Preform shape design for complex forging is an important and intractable aspect in the design of forging process. This paper presents an integrated methodology based on elliptic Fourier analysis (EFA), finite element method (FEM) and genetic algorithms (GA) to determine optimal preform shape. Firstly, an elliptic Fourier analysis, which has the advantages of wide versatility and short design cycle, is adopted as the transformation rule for the first time in this paper. The similarity between elliptic Fourier analysis and plastic forming process is demonstrated theoretically. Meanwhile, the main steps for using elliptic Fourier analysis module to design preform shape are introduced: two-dimensional slice, elliptic Fourier analysis and three-dimensional reconstruction. The preform shapes generated by elliptic Fourier analysis module can be simulated directly in finite element method module. Next, in order to control the deformation amount and material distribution of preform, two sets of design parameters, i.e., shape factor and triaxial scaling factors, are employed to control the preform shape before entering the finite element method module simulation. Then, these design parameters are optimized using the genetic algorithm module. Finally, taking a heavy forging with complex shapes as an example, its optimized design scheme is carried out in real forging production. The results show that the forging is produced without problems of crack, folds, underfilling and unreasonable flash distribution, which validates the effectiveness of the presented methodology. Furthermore, this integrated methodology could be extended to other complex forgings.

复杂锻件的瓶坯形状设计是锻造工艺设计中一个重要而棘手的方面。本文提出了一种基于椭圆傅里叶分析（EFA），有限元方法（FEM）和遗传算法（GA）的综合方法学，以确定最佳的瓶坯形状。首先，本文首次将椭圆傅里叶分析作为一种变换规则，它具有通用性强，设计周期短的优点。理论上证明了椭圆傅立叶分析与塑性成形过程之间的相似性。同时，介绍了使用椭圆傅里叶分析模块设计瓶坯形状的主要步骤：二维切片，椭圆傅里叶分析和三维重构。椭圆傅里叶分析模块生成的预成型件形状可以直接在有限元方法模块中进行模拟。接下来，为了控制预成型坯的变形量和材料分布，在进入有限元方法模块模拟之前，采用两组设计参数，即形状因子和三轴缩放因子来控制预成型坯的形状。然后，使用遗传算法模块优化这些设计参数。最后，以复杂形状的重型锻件为例，在实际的锻件生产中进行了优化设计方案。结果表明，所产生的锻件没有裂纹，褶皱，底部填充和飞边分布不合理的问题，验证了所提出方法的有效性。此外，