New process design and control methods are needed for significantly improving productivity and reducing costs of thermomechanical processes such as hot metal forging. Current practices for accomplishing basic design tasks such as selecting the number of forming steps and specifying the processing conditions for each thermomechanical operation produce feasible solutions that are often far from optimal. Substantial improvements in effectiveness and efficiency can be realized through holistic approaches that optimize the whole system performance and not just individual subsystems such as workpiece material behavior, material flow in dies, and equipment responses. Recent progress in the application of dynamical modelling and process design techniques using ideal forming concepts and trajectory optimization are discussed. Monitoring methods for the on-line monitoring of the process and an intelligent forging system has been proposed.
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