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This paper gives a review of the finite element techniques (FE) applied in the area of material processing. The latest trends in metal forming, non‐metal forming and powder metallurgy are briefly discussed. The range of applications of finite elements on the subjects is extremely wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore the aim of the paper is to give FE users only an encyclopaedic view of the different possibilities that exist today in the various fields mentioned above. An appendix included at the end of the paper presents a bibliography on finite element applications in material processing for the last five years, and more than 1100 references are listed.

This paper gives a review of the finite element techniques (FE) applied in the area of material processing. The latest trends in metal forming, non‐metal forming, powder metallurgy and composite material processing are briefly discussed. The range of applications of finite elements on these subjects is extremely wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore the aim of the paper is to give FE researchers/users only an encyclopaedic view of the different possibilities that exist today in the various fields mentioned above. An appendix included at the end of the paper presents a bibliography on finite element applications in material processing for 1994‐1996, where 1,370 references are listed. This bibliography is an updating of the paper written by Brannberg and Mackerle which has been published in Engineering Computations, Vol. 11 No. 5, 1994, pp. 413‐55.

This paper presents a numerical approach for analysing three‐dimensional steady‐state rolling by means of the reproducing kernel particle method (RKPM). The approach is based on the flow formulation for slightly compressible materials and a detailed description of RKPM and its numerical implementation is presented with the objective of providing the necessary background. Special emphasis is placed on the construction of shape functions and their derivatives, enforcement of the essential boundary conditions and treatment of frictional effects along the contact interface between the workpiece and the roll. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is discussed by comparing the theoretical predictions with the finite element calculations and experimental data found in the literature.

THE first part of Professor Duncan Dowson's paper (March/April issue) dwelt on late 19th century development of machinery outstripping the performance of available lubricants. Contemporary lubricant research, and personalities involved, where described, leading to the concept of fluid‐film lubrication, documented by Professor Osborne Reynolds' paper read to the Royal Society in 1886.

The purpose of this paper is to provide industrial, education and academic users of computer programs a basic overview of finite elements in metal forming that will enable them to recognize the pitfalls of the existing formulations, identify the possible sources of errors and understand the routes for validating their numerical results.

The methodology draws from the fundamentals of the finite elements, plasticity and material science to aspects of computer implementation, modelling, accuracy, reliability and validation. The approach is illustrated and enriched with selected examples obtained from research and industrial metal forming applications.

The presentation is a step towards diminishing the gap being formed between developers of the finite element computer programs and the users having the know‐how on the metal forming technology. It is shown that there are easy and efficient ways of refreshing and upgrading the knowledge and skills of the users without resorting to complicated theoretical and numerical topics that go beyond their knowledge and most often are lectured out of metal forming context.

The overall content of the paper is enhancement of previous work in the field of sheet and bulk metal forming, and from experience in lecturing these topics to students in graduate and post‐graduate courses and to specialists of metal forming from industry.

This paper presents an algorithm for automatic generation of graded initial quadrilateral meshes targeted for the finite element analysis of metal‐forming processes. Meshing the domain geometry deals with a universe of shapes, and the procedure therefore takes into account the initial geometry of the billet. A grid‐based approach is utilised for generating an initial coarse mesh with well‐shaped (internal) elements, and in cases where non‐rectangular shapes are to be discretized, linking with the boundary is performed on the basis of constrained Delaunay triangulation. By analysing the contact situation between dies and mesh, an attempt is made to identify regions where plastic deformation is likely to be concentrated during the early stages of processing, and accordingly refinement of the mesh is performed locally by elemental subdivision. Simulation examples for closed‐die forging, forward rod and backward can extrusion substantiate the feasibility of this approach in terms of lowering the overall calculation error and limiting the interference between mesh and die.

In his introduction to this paper the author likened the function of the tribology centres to that of a two‐way bridge—for the drawing in of information about industry's tribological problems and for the outflow of remedial advice and help.

ENGINE lubricating oil filtration is not an exact science. Despite recent advances, detailed understanding of how filters and filtration systems operate is sparse, yet filters are known to facilitate dramatic reductions in engine wear. This paper relates the size of contaminants found in used oil to the magnitudes of the oil films between the lubricated components, in order to define the required filtration level in engines. The results of wear tests with oil contaminated by small particles are used to confirm the filtration requirement.

Engine friction will continue to affect the efficiency of vehicle power plants as long as we have vehicles that use their own prime movers. A consequence of this, of course, is the fact that the truly “adiabatic” power plant needs rather more than an insulated combustion chamber. What is not so certain is the extent to which engine friction could be reduced and whether that reduction when achieved is worth all the effort.

Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element meshing and remeshing from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. Topics such as adaptive techniques for meshing and remeshing, parallel processing in the finite element modelling, etc. are also included. The bibliography at the end of this paper contains 1,727 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with presented subjects that were published between 1990 and 2001.