Recent development of process simulation for industrial applications

Manufacturing technologies have advanced over the past decades in many area s. These include process control, manufacturing tolerances, die design, CAD /CAM and process simulation. The constant pressures on manufacturers to red uce cost, minimize lead times and improve quality are ongoing. Automotive, aerospace, energy products, fastener, metals producers and other manufactur ing industries are very competitive. Margins are tight even during strong p eriods of the business cycle. In this paper, the application of process sim ulation, as applied to the forging, cold heading and heat treatment is disc ussed. Several applications are presented, with an emphasis on industrial c ases. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.