The main goal of this study is to present an analysis
of different heating methods frequently used in laboratory
scale and in the industrial practice to heat blanks at warm
temperatures. In this context, the blank can be heated inside
the forming tools (internal method) or using a heating system
(external method). In order to perform this analysis, a finite
element model is firstly validated with the simulation of the
direct resistance system used in a Gleeble testing machine.
The predicted temperature was compared with the temperature
distribution recorded experimentally and a good agreement
was found. Afterwards, a finite element model is used to
predict the temperature distribution in the blank during the
heating process, when using different heating methods. The
analysis also includes the evaluation of a cooling phase associated
to the transport phase for the external heating methods.
The results of this analysis show that neglecting the heating
phase and a transport phase could lead to inaccuracies in the
simulation of the forming phase.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial
support of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)
under project PTDC/EMS-TEC/1805/2012 and by FEDER funds
through the program COMPETE—Programa Operacional Factores de
Competitividade, under the project CENTRO-07-0224-FEDER-002001
(MT4MOBI). The authors would like to thank Prof. A. Andrade-Campos
for helpful contributions on the development of the finite element code
presented in this work.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
