Models for the Design and Optimization of the Multi-Stage Wiredrawing Process of ZnAl15% Wires for Spray Metallization

Abstract

Metallization, a process for applying anti-corrosion coatings, has advantages over hot-dip galvanizing, such as reduced thermal stress and the ability to work “in situ”. This process consists of the projection of a protective metal as coating from a wire as application material, and this wire is obtained by multi-stage wiredrawing. For the metallization process, a zinc–aluminum alloy wire obtained by this process is used. This industrial process requires multiple stages/dies of diameter reduction, and determining the optimal sequence is complex. Thus, this work focuses on developing models with the aim of designing and optimizing the wiredrawing process of zinc–aluminum (ZnAl) alloys, specifically ZnAl15%, used for anti-corrosion applications. Both analytical models and numerical models based on the finite element method (FEM) and implemented by computer-aided engineering (CAE) software Deform 2D/3D v.12, enabled the prediction of the drawing stress and drawing force in each drawing stage, producing values consistent with experimental measurements. Key findings include the modeling of the material behavior when ZnAl15% wires were subjected to the tensile test at different speeds, with strain rate sensitivity coefficient m = 0.0128, demonstrating that this type of alloy is especially sensitive to the strain rate. In addition, the optimal friction coefficient (μ) for the drawing process of this material was experimentally identified as μ = 0.28, the ideal drawing die angle was determined to be 2α = 10◦, and the alloy’s deformability limit has been established by a reduction ratio r ≤ 22.5%, which indicates good plastic deformation capacity. The experimental results confirmed that the development of the proposed models can be feasible to facilitate the design and optimization of industrial processes, improving the efficiency and quality of ZnAl15% alloy wire production.