Multi-scale simulation for the forming of a heavy vessel head considering the evolution of defects and microstructure

The head of nuclear pressure vessel is a key component to guarantee the safety of nuclear power plant, so it is necessary to improve its mechanical properties during manufacturing. In the practical production, due to the huge size of the ingots from which the head is manufactured, coarse grains and voids are common defects existing in the material. Furthermore, cracks may appear in the forming process. It is highly demanded that the forming process must be properly designed with suitable parameters to compact the voids, to refine and homogenize the grains and to avoid cracks. Therefore, the research on the evolution of internal voids, grain size and cracks is very important to determine the forming process of huge components. SA508-3 steel is the material to manufacture the head of pressure vessel in the nuclear island. In the previous studies, we have separately built models to evaluate the evolution of internal voids, grain size and cracks during the hot forming process for SA508-3 steel. This study integrates the models for multi-scale simulation of the forging process of the head of nuclear pressure vessel in order to control the quality of the forgings. Through the software development, the models are integrated with a commercial finite element code DEFORM. Then, the extended forging and final forging processes of the head are investigated, and some appropriate deformation parameters are recommended.