MICROSTRUCTURE EVOLUTION OF 20CR STEEL SPIDER DURING COLD FORGING USING CELLULAR AUTOMATON METHOD

The microstructure evolution of 20Cr steel spider in the cold forging process was simulated and analyzed by the CA method, and verified by the experimental results. The CA simulation results show that the grain size becomes smaller with an increase of forging reduction. When the forging reduction is 60%, the grain size is the smallest. After that, the microstructure is inhomogeneous. At the same forging reduction, the microhardness at the root of the pin is higher than that at the head of the pin. It is well agreed with the distribution of the effective strain. The CA results agree well with the experimental data in terms of microstructure evolution and microhardness distribution, suggesting that the CA model is a reliable numerical approach for predicting microstructure evolution during cold forging for 20Cr steel spider.