Investigation on the Influence of Manufacturing Parameters on the Fatigue Strength of Components

With cold forging processes it is possible to produce parts characterized by high strength, high dimensional accuracy and high surface quality. In order to optimize the forming process and to be able to use the advantages of cold forging specifically and combined, it is necessary to find correlations between the manufacturing parameters, the strength and the properties, like hardness distribution and surface quality, of the component. The research work covered in this paper focuses on the influence of the components properties influenced by its manufacturing history on their fatigue strength. The used component is a flange hub, produced by a four-stage cold forging process. To obtain different component properties the production process of the hub was varied for example by changing the heat treatment or by producing the parts by turning process. First of all, the components’ properties, for example hardness distribution, remaining residual stresses, orientation of fibers and surface quality, were determined. Moreover, a special experimental setup for the fatigue tests has been designed. The components’ fatigue behavior was determined using a high frequency pulsator and evaluated in terms of finite life fatigue strength and fatigue endurance limit. These examinations were used to produce Woehler curves for the differently manufactured components with a certain statistical data analysis method.