Numerical Simulations of Upsetting Process of the Fresh Fiber-Cement Paste

Abstract

In this paper, first, the technical aspects for applications of finite-element method (FEM) in modeling material forming processes are reviewed, with a final determination of employing the solid formulation explicit finite element code, ANSYS/LS-DYNA, with the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian mesh to simulate upsetting process, which is the uniaxial compression of a cylindrical specimen between two flat platens, of the fresh fiber-cement paste. After combining a previously proposed elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model for the fresh fiber-cement paste into the numerical procedure, satisfactory agreement between experimental and simulated results is observed for the upsetting force-imposed displacement data. The evolution of the deformation within the material flow in the upsetting process is then interpreted based on the calculated results. The study indicates that the present finite-element procedure, as well as the material constitutive model and the boundary condition treatment, are appropriate for modeling the upsetting process of the fresh fiber-cement paste.