FIA, FIERF Hold 31st Technical Conference

Many of the North American forging industry’s most talented technical people recently gathered for two days of technology updates and presentations at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center in Columbus, Ohio. The event, sponsored by the Forging Industry Association (FIA) and the Forging Industry Educational and Research Foundation (FIERF), was a chance for these industry leaders to exchange ideas about processes, materials and end-use markets.

On Sept. 19-20, about 170 professionals from the forging industry gathered to attend FIA and FIERF’s 31st Technical Conference. This traditional event, held every 18-24 months, attracted industry professionals, suppliers, academics and students. Most attendees were from North America, though Europe and Asia were also represented.

The meeting was opened in general session by FIA President Roy Hardy. He spoke of the general health of the association and the state of the forging industry in the U.S. and North America. In his review of impression, open-die and rolled-ring shipments, he noted that the $11.9 billion in 2014 shipments was down a bit in 2015 and so far in 2016. He also mentioned that North America supplies about 10% of the world’s forgings and that this has been steady during the past several years. Hardy closed by reviewing FIA’s legislative efforts in Washington, D.C., and its benchmarking initiatives and by inviting everyone to attend Forge Fair 2017 to be held this April in Cleveland, Ohio.

FIERF Director Karen Lewis spoke to the group about FIERF’s research initiatives and funding. She highlighted FIERF’s threefold mission of technology, education and fund-raising, citing numbers related to scholarships given to students and discussing fund-raising efforts of the Foundation

BY THE NUMBERS...

About 170 people were in attendance. There were 19 tabletop exhibitors. 31 speakers from 28 institutions or businesses presented papers. 18 hours of technical sessions. 10 universities were represented from North America and Europe. 1 industry magazine covering the event.

The next portion of the joint session was given to faculty emeritus speakers Dr. George Krauss, FASM, Professor Emeritus, Colorado School of Mines and Dr. Taylan Altan, Faculty Emeritus, The Ohio State University. Speaking separately, steel authority Dr. Krauss presented his paper, “Forging Steel Selection: Chemistry, Microstructure, Precautions and Performance.” Dr. Altan spoke with insight on research, development and education in forging technology.

Closing the afternoon session were papers delivered by Jon Tirpak, PE, FASM, president of ASM International, and Xiaoqing Cai from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Tirpak’s paper was titled “May You Live in Interesting Times; or Will Your Forge Flourish or Perish?” Cai’s remarks were more technical and covered microstructure development during tempering.

Technical Sessions

On the second day of the conference attendees were free to split their time between two separate and concurrent tracks of papers: Track A – Research & Development or Track B – Applied Technology. Attendees could alternate between tracks according to their interests. The schedules of both tracks were time-synchronized to facilitate attendees’ needs to go from one room to another to hear papers in a timely manner.

All told, there were 26 papers delivered in the combined technical tracks – 13 in each session. The subjects of the papers were varied, ranging from cooling rates in microalloyed steels to computer simulations to furnace technologies to forging materials. Recurring themes among a number of the papers were additive manufacturing, 3D printing and other advanced manufacturing techniques. Twelve of the 26 papers were contributed from academia.

Exhibits and Poster Sessions

Tabletop exhibits from 19 different organizations were on display around the perimeter of the large meeting hall. The exhibits, which were not open to attendees during the technical sessions, became a beehive of activity when food and drinks were served. The format made it easy for attendees to mix, talk business, view the tabletop exhibits and socialize. One dinner, one breakfast and one luncheon were served in this way, totaling about five hours of exhibit-hall time in this two-day event.

Also on display in the exhibit hall were posters of student projects. North Carolina State University had two related posters on display from students under the tutelage of professor Gracious Ngaile. The first was titled “Potential Weight Reduction Methods for Heavy Duty Vehicles” by James Lowrie (see the feature article on p.14 in this issue), and the second was titled “Process Development of the Hollow and Bimetallic Power Transmission Shaft” by Hao Pang.

31st Forging Industry Technical Conference Program

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19

JOINT SESSION

Welcome and Overview of the State of the Industry

Roy Hardy, Forging Industry Association

FIA & FIERF Activities
Karen Lewis, Forging Industry Educational & Research Foundation

Forging Steel Selection: Chemistry, Microstructure, Precautions and Performance
Dr. George Krauss, FASM, Professor Emeritus, Colorado School of Mines

Research, Development and Education in Forging Technology – A Global View & Comparison
Dr. Taylan Altan, Faculty Emeritus, The Ohio State University

May You Live in Interesting Times; or Will Your Forge Flourish or Perish?
Jon Tirpak, PE, FASM, president of ASM International

Microstructure Development during Tempering
Xiaoqing Cai, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

Research & Development - TRACK A

Cooling Rates of Microalloyed Steels
Nick Lindeke, MPG-Forming Technologies

Exploration of New Forging Materials: High Entropy Alloys
Dr. Markus Young and Nathan A Ley, University of North Texas

Effect of Initial Microstructure on the Microstructural Evolution and Tensile Properties of “Warm Deformed” 4140 Steel
Dr. Sammy Tin, Illinois Institute of Technology

The Effect of Forging Practice and Sulfide Inclusions on the Mechanical Properties and Fatigue Performance of Large Steel Crankshafts
John Paules, Ellwood Group Inc.

Alcoa Expansions in Additive Manufacturing Technologies Deepen Capabilities
Dustin Bush and Brandon Bodily, Alcoa Forgings and Extrusions

Processing-Microstructure-Property Relationships in Additively Manufactured Metallic Alloys
Yangzi Xu, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Industrial Implementation of Metals Additive Manufacturing: Past, Present and Exciting Future
Edward D. Herderick, Ph.D., GE Corporate Supply Chain and Operations

Applications of Additive Manufacturing in Forging
Dr. David Schwam, Case Western Reserve University

Forging Defense Manufacturing Consortium PRO-FAST
Program Overview
Jon Tirpak, Advanced Technology International

Forged Fiber Reinforced Aluminum
Karin Karg, Triton Systems Inc.

Cladding Repair and Enhancement of Forging Dies
Dr. David Schwam, Case Western Reserve University

Design of Experiments and Simulation
Jim Conklin, Cornell Forge Company

Forging Process Improvement Using Intensive
Quenching Immediately After Forging Operations
Are Completed
Michael Aronov and Joe Powell, IQ Technologies Inc.

Applied Technology - TRACK B

Weight Reduction for Heavy Duty Trucks via Innovative Forging Technologies
Dr. Gracious Ngaile, North Carolina State University

Production and Processing of Al-Mg Compounds by Co-Extrusion and Forging
Dipl.-lng. Wolfgang Forster, Chemnitz University of Technology

Magnesium-Alloy Forgings for Automotive Applications
Dr. Mary Wells, University of Waterloo

Experimental Study of Surface Topography in Hot Compression
Dr. Joe Domblesky, Marquette University

Development of Non-traditional Synthetic Forging Lubricants for Hot and Warm Forgings
Steve Goodchild, CONDAT Corp.

Compressive Simulation of Solidification, Forging and Heat Treatment Process of Large-Size High-Strength Steel Ingots
Louis-Philippe Lapierre, Ecole de Technologie Superieure

Optimization of Process and Quality Controls using Barcoded Identification in Forging Operations
Doug Fry, MBA, lnfoSight Corporation

Smart Sensing of Forging Operation via Tonnage Signature Analysis
Dr. Judy Jin, University of Michigan

Effect of Violating Forging Hammer Manufacturers’ Recommendations
Dr. John Frater, Cleveland State University

Developments of New Features for Profiled Ring Rolling
Dr. Andreas Lieb, SMS group GmbH

Achieving Optimal Temperature Uniformity in a
Slot Forge Gas-Fired Furnace
Justin Dzik, P.E., Fives North American Combustion Inc.

Induction Heating and Heat Treating Metallic Products
Dr. Valery Rudnev, FASM, lnductoheat Inc.

Optimization of Gas-Fired Forging Furnaces
Francois Desjardins, Nutec Bickley S.A. DE C.V.

For Additional Information, Visit:
www.forging.org/tech-conference-home

TABLETOP EXHIBITORS