Abstract :
The paper presents a general-purpose optimization method for metal-forming processes by plastic deformation based on their modelling as thermodynamic processes with entropy generation minimization. To this purpose, equations have been formulated describing a thermodynamic system consisting of two subsystems: a tool and a workpiece which is a basic feature of each metal-forming process. A mathematical model of the thermodynamic system has been derived based on fundamental equations in continuum mechanics related to a deformable solid and the basic laws of thermodynamics. The mathematical model describes the phenomena related to the thermomechanical strength of the tool; the energy balance of the system; displacements and deformation in the tool–workpiece system due to mechanical and temperature factors, etc. On the basis of the second law of thermodynamics, entropy generation has been defined as a generalized optimization criterion and its functional has been synthesized containing the tensor functions of stresses and of strain velocities, the scalar functions of temperatures and the relative velocities of the two media. A summarized algorithm for entropy generation minimization has been proposed and illustrated by a numerical example.
