Analysis of the heating process and development of a microstructure suitable for thixoforming of steel

The thixoforming processes of metal alloys are carried out in the semi-solid state. The thixotropy phenomenon is conditional upon the globular microstructure that occurs in shaped material. In order to design and optimise such processes, some procedures of the Gleeble® system could be applied. The main objective of this work is an analysis of the resistance heating of samples in different material tests which are possible on the Gleeble® 3800 simulator. An example of development of steel alloy microstructure during heating on the Gleeble® simulator will also be presented. M2 tool steel was submitted for analysis. In this case, obtaining the globular microstructure was carried out on the basis of the SIMA method (Strain Induced Melt Activated).