DIELESS WIRE DRAWING

Submitted to:

Prof. D. Ravi Kumar

(MEL335)

Submitted by:

Rohit Gothwal
2010ME20796

Department of Mechanical Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Delhi New Delhi-110016

Introduction
In conventional wire drawing operations, the wire is pulled through a conical aperture called a die to reduce its diameter. Considerable cost is associated with pre-cleaning of the wire prior to entry to the die, tooling, and lubrication materials. Die wear, which occurs at the approach and bearing surfaces due to frictional and heating effects, can rapidly diminish tool life. Economic viability dictates that the tooling costs associated with any metal forming process are kept to a minimum [2]. Hence, elimination of the die would greatly enhance the economics of the wire drawing process. Previous researchers have noted that a hydrodynamic force generated by a polymer melt in the wire drawing die during conventional drawing caused a reduction in the wire diameter. The researchers concluded that successful dieless drawing was achievable if the drawing velocities and temperature proles permitted the occurrence of transformation plasticity. In this class of plasticity, deformation occurs during a phase change and a threshold stress is necessary to initiate gross deformation [3].

Fig. 1. Conventional wire drawing.

The dieless drawing process consists of mechanically loading a rod or wire that is locally heated to lower its yield strength below the level of stress applied by the wire takeup and feeding systems. The wire is stretched under the applied tension in the heated zone. Before the wire or rod is stretched beyond the breaking point, it leaves the heated zone, at which point its strength [1].

Basic Elements
All dieless wire drawing systems must contain the same basic elements namely [2]. A heating device o Many differing and varied heating methods exist. These include resistance heating as used by Tiernan [2] where current was used as a heating method utilising the Joule effect. o A more recent utilised a laser to heat the wire to its critical temperature. Unfortunately, this method is in the infancy stages of its development and lasers with enough power are not yet commercially viable. o The most efficient and cost effective solution is induction heating. This method uses the magnetic induction principals of eddy current generation to heat a sample to its critical temperature.

Induction heating coils and cooling device elements. A cooling device The optimum-cooling medium is a mix of purified water and an inert gas. Air has been used as a cooling medium on many experimental systems but this has led to the formation of a layer of oxide on the drawn wire surface. Yonggang et al. [2] used argon gas as an oxidation inhibitor to successfully control the materials surface chemistry. A method of applying a tensile force and a data acquisition control system Many methods of applying a tensile load have been utilised. o One such method involves the use of rollers and take-up/pay-off wheels as illustrated in Fig. 1.

o Another method involves the use of bearings and linear slides in a vertical fashion as depicted in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Experimental plant

Machine design and operation

The machine is designed to produce innitely variable reductions in mild steel wire of maximum diameter, 5.0mm at temperatures between 400 and 900C at drawing speeds of up to 1.5m/s [2]. The wire is passed around both roller electrodes as shown in the schematic diagram in Fig. 4, their individual angular velocities were controlled to produce a tensile load in the wire parallel to its longitudinal axis.

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of the roller electrodes and associated drawing kinematics. The current to heat the wire was obtained from a 1600A power converter. The machine, which was controlled by an IBM PC, is shown in Fig. 5.

Data acquisition and machine control system

The instability of the dieless drawing process coupled with the complex nature of the machine operation necessitated the use of an automated data acquisition and machine control system. Data was acquired for two purposes [3]. 1. Primarily, to record the test parameters of the wire as it was formed 2. Secondly, to record data from the machine transducers to al- low machine control and monitoring to be achieved. The system is designed to sufciently control the roller angular velocities and wire temperature to achieve a desired reduction in the wire diameter. An easy-to-use interface enabling the operator to input desired drawing parameters, e.g., drawing velocity and wire temperature is developed. A PC based system was used to achieve the aforementioned requirement due to its cost-effectiveness and exibility. Two data acquisition boards were required; a

multifunction (MIO) board to process analog and timing signals, and a digital input/output (DIO) board to process the remaining digital signal. The hardware was controlled by LabVIEW software. The user interface consisted of numerous controls and indicators. The controls allowed the user to input values and choices, which control the machine and data acquisition process. The remaining instruments on the front panel displayed the current status of the machine, e.g., the actual temperature of the wire and actual current owing through the wire.

Simplified flow chart of machine control and data acquisition program [1].

Experiments
A complete program of dieless drawing was undertaken on low-carbon steel wire of nominal diameter, 2.65 mm. The drawing limit of the dieless drawing method is dependent on the mechanical and metallurgical properties of the wire material, the temperature profile along the wire, and the drawing velocity. The wire temperature is dependent on the amount of current passed through the wire and the drawing speed.

Results
A maximum drawing velocity of 1.4 m/s was attained without wire fracture during the drawing process. The maximum reduction achieved in cross sectional area during a single pass was 72%. This reduction was obtained at a test temperature of 780 C. Variation in wire diameter with percentage reduction. The variation in wire diameter for various reductions in the cross-sectional area of mild steel wire of nominal diameter 2.65 mm is shown in Fig. 8. Drawing was conducted at a temperature of 650 C and a velocity of 1.1 m/s.

Fig. 8. Wire diameter variation vs. reduction of area in dieless drawing of mild steel wire.

Drawing load vs. displacement The theoretical drawing load to achieve a reduction of 58 % in the cross-sectional area of the mild steel wire of nominal diameter 2.65 mm at 650 C by dieless drawing was calculated. In this particular draw, a necked region formed in the wire that subsequently resulted in wire fracture. The theoretical drawing loads and those predicted by finite element code are presented in

Fig. 9. Theoretical and FE predicted load for 58% reduction in mild steel wire.

Benefits Pre-cleaning and lubrication requirements can be eliminated from the process. Ability to draw difficult to form materials such as shape memory alloys which are susceptible to strain hardening [2]and the ability to produce variable cross-section products

References
[1]. P. Tiernan, M.T. Hillery, An analysis of wire manufacture using the dieless drawing method 2007. [2]. M.D. Naughton, P. Tiernan, Requirements of a dieless wire drawing system, 2007. [3]. P. Tiernan, M.T. Hillery, Dieless wire drawingan experimental and numerical analysis 2004