Experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of preform on hot forging of bimetallic components from aluminum and brass

In forging of bimetallic components, products with a high strength to weight ratio can be obtained. The purpose of this research is to forge a bimetallic component made from aluminum and brass alloys as the inner and outer parts, respectively. The forging temperature for the brass and aluminum alloys is considered in the hot work range as 700 °C and 450 °C, respectively. First, the forging of a single component is investigated numerically and experimentally. After validating the finite element model, bimetallic components are forged in single stage. The effect of brass ring thickness and height difference between aluminum core and brass ring is studied on the success of the single-stage hot forging process. The results show that the thickness and height of the brass ring do not have a significant effect on the success of the process in terms of complete covering of the core by the ring. In the following, to solve this problem, non-simple geometries are designed for the core and ring as a preform, then forging of the second stage are numerically investigated. The results show that in order to produce a bimetallic component with a complete covering of the aluminum core by a brass ring, a two-stage forging is needed using a suitable non-simple preform. Finally, the preform approved by the FEM is experimentally produced and hot forging is performed on it. The experimental results confirm the numerical results. SEM images show that an appropriate metallurgical bonding is created at the interface of two metals.