August 2026 Volume 8

FORGING RESEARCH

ACCURIDE WORKS TO ENGINEER THE GRAIN STRUCTURE OF 6XXX SERIES ALUMINUM ALLOYS USING PROCESS AND MICROSTRUCTURE MODELING By Colton Ritz, Dekland D. H. Barnum, and Matt Gallaugher

Introduction Four project teams were awarded funding to pursue advancements in forging technology following the March 2024 call FIA announced, in collaboration with the Army Research Lab (ARL) and on behalf of the Army Futures Command (AFC). One of the awarded projects for the call is focused on leveraging cutting-edge simulation tools to gain rapid insights into the thermo-mechanical behavior of 6xxx series aluminum alloys during forging processes. FIA met with Colton Ritz, Metallurgical Engineer at Accuride Corporation, to discuss the project as their team continues work following the initial months of the project. Project Inception When asked about the project and its inception, Ritz stated that “Accuride is committed to leading the charge in materials science and manufacturing engineering, and our research project represents a significant step towards achieving this goal, in collaboration with Scientific Forming Technologies Company (SFTC).” The inception of the project, and the collaboration with SFTC, actually predates the call for proposals FIA announced. “We actually, probably six months before we even found out about the opportunity, approached SFTC to see if they had anything like what we were looking for,” Ritz recalled. After these initial discussions, once SFTC saw the announcement, they reached back out to Accuride. “They got ahold of us and said, ‘There’s this opportunity out and we’d like to partner with you.’” The timing was ideal and Accuride began working with SFTC on the proposal. Accuride’s initial request to SFTC for this work was primarily due to their forged wheels, and the demanding requirements they have. Wheels have been such a historical mainstay in our society, and the engineered grain structure has become so optimized in their manufacture that new capabilities need to be developed to avoid diminishing returns. With current trends focusing on component lightweighting and parts being forged closer to final geometry, over-engineered wheels are no longer sufficient. More care needs to be taken in manufacturing design to determine the desired geometry, microstructural properties, and final performance of the part. Why Use Modeling to Engineer and Predict the Grain Structure? “Until we actually make a forging out of a new design, we don’t really know for sure what the grains are going to do.” Ritz stated. An accurate prediction of material properties and microstructure evolution can eliminate the need for time-consuming shop floor

trials, reducing product development lead time, and enhancing manufacturing efficiency. For aluminum, the entire forging manufacturing process entails thermo-mechanical deformation, solution heat treating, quenching, and aging, which collectively determines the final grain size and microstructure. Small changes in the initial deformation parameters can result in large changes to the final part as shown in Figure 1, where a 50°F change in deformation temperature produced a significant change in the final grain structure. Grain size and microstructure, in turn, have strong effects on advanced material characteristics such as corrosion and fatigue. “Our products are so fatigue sensitive, the grain flow is super important.” Ritz stated. Producing forgings that maximize corrosion and fatigue resistance, therefore, requires knowledge and understanding of fundamental nucleation and growth kinetics and how they are influenced by the manufacturing process.

Figure 1: A temperature differential of just 50°F across these three forgings highlights the necessity of robust thermo-mechanical process modeling to accurately predict grain flow and recrystallization behavior, reducing costly trial-and-error die iteration costs during new forging process development, and improving fatigue-critical component performance. Although the project is still in earlier stages, the path forward is clearly laid out. “They’re going to take the forgings that we make, the data that we collect, create the model, and validate it.” Ritz

66 FIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2026