Research on forging process for 42CrMo dual-grouser track shoe used in special vehicle

In order to meet the high mobility and lightweight requirements of tracked special vehicles, a novel dual-grouser track shoe component was designed and formed by forging. The thickness of thinnest connection area between two grousers was only 3mm. The low-alloy wear-resisting steel 42CrMo was chosen as the raw material, which enables to solve the drawbacks of non-ferrous metal under the low-intensity-impacting condition. The stress-strain fields of the part during forming were simulated and analyzed using the Finite Element (FE) simulation software, Deform-3D. In addition, the microstructure and mechanical properties of the formed parts demonstrated that the forging process could exhibit a good forming effect with precise dimension and stable quality accomplished. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and fracture elongation of the connection area between two grousers were 788MPa, 467MPa and 19.5%. Furthermore, the wear rate and coefficient of friction of this area were 0.015mg/(km.N) and 0.37. Such kind of novel 42CrMo dual-grouser track shoe component is able to offer a lower production costs and longer service duration. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.