Open die forging is a technique widely used to achieve desired shape and sound mechanical properties. Due to large sizes, the ingots often... Show moreOpen die forging is a technique widely used to achieve desired shape and sound mechanical properties. Due to large sizes, the ingots often have internal defects such as porosity, shrinkage cavities which damage the overall quality of the final product and affect the mechanical properties of the material. The voids developed during cooling of the ingot have to be treated in the initial forming operation known as cogging which depends on parameters such as die width ratio, die overlap, feed ratio, die shape etc. In this work, finite element method has been used to identify different aspects affecting centerline defect closure, material properties, effect of friction coefficient, relationship between effective strain and the grain size. FORGE 2011 and FORGE NxT 1.0 by Transvalor Corp were used to create numerical models. The material used in this case is H13. Material data and compression test samples were obtained from experiments in a Gleeble 3500. Physical experiments carried out on the Gleeble 3500 were used to determine the coefficient of friction for samples treated at different temperature, strain and strain rates. The effect of these parameters on coefficient of friction was studied in later part of the study. The formulae from the literature used to calculate the coefficient of friction was validated by using simulation models of the compression test samples. These samples were also used to study fraction recrystallized for a particular sample to study the relationship between effective strain and microstructure. Comparisons between validation experiments and simulations showed that there was good agreement between the two and established the effective strain criterion for void closure. From the conclusions obtained from validation experiments, optimal pass schedule was developed to ensure closure of internal voids and uniform distribution of effective strain along centerline for sound quality of the workpiece by changing die overlap percentage every two passes. M.S. in Material Science Engineering, December 2014 Show less