Semi-solid processing (SSP), including rheoforming and thixoforming, offers a promising opportunity to manufacture net-shaped parts with complex structure and excellent mechanical properties. Owing to its low cost and short process, rheoforming has been the subject of extensive study over the last two decades. The interest in the rheoforming of wrought aluminum alloys is progressively growing among both the research and industrial communities. This review starts with reviewing the recent efforts and advances on preparation of semi-solid slurry of wrought Al alloys, followed by discussing the correlation between microstructure and performance of these alloys. Finally, special attention is paid in the industrial application and the future trends of rheoforming of wrought aluminum alloys.

Review Application of Aluminum Alloy Semi-Solid Processing Technology in Automobile: A Review Hongxing Lu 1, * , Zhengbai Liu 2, and Qiang Zhu 1 1 Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China 2 School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China * Correspondence: luhx@sustech.edu.cn Received: 15 January 2023 Accepted: 23 February 2023 Published: 17 March 2023 Semi-solid processing technology is a new forming technology for aluminum alloy components, which has advantages in producing high-quality components with complex shapes. Several methods of semi-solid metal preparing and forming have been developed in the past 50 years. Some methods have been applied to provide high-quality components or improve castings’ quality in the field of automobile. This paper reviews the development and application of semi-solid processing technology and discusses about its future application prospects.

Semi-solid die casting of aluminum alloy has been successfully employed to manufacture high-performance components with precise net shapes. However, the quality of these components is highly susceptib...

The finite element simulation method was employed to simulate the forging process of TC4 alloy blades, predicting the post-forging springback of the blades. Based on the springback data, compensation was applied to the blade forging die, and simulation experiments were conducted using the compensated die to analyze the effectiveness of springback compensation. The results indicate that the springback amount of each cross-section of the TC4 alloy blade increased with the distance from the tenon after forging. When the distance reaches 122 mm, the springback angle at that cross-section reaches 2.2°. After implementing reverse equal-amount springback compensation, most of the blade’s springback was eliminated, with residual springback of 0.2°–0.4° observed in cross-sections at distances ≥112 mm.

Gleeble thermal simulation tests established the elastoplastic constitutive equation of GH3044. Using this constitutive relationship, the influence of three initial billet designs on ring rolling deformation and post-forging residual stress was simulated in the Forge finite element software. The results indicate that when there is a significant difference between the thickness and height dimensions of the ring, the primary rolling direction in the initial billet design should avoid aligning with either the excessively tall or excessively thick direction of the ring. After the ring rolling process is completed and cooled, the edges and corners of the ring’s end face experience compressive stress, while the core is subjected to tensile stress. This distribution aligns with the strain field distribution pattern of the ring.