To eliminate the defects during piston skirt isothermal forming process, simulations under different process parameters such as the deformation temperature and friction factor were analyzed with the rigid-plastic FEA. Deformation pattern, metal flow and influence of process parameters were concluded. The prediction load value with a relative error of 4.98% is more accurate to the testing one than that from the empirical formula whose relative error is up to 50.8%. Finally, based on the simulation results, an improved process at 300 ℃ and 0.005-0.05 s-1 was verified without any defects by the physical try-out.