Design of an experimental simulator of void closure during hot rolling process

Abstract. The shrinkage porosities produced during the casting of steel blooms has to be fixed by the subsequent hot rolling process. To design the rolling route, finite element simulations integrating void closure models are necessary. However, these models have to be validated by experimental results. Because experiments under industrial conditions are hardly achievable, experimental simulations at lower scale can be considered. However, the experiment must be designed so as to reproduce industrial like conditions concerning the thermomechanical loading and microstructure with respect to void closure. Among the main parameters driving void closure are the equivalent plastic strain and the mean triaxiality. This paper is dedicated to the design of an experimental simulator of void closure during hot rolling. The simulator consists of several strokes performed on a sample containing a real shrinkage porosity, between shaped anvils and with alternations of the forming direction.