Analysis of the production process of the forked forging used in the excavator drive system in order to improve the currently implemented technology by the use of numerical modeling

Abstract

The study concerns a comprehensive analysis of a multistage hot-die forging on hammers, in order to produce a yoke-type forging, used as a component of excavator power transmission systems. The investigations were conducted with the aim to analyze and identify the sensitive areas in the process and then improve the currently implemented forging technology by using finite element (FE) simulation. QuantorForm (the developer of the QForm program) has developed a thermomechanical numerical model for the production of forked forging. The software Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application (CATIA) was used to develop and build Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models of forging tools. As a result of the numerical simulations, the plastic deformations and temperature distributions for the forgings and tools were obtained, and the force courses during the forging process were analyzed. The obtained results enabled a thorough analysis of the forging process, including identification of potential forging defects (laps) as well as those tool areas that are the most loaded and exposed to damage. On this basis, changes were implemented in the production process, which allowed for the improvement of the currently implemented technology and obtaining the corrected forgings.

Possibilities of Measuring and Detecting Defects of Forged Parts in Die Hot-Forging Processes

“…Figure 6d The obtained 3D scan results in the form of a shape lapse of the cyclically collected forgings enable a relatively simplified analysis. Owing to the development of the reverse 3D scanning method (Figure 6a,b), it is possible, through a measurement (scanning) of the forgings collected from the process, to describe the operation history of the forging tools that made these forgings [48]. Figure 6c illustrates a comparison of the geometrical and dimensional changes in the forgings after a certain number of them have been made and the wear of the filler (corresponding to the closer number of forgings in the model and at the end of its operation time).…”

“…The available literature provides studies whose authors use many of the mentioned methods and tools simultaneously, where the results point to high effectiveness in solving many difficult issues connected with hot-die-forging processes [ 45 ] and where FF simulations are verified in real processes [ 46 ]. Therefore, this approach, consisting of combining the presented methods and measurement techniques, is the right direction in the development of scientific and research work, both in solving problems in the field of production technology and materials engineering and the industrial implementation of the developed solutions [ 47 , 48 ]. The novelty of the presented work and investigations is demonstrated by the usefulness and practicality of the IT tools in the form of scanning and numerical modeling in applications in the forging industry, where, due to difficult operating conditions and certain historical background and financial problems, it is difficult to implement this type of methods as tools supporting the everyday work of the technologists and engineers.…”

Analysis and Improvement of an Industrial Process of Hot Die Forging of an Elongated Forging Tipped with a Joggle with the Use of Numerical Simulation Results

“…This is especially justified in the case when the forging has a complex shape such as that of a turbine blade, a toothed gear, a yoke, etc. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. In turn, the authors of [17] developed an experimental-numerical methodology of identifying coefficients for constitutive equations in the case of die forging on presses.…”

“…The study [20] uses FEM for the analysis of the process of trimming the flash. In turn, in the studies, FEM was applied for a complex analysis of the forging process in order to optimize or improve the currently realized technology of forked forging used in the excavator drive system [21]. The article [22] presents numerical calculations of the whole process of producing a forging of a toothed gear assigned for motorcar gear boxes.…”

Evolution of zinc coatings during drawing process of steel wires

“…The research carried out by Witkin and Tejndl [20] presents the growth kinetics of intermetallic phases at the process temperature of 450 °C for 120 min in a zinc bath. The studies have proven the dynamic growth of phases δ1 and ζ, where phase ζ grew the fastest of all phases, up to 100 min of bathing.…”