The article explores the possibility of using the authors’ three new methods of unconventional extrusion of deep hollows to be used for the manufacture of spline sleeves intended for internal toothing couplings. Two invention patents, PL206466 and PL224121, and one patent application, P.416772, were used for this purpose. Numerical computations were made in the Forge®3D program for the conceptual schemes of forming sleeves. The aim of those computations was to determine the extrusion forces and to compare them with the conventional indirect and direct extrusion methods. Then, on models based on the authors’ plastic forming schemes, numerical computations were made, from which the actual energy and force parameters were determined in the form of the relationship of extrusion force versus forming tool path. Also, the degree of fill of the passes, in which spline sleeve toothing is formed, was determined.
The article reports the results of a comparative analysis made for three novel unconventional gear wheel forging processes based on the authors’ patented [5,6,21] plastic forming methods developed chiefly for the purposes of extruding hollow products as well as valves and pins. These processes are distinguished by the fact that part of the tooling elements which are normally fixed during conventional forging are purposefully set in motion. This is intended to change the conditions of friction at the metal-tool contact surface and to induce additional thermal effects due to the transformation of the plastic deformation energy into thermal energy and, as a consequence, to improve the plastic flow of metal and to reduce the force parameters of the process.
The article proposes the implementation of a novel method of plastic forming of internal toothing in flange spline sleeves. A method being the subject of Polish patent application P.416772 has been used for this purpose, which involves a combination of the scheme of the direct extrusion of a cone hollow with the die press forming of the wall to obtain a flange. The entire process takes place in a single technological sequence. The operations come one after another, so that there is no need for reheating the stock or carrying out intermediate soft annealing. The proposed method is assumed to be an alternative to the operation of press forming of internal spline sleeve toothing in a conical die [1] and to the operation of swaging on rotary swaging machines [2]. It is assumed that this method, too, is alternative to other technologies known from the literature and industrial practice, whose specifications and literature references will be indicated later on in this paper. Computer simulations of the flanged sleeve plastic forming process were performed using the commercial numerical program Forge®3D. During the numerical computations, the distributions of temperature fields were determined on the cross-section of the plastically formed product. The computations enabled also the visualization of the plastic flow of metal, especially in the toothing forming regions, and the determination of the energy and force parameters of the process.
The article presents an analysis of stresses in the current tool system of the die during the implementation of the third forging operation of the screw M12 class 10.9 with cylinder head and hexagonal socket. It was assumed that the level of negative cracking due to stress can be reduced by using a mounting interference between the die and the tube blank. Due to the design of the tool system value of the die, the interference value cannot be too large. Therefore, an analysis of the influence of the interference between the die and the tube blank in a die tool system on the value and distribution of stresses in the individual components. An analysis of the assembly stresses and the stresses occurring during the process of deformation of the shaped head of the screw was done. The calculations were performed using a commercial software package MARC / Mentat.
The impulse noise is agent harmful to health not only in the case of shots from firearms and the explosions of explosive materials. This kind of noise is also present in many workplaces in the industry. The paper presents the results of noise parameters measurements in workplaces where four different die forging hammers were used. The measured values of the C-weighted peak sound pressure level, the A-weighted maximum sound pressure level and A-weighted noise exposure level normalized to an 8 h working day (daily noise exposure level) exceeded the exposure limit values. For example, the highest measured value of the C-weighted peak sound pressure level was 148.9 dB. In this study possibility of the protection of hearing with the use of earplugs or earmuffs was assessed. The measurement method for the measurements of noise parameters under hearing protection devices using an acoustical test fixture instead of testing with the participation of subjects was used. The results of these measurements allows for assessment which of two tested earplugs and two tested earmuffs sufficiently protect hearing of workers in workplaces where forging hammers are used.
The paper presents a description of the phenomena occurring on the surface of the forging dies. A detailed analysis was made of 24 pre-forging dies due to the most intensive wear in this operation. To compare the results, new tools were also analysed. The research described in the study showed that the most dangerous factor for the hot forging process analysed is thermal-mechanical fatigue, which causes small cracks, which in turn quickly leads to the formation of a crack network on the entire contact surface of the tool with forged material. The second phenomenon is the tempering of the surface of the material for a long-term temperature effect. The presence of hard iron oxides in the form of scale from forging material is the accompanying phenomenon that intensifies the processes of tool wear. The paper presents the results of the analysis of the presence of residual magnetic field for forging tools and the results of laboratory tests of wear processes of tool steels for hot work in the presence of a magnetic field and in the presence of scale.
The article presents an analysis of the multi-operation hot die forging process, performed on a press, of producing a lever forging used in the motorcycles of a renowned producer by means of numerical simulations. The investigations were carried out in order to improve (perfect) the currently applied production technology, mainly due to the presence of forging defects during the industrial production process. The defects result mainly from the complicated shape of the forging (bent main axis, deep and thin protrusions, high surface diversity in the cross section along the length of the detail), which, during the filling of the die by the deformed material, causes the presence of laps, wraps and underfills on the forging. Through the determination of the key parameters/quantities during the forging process, which are difficult to establish directly during the industrial process or experimentally, a detailed and complex analysis was performed with the use of FEM as well as through microstructure examinations. The results of the performed numerical modelling made it possible to determine: the manner of the material flow and the correctness of the impression filling, as well as the distributions of temperature fields and plastic deformations in the forging, and also to detect the forging defects often observed in the industrial process. On this basis, changes into the process were introduced, making it possible to improve the currently realized technology and obtain forgings of the proper quality as well as shape and dimensions.
The present paper reports the results of theoretical and experimental studies of the process of die forging a bimetallic door handle intended for the production of a helicopter. The aim of the studies was to develop and implement a technology for die forging of a product with a specific mass similar to that of magnesium alloys which will have, however higher corrosion resistance. Numerical modelling and industrial tests were carried out based on the previously forging processes for an AZ31 alloy door handle. The material for the tests was a bimetallic bar produced by the explosive welding method, in which the core was of alloy AZ31, and the cladding layer was made of 1050A grade aluminium. The studies were conducted for two variants: Variant I – the forging process was mapped by numerical modelling and industrial tests for the die shape and parameters used in the forging of the AZ31 alloy door handle, Variant II – the tool shape was optimized and process parameters were selected so as to obtain a finished product characterized by a continuous Al layer.
From the theoretical studies and experimental tests carried out it has been found that the application of the Variant I does not assure that a finished door handle characterized by a continuous cladding layer will be produced. Within this study, a novel method of bimetallic door handle die forging (Variant II) has been developed, which limits the amount of the flash formed and assures the integrity of the cladding layer.
The paper presents a prototype semi-industrial cooling line developed by the authors, which makes it possible to design a thermal treatment of forgings with the use of the forging heat, together with exemplary test results for forgings forked type. The proposed method of heat treatment dedicated to these forgings was described and compared to traditionally used heat treatment method in chamber furnaces. Next, the original research stand was presented, which performs mechanical fatigue test on final products – forked-type forgings. Forgings after heat treatment and cooling on the prototype line were tested on this stand in condition of cyclically variable mechanical loads in order to resistance to mechanical fatigue was analyzed and the influence of performed exemplary heat treatment on mechanical properties. The presented preliminary investigations performed on the designed combined research standing, consisting of: the prototype controlled cooling line, as well as mechanical fatigue stand point to the possibility of implementing thermal treatment with the use of the heat generated during the forging process and determining its impact on the mechanical properties of forgings.
Production processes of hot forging most often look similar [1-3]. Forging in several operations, usually in three or four. Most often the first operation is upsetting or flattening (sometimes rolling). The last operation is finishing forging. This applies to the production of steel forgings for the automotive, agricultural and other similar industries. Typical production proceeds as follows: the forgings are cleaned (shot-blasted) and then heat treatment is performed. It can be normalization, hardening and tempering, etc. After the heat treatment, forgings are checked and subjected to strength and microscopic tests, hardness tests, impact tests. The type of tests depends on the recipient. The process described in the work takes place in three operations. The heat treatment used so far is hardening and tempering. An attempt was made to change the heat treatment technology for a selected product made of 42CrMo4 steel (1.7225) (4140). An isothermal annealing test was carried out at different temperatures and for different times. The possibility of using heat from the forging process in heat treatment processes for the described product has been confirmed.
Traditional press and sinter processes have gained in the last decades more and more importance in the manufacturing of high volume and precise mechanical components especially in the field of iron based powders. In recent years, the reductions of processing times and temperatures were spotted as critical targets to increase productivity and reduce energy consumption. Electric current assisted sintering (ECAS) technologies have always been seen as an alternative to traditional furnace based sintering techniques and have been the target of different researches with the specific purpose of reducing both operational times and costs. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of an innovative process called Electro Sinter Forging (ESF) applied to CuSn15 powders. Thanks to a very short processing time (less than 1 second to densify loose powders), this process is able to retain a very small grain size, thus enhancing mechanical properties of the processed materials. Furthermore, to the authors knowledge, cold – rolled electro – sinter – forged alloys has never been investigated before. First of all, bars were electro – sinter – forged and subsequently characterized in the as sinter – forged condition. The observation of microstructure evidenced an extremely fine microstructure and a reduced degree of porosity. Afterwards, bars were cold rolled after different reduction ratios; macrostructural integrity of the rolled bars was assessed before evaluating the effects of cold rolling on the sinter – forged microstructure.
Liquid forging alias squeeze casting gives the combined advantage of casting and forging. Optimum process parameters are important to get a cost-efficient process. In this study, four materials have been identified, which are extensively used in industries. These materials are commercially pure Al and three Al-alloys namely, 2124, 2218 and 6063. The pouring temperature and the mold temperature is maintained at 700oC and 250oC respectively. The materials were developed at seven pressure variations from 0 to 150 MPa. The effect of the pressure on the microstructures, porosity, and hardness has been reported. The coefficient of solubility is estimated for all materials and a polynomial relationship is found to be the best fit with the applied pressure. The pressure of 100 MPa gives better increment in hardness. The melting point and the freezing coefficient of the materials under study have been determined. A linear relationship between the pressure and the freezing time is deduced. It is observed that the solubility and the freezing coefficients depend on the pressure as well, in addition to the composition and temperature.
In hot forging process, tool life is an important factor which influences the economy of production. Wear mechanisms in these processes are dependent on each other, so modeling of them is a difficult problem. The present research is focused on development of a hybrid tool wear model for hot forging processes and evaluation of adding adhesive mechanism component to this model. Although adhesive wear is dominant in cases, in which sliding distances are large, there is a group of hot forging processes, in which adhesion is an important factor in specific tool parts. In the paper, a proposed hybrid tool wear model has been described and various adhesive wear models have been reviewed. The feasible model has been chosen, adapted and implemented. It has been shown that adding adhesive wear model increases predictive capabilities of the global hybrid tool wear model as far as characteristic hot forging processes is considered.
In the paper presents two new patented of unconventional methods author’s and sleeve-type products of extruding [PL219182, PL221425]. The extrusion methods have been developed with the aim of reducing the energy and force parameters during the plastic forming of material. Traditional methods of extruding similar products are characterized by considerably higher extrusion force magnitudes. This results in substantial limitations and problems of an engineering nature. Moreover, the proposed methods of producing bottomed and bottomless sleeves are distinguished by the capability to minimize or totally eliminate the waste. The author’s methods of extruding long bottomless sleeves, presented herein, were used for developing a method for shaping inner toothing in spline sleeves. The theoretical analysis is based on thermomechanical simulation of the possibility of applying such processes to the extrusion of spline shafts with inner toothing. Next, the obtained results were compared with analogous parameters for classical indirect extrusion. The possibility of shaping inner toothing over the entire product length according to the proposed spline sleeve plastic forming methods was also explored.
The paper deals with evaluation of a 3D scanning method elaborated by the authors, by applying it to the analysis of the wear of forging tools. The 3D scanning method in the first place consists in the application of scanning to the analysis of changes in geometry of a forging tool by way of comparing the images of a worn tool with a CAD model or an image of a new tool. The method was evaluated in the context of the important measurement problems resulting from the extreme conditions present during the industrial hot forging processes. The method was used to evaluate wear of tools with an increasing wear degree, which made it possible to determine the wear characteristics in a function of the number of produced forgings. The following stage was the use it for a direct control of the quality and geometry changes of forging tools (without their disassembly) by way of a direct measurement of the geometry of periodically collected forgings (indirect method based on forgings). The final part of the study points to the advantages and disadvantages of the elaborated method as well as the potential directions of its further development.
An ancient forging device in Spain has been studied, namely the forge with a waterwheel and air-blowing tube or hydraulic trompe, found near the village of Santa Eulalia de Oscos (province of Asturias, Spain). Three procedures using ad hoc methods were applied: 3D modelling, finite element analysis (FEA), and computational-fluid dynamics (CFD). The CFD results indicated the proper functioning of the trompe, which is a peculiar device based on the Venturi effect to take in air. The maximum air volume flow rate supplied to the forge by the trompe was shown to be 0.091 m3/s, and certain parameters of relevance in the trompe design presented optimal values, i.e. offering maximum air-flow supply. Furthermore, the distribution of stress over the motion-transmission system revealed that the stress was concentrated most intensely in the cogs of the transmission shaft (a kind of camshaft), registering values of up to 7.50 MPa, although this value remained below half of the maximum admissible work stress. Therefore, it was confirmed that the oak wood from which the motion system and the trompe were made functioned properly, as these systems never exceeded the maximum admissible working stress, demonstrating the effectiveness of the materials used in that period.