Energy-based modeling of an electrically-assisted forging process

A new approach to improving formability of metals using electrical current field application has been recently studied, and found to not only greatly improve achievable elongation, but also has a beneficial effect on residual stress levels and reduces elastic springback magnitude. The effect has been shown to be somewhat attributable to thermal softening, but there are also unaccounted electrical effects. This paper presents a formal quantification of the electrical field effect using an energy balance approach. A physical model incorporating the electrical field and mechanical energy input is derived, and a new electroplastic effect coefficient is introduced to account for the direct contribution of the current on material flow. The derived model is compared against experimental results and predicts the electroplastic behavior.