Modeling of Forging Processes Assisted by Piezoelectric Actuators: Principles and Experimental Validation

This paper presents the modeling of forging processes assisted by vibrations. A piezoelectric actuator is used to generate specific low-frequency vibration waveforms superimposed to the forging motion. Experimental results show a reduction of the forging load during upsetting tests. However, the appropriate waveforms and their influence on the forging load are still poorly understood. Moreover, the requirements of actuators and the design of the control should be known in advance. Therefore, there is a need for simulation to predict those issues. Due to the complexity of the interactions between the different components of the system, a complete model of the process is proposed. It is developed using an energetic macroscopic representation to preserve causality throughout the modeling. Simulation results are then compared with representative experimental results.