Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation of the Casting-Forging Complex Near Net Forming of Alternator Claw-pole

As a newly developed precision technology, casting-forging complex near net forming process is utilized to produce complex components with a short lead time, low cost and high precision, thus to accelerate the response speed of the market and enhance the competitive power of products. In this paper, the casting-forging complex near net forming process of alternator claw pole was developed and investigated with a combination of experimental and numerical simulation method. Qualified near net workpiece was manufactured, mechanical parameter and relative field information during the forming process was also obtained. While the alternator claw-pole is processed with this technology, the forming force is small, the process is short and the quality of forgings is perfect. Therefore, the complex casting-forging near net forming process of claw-pole is an energy and material saving technology, which will have a vast developing and application prospect in the future.

Research on the Casting-forging Precision Forming Process of Alternator Poles

The casting-forging combined technique and the closed die forging without flash-less are both new developed material working methods. The former can not only decrease forming operations of forgings, but also increase the material utilization ratio. Therefore, it is applied to produce more complex forgings. The latter is required for forging precise parts without burrs. The alternator pole is a complex forging, which was usually produced by hot forging, upsetting-extrusion or upsetting-extrusion and bending processes. During these processes, not only the forming force is higher, but the material of burrs accounts for 30 percent or so of total required material. And burrs are difficult to remove in the sequential machining process. In accordance with defects exiting in current manufacturing of alternator poles by upsetting-extruding process, such as more material demand, higher forming force and difficulty of next machining, a casting-forging precision process of alternator poles was developed and investigated in this paper. In the process, the pole was formed by two operations. One is the pre-forming operation by casting. The other is the final forming operation by the closed precision forging process. This can not only shorten processes, decrease material and power demand, but also increase precision of forgings. First, the casting blocker was designed considering the casting process and the forging ratio and the mode of deformation. Then the die structure for closed precision forging was designed, and the closing device for forging dies with spring assemblies in order to provide the necessary closing force was also designed. Finally the forming processes was investigated by test and numerical simulation method to optimum process parameters and die structure design parameters. The result can provide basis for applying the process to manufacture poles in practice.