Temperature rise in wire-drawing

The use of high speeds in the wire-drawing process to meet the demands for increased productivity has a great effect on the heat generated due to plastic deformation and friction between the wire and the drawing tools. Most of the mechanical energy converts to heat and results in temperature rises of the order of hundreds of degrees. This temperature rise greatly affects lubrication conditions, tool life and the properties of the final product. The use of a proper lubrication technique substantially reduces the amount of heat generated during drawing and consequently reduces energy consumption. Energy saving in many metal forming processes, such as the wire-drawing process, became an important issue in a very competitive market. In order to achieve minimum energy consumption, the minimum possible drawing force had to be established by using the optimum die semi-angle, which in turn, has been established as a function of the area reduction and the coefficient of friction between wire and die. Under a range of process parameters including die angle, drawing speed, coefficient of friction and reduction ratio, the temperature rise for ten different materials has been calculated. The predicted values for temperature rise were compared with the experimental findings in the literature to examine the validity of the prediction techniques. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.