A Study on the Process Design of Cold-Forged Automobile Parts

The cold forging processes of automobile parts such as piston-pin, valve-spring retainer(VSR) and power-assisted steering part (PAS) are analyzed by the rigid-plastic finite element method. The results of the simulation on the piston-pin are summarized in terms of the strain distribution and load-stroke relationship. Based on the analysis on the current processes of VSR and PAS, the new novel processes for improving the conventional process sequences are designed. As a design criterion, the improved processes satisfy the new condition such as an initial billet size, the production time and the limit value of forming load and pressure etc. The present simulation results and the newly developed process gave rise to an improvement in manufacturing processes for cold-forged automobile parts. Furthermore, the numerical analysis for the processes in this study provides a new design concept for forming processes and a basis for the selection of forging equipments.