Development of Preform for Simulation of Cold Forging Process of A V8 Engine Camshaft Free from Flash & Under-Filling

Finite Element Method based techniques apply to a wide spectrum of engineering applications including manufacturing. The flexibility to achieve optimized results by simulations adds another dimension to process-development. The efficiency due to simulation is enhanced many folds for developing desired components by reducing the cost as well as time. This paper investigates cold forging process to be adopted to produce camshafts with a target to minimize flash as well as under filling. These two factors being major problems encountered when cold forging is to be adopted for complex shaped products. The current work is primarily concerned with the development of an optimized preform design for a V8 engine camshaft. The work involved the Solid modeling of the camshaft on AutoCAD and further analyzing the developed model through finite element analysis using Deform 3D. The analysis involved understanding of metal flow, volumetric analysis and die stresses in the forging process. The materials considered for the work-piece and the dies are AISI 8620 and AISI-H-26 respectively. The sample camshaft was taken from a standard Dodge Challenger V8 engine. 10 different cases are analyzed to find out the best possible scenario. It is fund that the stress level for the developed model was very much within the design limit of the material.