On April 5-7, 2011, Schaumburg, Ill., hosted the Forging Industry Education and Research Foundation (FIERF) for its Forging Industry Technical Conference. Held every 18 months, this marked the 28th such event and coincided with FIERF’s 50th anniversary.

FIERF President Doug Brown, Inductotherm Group, opens the second day of technical presentations.


The forging industry’s technical community descended on Schaumburg for three days in early April when nearly 150 attendees representing 87 organizations (including 25 tabletop exhibitors) gathered to review some of the latest technological developments in the industry. Nearly 20 papers on topics such as process modeling, microstructural analysis, thermal treatments, forging magnesium, etc. were presented (see sidebar for the complete program).

Adjacent to the meeting room, the tabletop exhibition was held in a large room that also served as the conference’s dining hall, affording attendees ample opportunity to take in the exhibits and make connections at meal times. On Wednesday, after the technical sessions were complete, two students held poster sessions in the exhibit area. Jason Kumnick of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute presented “Characterization and Modeling of Decarburization.” Preston Wolfram of the Colorado School of Mines presented “Mechanical Properties of Hot Forging Die Steels at Working Temperatures.”

On the final day of the conference, attendees boarded a bus to tour the Pershing and Bolingbrook plants of Jernberg Industries, a division of HHI located in the Chicago area. The Pershing plant is a 75,000-square-foot facility with two Sumitomo press lines. Bolingbrook is a 100,000-square-foot facility dedicated to machining and processing wheel-end and transmission components.

TABLETOP EXHIBITORS

The following companies and organizations supported the conference through tabletop exhibits:

A.Finkl & Sons Co.; Chicago, Ill.
Ajax-Ceco; Wickliffe, Ohio
Ajax Tocco Magnethermic Corp.; Warren, Ohio
Alpha 1 Induction Service Center; Columbus, Ohio
American GFM Corporation; Chesapeake, Va.
American Iron & Steel Institute; Southfield, Mich.
Campbell Press Repair; Lansing, Mich.
Fontijne Grotnes, Inc.; Itasca, Ill.
FORGE Magazine; Pittsburgh, Pa.
Forge Technology Inc.; Woodstock, Ill.
Forgelube S. De.R.L.De. C.V; Gorham, Maine
Forging Industry Association; Cleveland, Ohio
Gerb Vibration Control Systems, Inc.; Lisle, Ill.
Girard Engineering, Inc.; Strongsville, Ohio
Henkel Corporation; Madison Heights, Mich.
Inductoheat Inc.; Madison Heights, Mich.
Inter-Power Corporation; Almont, Mich.
Lasco Engineering Services; Detroit, Mich.
Sack & Kisselbach Maschinenfabrik GmbH/Dreher; Schaumburg, Ill.
Schuler Group; Canton, Mich.
Scientific Forming Technologies Corporation; Columbus, Ohio
Simufact-Americas, LLC; Plymouth, Mich.
SMS Meer Service Inc.; Cranberry Twp., Pa.
Transvalor Americas Corp.; Chicago, Ill.
Vaccari S.P.A.; Brendola, Italy

TECHNICAL PROGRAM

The heart of the FIERF conference is, of course, its technical program. The papers below are listed in the order they were presented during the technical sessions.

Property and Microstructure Variation in Forging Bar Steels
Lee Rothleutner, Colorado School of Mines

Thermal-Mechanical Modeling of Stainless Steel Forgings
Arthur Brown, Sandia National Laboratories

Selection of Die Materials and Surface Treatments for Increasing Die Life in Hot and Warm Forging
Prof. Taylan Altan, The Ohio State University

Severe Plastic Deformation to Achieve Ultra-Fine Grains
Prabir Chaudhury, Education and Consulting, LLC

Flow Behavior of INCOLOY 945 During High Temperature Deformation
Steve Coryell, Colorado School of Mines

Surface Finish Effects of Fatigue Behavior of Forged Steel
Prof. Ali Fatemi, University of Toledo

Increasing Global Competitiveness Through Research and Education
Doug Brown, FIERF President, Inductotherm Group

MagForge: Cost Effective Ways to Forge Magnesium
Fabrice Chevaleyre, Association Francaise de Forge

Zone Control Technology for Induction Heating
Gary Coniglio, Inter-Power Corporation

Intricacies of Computer Simulation of Induction Heating Processes
Dr. Valery Rudnev, Inductotherm Group

Eliminating Coal Dust in the Production of Ring Rolling Preforms
John Walters, Scientific Forming Technologies Corporation

Electrodynamics, the Neglected Parameter in the Processing and Properties of Metals with Focus on Aluminum
Jun Wang, North Carolina State University

LaserForge - a High-Strength Coating Technology for Increased Die Life
Joshua Rabinovich, H&R Technology Inc.

Technologies for Rolling Profile Rings
Martin Gellhaus, SMS Meer Wagner Banning Ring Rolling Division

Effects of a Solution Anneal Quench Delay on Mechanical Properties of Aluminum 2219-T6
Prof. Blair London, California Polytechnic State University

Nondestructive Examination of Hydraulic Forging Press Components
Ronald Manganello, Carlesa NDE Services

Case Study on Individual Die Load Analysis Using a Standard Tonnage Monitor
Prof. Judy Jin, University of Michigan

Recession Deferred Maintenance and a Reasonable Plan to Get Back on Track
Peter Campbell, Campbell Press Repair