An overview of the prospects for the development of nuclear technologies and the conclusion of the relevant requirements for advanced structural materials, their classification and features were performed. In order to obtain a bar with a modified radiation-resistant outer layer, an experiment of radial-shear rolling under the most stringent conditions was carried out. For the same conditions, a FEM-simulation of sequential rolling in eight passes with a total compression of 70.7% (from a diameter of 37 mm to 20 mm) was conducted. For adequate simulation results a new material database for Zr-1%Nb alloy using plastometry investigations was generated. An experimental obtaining of a gradient-modified structure with an ultrafine-grained (UFG) periphery and an elongated rolling texture in the center of the bar was performed.

The paper presents the results of numerical modelling of the forging process of magnesium alloy ingots on a hydraulic press with the use of flat and shaped anvils. The use of shaped (rhombic-trapezoid) anvils will affect the uniform distribution of temperature and strain intensity in the entire volume of the forging, causing a number of forging passes, which in consequence will reduce the costs of the blank manufacturing process. However, higher values of the strain intensity were obtained during the deformation of the material in flat anvils. The purpose of the research was to propose assumptions for forging technology of producing a blank from AZ91 alloy with the use of flat and shaped anvils. Numerical examination for AZ91 magnesium alloy was carried out using the Forge^®NxT commercial software. The rheological properties of the investigated alloy were determined on the basis of uniaxial compression tests carried out in the Gleeble 3800 metallurgical simulation system. The numerical analysis of the process of forging AZ91 alloy ingots on a press was conducted in the temperature range of 200–400 °C and at several forging passes.