoforming is an innovative technology in metal processing, which combines the advantages of casting and forging. Thixoformed material is formed in the semi-solid state. The processed alloy is heated to the transition temperature between solid and liquid in order to obtain improved material properties. Computer simulations for thixoforming technology are logically divided into solution approaches in fluid dynamics and solid mechanics codes, rare in combination of both physics areas. The aim of the research was to verify the suitability of simulation programs and find effective procedure of computer modeling for real mini-thixoforming equipment. For the simulation of solidification, mechanical and thermo-physical properties of materials was selected thermodynamic modeling tool JMatPro. For the simulation of the main process the approach of solid mechanics’ solution was selected and program DEFORM™ was used. In this study, the results of numerical simulations were verified by experiments of semi-solid processing technology with mini-thixoforming equipment.
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