Podbrezová Iron Works (Slovakia)

The Kosice Summit of Innovation and Technology (KSIT 2024) was held in Železiarne Podbrezová a.s. facilities from November 2-5, 2024, at the Hotel Stupka. The conference was organised to mark the 30th anniversary of founding the scientific journal Acta Metallurgica Slovaca. KSIT 2024 also covers some interesting topics. More lectures are presented on issues related to additive manufacturing (AM). Given the expanding and invaluable role of simulation tools, which can currently be applied to various production processes, an interesting lecture was given at the KSIT conference regarding using the simulation tool Simufact Additive. Current knowledge was also presented in the field of joining materials focused on hybrid methods of joining materials, especially sheets used in producing car bodies. Currently, the concepts of materials used for car bodies differ significantly, with the goal being to reduce the body's weight, thereby reducing fuel consumption and, on the other hand, increasing the passive safety of the crew. Individual car manufacturers' body construction concepts use different materials, such as ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

The paper focuses on the analysis and comparison of tube wall thickness after cold drawing. The tube wall thickness obtained by the experiment was compared with the wall thickness obtained using finite element method (FEM) simulation in the simulation software DEFORM-3D. For the experiment the tube sinking technology was performed and all tubes were made of steel E235. Tubes were the outer diameter of Ø14, Ø16, Ø18 mm and the tube wall thickness was 1 and 2 mm. All tubes were drawn by single-pass tube sinking technology to the final diameter of Ø12 mm. Tube sinking process is a tube drawing technology through a drawing die without the use of a mandrel. Tube sinking is used as a final drawing operation, especially in the production of precision tubes of smaller diameter. The resulting comparison showed that the tube wall thickness obtained by the simulation in the DEFORM software very well matches with tube wall thickness obtained in the experiments. Based on the results, it can be stated that in the future it will be possible to replace some of the real experiments with FEM simulation in the DEFORM software.

Abstract The object of the study was to create a computer model that resembles the process of cold drawing seamless steel tubes, and evaluate the influence of selected process parameters on selected final dimensions and tolerances of STL models of the tubes obtained from DEFORM simulation software. The STL models of tubes generated from the simulations were evaluated, and the effects of the reduction angle and the friction coefficient on the inner/outer diameter, inner/outer roundness and concentricity were subsequently found. It was proven that the inner and outer diameters are not influenced by different values of the friction coefficient at the same reduction angle. On the other hand, increasing value of the reduction angle affects decrease of the outer and inner diamaters after drawing. Furthermore, this experimental investigation vindicates that friction coefficient and reduction angle have the minimal impact on the inner/outer roundness and outer concentricity.