Numerical and Experimental Analysis of the Gear Size Influence on Density Variations and Distortions during the Manufacturing of PM Gears with an Innovative Powder Processing Route Incorporating HIP

Abstract

The paper is the result of research intended to develop a process route for the manufacturing of powder metallurgical (PM) gears for application in transmissions units for heavy duty powertrain applications. The main problem of PM for such applications is that the generated pores that occur through conventional pressing and sintering processes reduce the gear strength, which reduces the capacity for power transmission by the gear. In prior work, removing the pores and reaching 100% density by adding Hot Iso-static Pressing (HIP) after two times pressing and two times sintering steps in the process route was suggested to solve the mentioned problem. During the investigations of this work it was revealed that the gear dimensions could influence the process results with respect to geometrical distortions. In this paper we have presented a finite element (FE) model based analysis on how the gear geometrical parameters influenced the distortions occurring in HIP. The simulation model is validated with experiments. Furthermore, the simulation model is used to create a prediction model for further investigations. The research showed that PM gears with different sizes during the proposed process route behaved differently in terms of distortions. This was illustrated with a series of simulations with different gear geometries. A regression model was developed based on the FE results for further practical predictive use. The distortions caused by HIP should be considered in the process design to prevent expensive post processes afterwards to reach the gear with accurate geometry and keep the costs of manufacturing low. It is concluded that it is possible to use the innovative process route including HIP to reach the full density and close all the open pores but not for all kind of gear geometries.