Researching of commonalities and differences in cold forging of spur and helical gears

Modern automobiles are equipped with a large number of gear transmissions. In the powertrain, for example, they are used as multi-stage manual transmissions and in the interior for mirror and seat adjustment. Machining manufacturing processes—like gear hobbing and shaping—represent the state of the art in gear manufacturing due to high manufacturing accuracy and flexible machining possibilities. With regard to economic, ecological and technical aspects, cold forging offers a promising production technology. In conventional transverse and forward extrusion processes, the ejection process is a challenge due to high forces and a negative influence on the gearing accuracy. One variant of forward extrusion is the so-called “Samanta” process, whereby an additional ejection step is avoidable by sequential forming of the gears. For the establishment of this process in industry, the increase of the achievable gearing accuracy and the achievable tool life is of major relevance. Thus, a deeper process understanding as well as knowledge about the influences on the process results is beneficial. In this context, the aim of this research work is to produce spur and helical gears by the “Samanta”-process. In addition to the resulting component properties, the characteristics of the process are determined. On this basis, commonalities and differences in cold forging of spur and helical gears are investigated to gain a principle process understanding. These findings are also used to derive possible approaches for improving component and process properties in future research work. The results reveal that cold forging of spur and helical gears by the “Samanta”-process results in characteristic properties and specific challenges within the gear types. Furthermore, a geometric adaptation in the gearing area of the used die promises enormous potential for a positive influence on the process results for both types of gearing.