Metallographic and Finite Element Evaluation of Plastic Deformation During the Forming Process of Cartridge Brass Casings

The main objective of this paper is connected with computational modeling and metallographic investigation of the production process of cartridge brass casing for various stages of its forming. Moreover, the mutual correlation of the obtained results was carried out. Forming process belongs to the most advanced technologies in mechanical engineering because it allows producing a large number of products in a short time with sufficient material utilization. Geometric and computational modeling of the individual drawing steps was performed in program MARC which is used for the calculation of cold forming process for metal materials. The given program is based on solving of nonlinear finite element analysis. The aim of the computer simulation was to determine the deformation changes in the semi-product material for individual drawing steps and it is especially connected with changes of dimensions and areas with the largest plastic deformation as well as decrease of the wall thickness. Metallographic evaluation was focused on change of the shape and size of grains after the individual technological procedures.