Abstract:Sand casting and die casting processes have been used widely for complex automotive products such as knuckle, arm, etc. Usually, a part fabricated by casting has limited strength due to manufacturing defects such as the dendrite structure, segregation and porosities. As an attempt to offer a solution to these problems, forging has been used as an alternative process. However, the forging process provides limited formability for complex shape products. Rheo-forging of metal offers not only superior mechanical strength but also requires significantly lower machine loads than solid forming processes. In order to produce semi-solid materials of the desired microstructure, a stirring process is applied during solidification of molten metal. The results of an A356 aluminum alloy sample, which are obtained by experiment and by simulation using DEFORM 3D, are present.

Key words: rheo-forging; A356 alloy; formability; forming defects