Warm forging of an aluminium alloy for the differential case in an automobile transmission

Abstract

This paper presents a warm-forging process for the manufacture of an aluminium alloy differential case in an automobile, which has usually been produced from ductile cast iron. In order to replace the conventional ductile cast iron with a lightweight material in the differential case, aluminium alloy 6082 is utilized in the proposed warm-forging process, which is then analysed by numerical simulations using DEFORM-3D. Experimental warm forging using aluminium alloy 6082 was conducted in a 1600 tonf press shop to evaluate the proposed design in the die and the punch as well as the forgeability of the aluminium alloy differential case. The as-forged aluminium alloy differential case not only provides a net shape but also has a crack-free volume internally, while reducing the total weight by about 40% based on the proposed design.