Improvement of cold wire drawing process by electropulsing

Abstract

The electroplastic effects on wire drawing process assisted with different short time current pulses configurations are investigated experimentally. The current pulses were induced to a specimen during the drawing process. The studied material is the 308L stainless steel. Current densities of 185 A/mm2, frequencies range from 140 to 350 Hz and pulse duration range from 100 to 250 μs were used in the electrically‐assisted wire drawing process. Frequency and pulse duration are combined to determine which electrical configuration improves the mechanical behaviour under the electroplasticity phenomenon. The result of the present study shows a decrease of the drawing forces during wire drawing processes assisted under different electropulsing configurations. Moreover, a formability enhancement was noted due to an alteration of the mechanical behaviour caused by the electropulsing effect