A CONSULTATIVE SYSTEM FOR COLD-FORGING WITH FINITE-ELEMENT PREDICTIONS

New developments in the expert system COFEX are described, for process planning in the cold forging of flanged round steel hollows. It is in PROLOG for IBM personal computers, implemented in modular form and linked to a finite element program. The system allows the process planner to modify component features and compare alternative production sequences quickly and easily. The finite element program assists the user in predicting plastic buckling and subsequent folding defect when upsetting the flange in an open die; to determine forging loads and stresses, essential in assessing the feasibility of cold forging in the particular case: to select production machines and design tooling. The finite element results show the development of the fold and indicate the boundary between conditions leading to acceptable and defective flange geometries.