Numerical and experimental research on shafts with elliptical sections formed by cross wedge rolling

Blades are important parts of aero-engines, and their manufacturing technology directly affects the preparation level and development speed of aero-engines. In view of the many problems existing in the current blade preforming process, this paper proposes a potential way to prepare blade preforms by using cross wedge rolling (CWR). Furthermore, considering the shape characteristics of the blade, a blade preform with an elliptical section formed by CWR was thoroughly investigated. The roll’s profile curve is of significant importance to forming quality, and its equation was deduced based on the plane meshing principle between the roll and the rolling piece and verified by finite element (FE) analysis and CWR experiments on a homemade platform. Meanwhile, the accuracy of the established FE model was quantitatively tested and used to study the forming limit expressed by eccentricity e , and the forming limit was approximately 0.8 (i.e., e ≤ 0.8). Based on this, a blade preform for an aero-engine compressor was designed with two elliptical sections, and it was well formed by the FE model, which verified the feasibility; these research results can also be extended and applied to the preform of other nonrotating parts and other materials.