Improvement of Tool Life and Production Efficiency in Continuous Grain Flow Forging of Diesel Engine Crankshafts

摘要

In the face of continuing global competition, an efficient and cost competitive forging process is critical to maintain anrnadvantage in the marketplace. Besides efficient shop-floor management, computational simulation is one of the keyrnrequirements for a) reducing lead-time to market, b) improving tool life and product quality, and c) improving materialrnyield. The main focus of this paper is to summarize current approaches for improvement of tool life and productionrnefficiency in continuous grain flow (CGF) forging of crankshafts using a combination of computational simulation andrnproduction validation. The root causes of die failure and quality issues were initially identified using fishbone/Ishikawarndiagrams. A computational analysis approach has been developed in order to determine the die-workpiece interfacernconditions at a) start of production assuming a uniform pre-heat temperature on the dies and b) under steady-staternproduction conditions.