Abstract
In order to leverage the concept of integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) for manufacturing of high-performance automotive transmission components such as steel gears, it is important to bring a closer collaboration between geometrical design, material selection, and manufacturing design stages for these components. This can be achieved by making the manufacturers aware of the implications of the decisions taken during each of these stages on material and its underlying microstructure. In order to facilitate this, it is necessary to model the evolution of the microstructure in the process-chain and its resultant properties. With this view, the current work focusses on development of an integrated modeling scheme of carburizing, quenching, and tempering processes using chemical composition-dependent, microstructure-based models intended to be used in an ICME framework for steel gear manufacturing. The individual process models are implemented in the commercial FEM suite ABAQUS™, with essential microstructure physics incorporated via user-subroutines. The individual process-models and their sequential integration are validated against experimental case-studies from literature. After validation, the integrated modeling scheme is automated by writing appropriate pre-processing and post-processing wrapper scripts, leading to the development of an independent manufacturing module that can be used in an ICME workflow. Finally, the utility of this module is demonstrated by using it for the exploration of the manufacturing process design and material selection scenarios for the production of a typical spur gear.
Highlights
Increasing the service life of components such as automotive gears, or enhancing their performance, is always an aspect of interest and concern for the industry
Since carburizing process set-points effect the final properties of the gear after quenching and tempering, this study shows that an integrated modeling approach is necessary to capture the effect of all the processing conditions on the final microstructure and properties of the gear
The applicability of the module is demonstrated by addressing the typical scenarios of the manufacturing design, material selection stages in the design and development cycle of automotive gear
Summary
Increasing the service life of components such as automotive gears, or enhancing their performance, is always an aspect of interest and concern for the industry. No attempt has been made to model the combined effect of the C-Q-T processes in integration with each other, in an ICME framework, applicable for a large variety of steels, so as to enable better material and manufacturing process parameter selection for better gear designs. With this view, the present work focusses on the development of thermo-metallurgical through process models of the C-Q-T process chain for an ICME framework. In order to demonstrate the application of such a module, case studies for manufacturing process design and material selection for a typical automotive gear are carried out
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Integrating Materials and Manufacturing Innovation
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
