Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 25 (6) (2011) 1519~1527

www.springerlink.com/content/1738-494x
DOI 10.1007/s12206-011-0430-z

Multi-objective optimization of process parameters for the helical gear precision

forging by using Taguchi method
Wei Feng1 and Lin Hua2,*
1
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, China
2
School of Automotive Engineering, Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology of Automotive Parts, Wuhan University of Technology,
Wuhan 430070, China

(Manuscript Received June 24, 2010; Revised March 10, 2011; Accepted March 20, 2011)

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Abstract

Precision forging of the helical gear is a complex metal forming process under coupled effects with multi-factors. The various process
parameters such as deformation temperature, punch velocity and friction conditions affect the forming process differently, thus the opti-
mization design of process parameters is necessary to obtain a good product. In this paper, an optimization method for the helical gear
precision forging is proposed based on the finite element method (FEM) and Taguchi method with multi-objective design. The maximum
forging force and the die-fill quality are considered as the optimal objectives. The optimal parameters combination is obtained through
S/N analysis and the analysis of variance (ANOVA). It is shown that, for helical gears precision forging, the most significant parameters
affecting the maximum forging force and the die-fill quality are deformation temperature and friction coefficient. The verified experi-
mental result agrees with the predictive value well, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method.
Keywords: Helical gear precision forging; Multi-objective optimization; Taguchi method; Finite element method; Orthogonal design
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fill quality, reducing the forging force, increasing the die life,
1. Introduction
obtaining favorable grain size.
Helical gears are widely applied as an important transmis- In recent years, many scholars have made a lot of research
sion component in most of the mechanical and automotive on the forming of helical gears. Samanta [3] proposed a proc-
industry. In recent years, there has been an increased interest ess for cold extrusion of helical gears. Choi et al. [2, 4, 5] de-
in the production of gears by the precision forming technique. veloped a new method of cold extrusion for helical gears and
This is because of their inherent advantages compared with analyzed it by using the upper-bound method. Lange et al. [6,
conventional cutting methods. The advantages include the 7] made a deformation analysis for the cold forging of helical
excellent mechanical properties, less raw material, good toler- gears by 3D FEM and analyzed the elastic deformation of the
ance, high productivity and cost savings [1, 2]. die by 3D-BEM. Yang [8] investigated the clamping-type
The precision forging of the helical gear is a very compli- forging of helical gears through experiments and analysis by
cated metal forming process under coupled effects with multi- FEM. Jung [9] proposed the extrusion of helical gears by two-
factors. The various process parameters such as deformation step process to reducing the forming load. However, previous
temperature, punch velocity and friction affect the forming methods mainly focused on the formability of helical gears by
quality differently, thus the reasonable process parameter de- cold extrusion. Optimization technique with multi-objective
sign is very important. Actually, for lack of theoretical instruc- design of process parameters for a helical gear warm precision
tion, the process parameters of gears precision forging were forging has not been reported.
determined by repeated experiments with artificial experience, Due to the inherent complexity of forming processes, the
which consume a large amount of materials and time. As a helical gear forging is of high forging pressure which causes
result, the optimization design of process parameters is sig- failure, plastic deformation and wear of die. Moreover, it is
nificant to obtain the desired goals such as achieving good die- difficult to fill the teeth corner because of the helical shape.
†
The forging pressure and filling conditions can be predicted
This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Editor Dae-Eun
Kim
by rigid-plastic finite element simulation. This is performed
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 27 87168391, Fax.: +86 27 87168391 by combining the FEM with an optimization technique allow-
E-mail address: fw7757@sina.com; huasvs@yahoo.com.cn ing the adjustment of process parameters in order to meet the
© KSME & Springer 2011
1520 W. Feng and L. Hua / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 25 (6) (2011) 1519~1527
specified demand. In this way, the control of process parame-
ters is possible and allows us to obtain products with the de-
sired demand, such as the shape and so on. Thus, many re-
searchers have paid attention to combining the FEM with an
optimization technique to optimize process parameters. Guo-
qun Zhao and Xinhai Zhao [11, 12] used a finite element-
based sensitivity analysis method to optimize the preform die
shape for metal forming processes to minimize the difference
between the realized and the desired final forging shapes and
to minimize the effective strain variation within the final forg-
ing, respectively. X. Chen [13] proposed a process parameters
optimization method for the hot forging process of gear based
on FEM and Taguchi method to minimize the forging force
during gear hot forging process. Y.K. Lee [14] simulated the
bevel gear forging process by three dimensional FEM based
on rigid-plastic material modeling and found a defect-free
forging process to improve the product quality and to secure
the effective material flow by optimizing the die. Xiaoming
He [15] proposed a robust parameters control methodology
based on Taguchi method and numerical simulation to control
the microstructure of heavy forgings, uniform and small mi-
crostructure of the final forging was considered as the objec-
tive function.
In this paper, the multi-objective optimization of the helical
gear warm precision forging process is studied using a weight-
ing factor in the signal-to-noise ratio of the Taguchi method.
The multi-objective design includes smaller forging force and
better filling condition of gear teeth. Taguchi method deter-
mines the optimal values of deformation temperature, punch
velocity, friction factor for a given helical gear to minimize
forging force and to improve filling condition of gear teeth.
The helical gear precision forming process is studied using a
FEM to provide the solutions of the deformation, the stress
and the internal variable fields under different forming proc-
esses. The analysis of variance is also investigated for the
multi-objective design parameters. In this study, we propose a
method to analyze the effects of the process parameters on
precision forging helical gear by combining finite element
analysis with the Taguchi method.
2. Description of Taguchi method
Taguchi method [16] was developed by Taguchi, it is util-
ized widely in designing and analysis of experimental method
to optimize the performance characteristics through the setting
of process parameters. It provides an integrated approach to
determine the best range of designs simply and efficiently for
quality, performance, and cost [17, 18].
In Taguchi method, three-stages such as system design, pa-
rameter design, and tolerance design are employed. Parameter
design is the key stage, which used to obtain the optimum
levels of process parameters for developing the quality charac-
teristics and to determine the product parameter values de-
pending optimum process parameter values [19]. Based on
orthogonal arrays, the number of experiments which may lead
Table 1. Dimension of the helical gear.
Number of teeth 24
Normal Module 1.745
Normal pressure angle 20°
Helix angle 30.3°
Modification coefficients 0.228
Width 30mm
.
Fig. 1. 3D-FE model of helical gear warm forging.
to the increasing of the time and cost can be reduced by using
Taguchi method. It employs a special design of orthogonal
arrays to learn the whole parameters space with the least ex-
periments only. Taguchi method employs the S/N ratio to
identify the quality characteristics applied for engineering
design problems. Usually, the S/N ratio characteristics can be
divided into three types: the-lower-the-better, the-higher-the-
better, and the-nominal-the-better [16]. A statistical analysis of
variance (ANOVA) can be utilized to present the influence of
process parameters on forging force and filling condition. In
this way, the optimum levels of process parameters can be
predicted.
3. Optimal design problem of the helical gear preci-
sion forging
3.1 FE modeling for precision forging of the helical gear
In this study, the helical gear product used as a component
of the automobile transmission was formed by the clamping-
type closed-die forging. The specification and dimensions of
the adopted helical gear are shown in Table 1. The authors
have built a 3D-FE model of isothermal precision forging of
the helical gear in DEFORM-3D software as shown in Fig. 1.
The process conditions in the FE-simulation are: (1) due to
high temperature and large deformation in the process, elastic
deformation is negligible and all the dies are regarded as the
rigid body and the billet is the deformed body; (2) the friction
at the billet-dies interfaces was assumed to be of shear type;
(3) the temperature of environment is assumed as the room
temperature, 20°C; (4) the initial tetrahedral solid elements of
the billet were around 100,000 and automatic remeshing tech-
 W. Feng and L. Hua / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 25 (6) (2011) 1519~1527 1521

nique was adopted during simulation; (5) for the complexity

of forming processes, the mesh density around the teeth is
considered higher to improve the deformation accuracy in
these area; (6) the billet material used in the model is the
AISI-4120; (7) the governing equations for the solution of the
mechanics of rigid-plastic deformation do not consider the
volume force and satisfy with the equilibrium equation, the
geometrical equation, volume constancy, and the material
obeying the Mises yield criterion; (8) using the penalty func-
tion method to handle the condition of volume constancy. (a) (b)

3.2 Selection of design parameter based on the Taguchi
method
The goal of the parameter design is to optimize the process
parameter values for improving objective functions so as to
obtain the desired high quality component without increasing
cost under the optimal process parameter. During warm forg-
ing processes of helical gear, process parameters such as de-
formation temperatures of the billet, interface friction, punch
velocity, punch stroke, and flow stress of the billet material
have a great influence on the mechanical and metallurgical
properties of the final products. Deformation temperature (T)
greatly affects the flow and deformation pressure of material,
performance and surface quality of the final forging product.
Many materials are very sensitive to strain rate, and the distri-
bution of strain rate in the forging process greatly affects the
deformation behavior. The control of strain rate is usually
realized by controlling punch velocity (v). The friction coeffi-
cient (μ) of the interface between billet and tools affect tool
wear and deformation pressure. Therefore, deformation tem-
perature, punch velocity and interface friction coefficient are
chosen as optimal process parameters design variables in this
study.
3.3 Objective functions
In the helical gear forging process, the high forging force
significantly cause failure, plastic deformation and wear of
dies. It is one of the most essential factors to take into account
when choosing forging equipment. For the same forging, if
the maximum forging force can be lessened, small tonnage
equipment can be used. This will help to lengthen the life span,
and reduce the cost of forging. Therefore, a smaller forging
force is one objective that should be looked forward to in forg-
ing technology and the process of die design. Hence the
maximum forging force Fmax is selected as the optimal objec-
tive.
The maximum forging force can be defined as the sum of
the forces of all the element nodes that have contacted with
the upper die along the Z direction. It is expressed as:
n tion. For four factors with four levels, the experimental layout
Fmax = ∑f
i =1
iz (1)
Fig. 2. The meshed FE model (a) initial billet; (b) deformed block.
where fiz is the maximum Z direction force of the element
node i that is in contact with the upper die. n is the total node
number that is in contact with the upper die.
In addition, the die-fill condition is also selected as another
optimal objective in this work. Incompletely filling of gear
teeth is one of the main forging defects. The primary shape
requirement in forging design is to make the billet to fill the
die cavity adequately and obtain the forging product with less
or no flash. The quality of the gear teeth will directly affect the
accuracy of dimension and geometry for the final forging part.
There are many different evaluation criteria for predicting the
filling of gear teeth in gear forging processes, such as the
shape difference of the desired final forging and the actual
final forging, and the volume difference between them. The
minimum distance Dmin is used here as a measure of the filling
condition, and it can be defined as:
( xib − x jd ) + ( yib − y jd )
2 2
Dmin = (2)
where Dmin displays the minimum distance from the surface of
the workpiece to the nearest tool, xib, yib is the element node i
coordinate values on the surface of the workpiece, xjd, yjd is the
element node j coordinate values on the tool surface. The
smaller the value of Dmin is, the more adequate the filling of
gear teeth.
3.4 Construction of orthogonal array experiment
A large number of experiments need to be carried out when
the number of the process parameters increases. To solve this
problem, the Taguchi method uses a special design of or-
thogonal arrays to study the entire parameter space with only a
small number of experiments.
In the process parameter design of the helical gear, four lev-
els of the process parameters were selected, as shown in Table
2. Because the interaction between the deformation tempera-
ture and velocity is considered, the interaction of two factors
can be treated as a new factor according to Taguchi’s sugges-
of an L16 (45) orthogonal array is selected for the present re-
search. Table 3 shows the L16 orthogonal array in which the 16
rows are carried out to investigate the effects of the four fac-
1522 W. Feng and L. Hua / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 25 (6) (2011) 1519~1527

Table 2. Process parameters and their levels. This value can estimate the main effect of each factor and
Symbol Process Level Level Level Level their levels on the optimization object. The S/N ratio η is ex-
parameters 1 2 3 4 pressed in dB units and it can be defined as below:
A T (℃) 750 800 850 900
B v (mm/sec) 30 50 80 100 η = −10log( MSD) (3)
C μ 0.05 0.1 0.25 0.45

where MSD is the mean-square deviation for the output char-

Table 3. Experimental L16 orthogonal array.
acteristic. Usually, there are three types of quality characteris-
Exp. No. Process parameters tics in the analysis of the S/N ratio: the nominal-the-better, the
A B A×B C smaller-the-better, and the higher-the-better.
1 1 1 1 1
To obtain optimal process parameters, the smaller-the-better
2 1 2 2 2
3 1 3 3 3 quality characteristics for the maximum forging force Fmax and
4 1 4 4 4 the minimum distance Dmin should be taken. The MSD for the
5 2 1 2 3 smaller-the-better quality characteristic can be expressed as
6 2 2 1 4 below:
7 2 3 4 1
8 2 4 3 2
9 3 1 3 4 n

∑S
1 2
10 3 2 4 3 MSD = i (4)
11 3 3 1 2
n
i =1
12 3 4 2 1
13 4 1 4 2
where Si is the value of maximum forging force Fmax and
14 4 2 3 1
15 4 3 2 4 minimum distance Dmin for the ith experiment and n is the
16 4 4 1 3 number of tests of data points in an experiment. After con-
ducting S/N analysis, S/N ratio values of the maximum forg-
Table 4. Simulation results for maximum forging force Fmax and mini- ing force Fmax and the minimum distance Dmin are listed in
mum distance Dmin. Table 4.
Exp. Fmax (KN) Dmin (mm) S/N S/N
No. for Fmax(dB) for Dmin(dB) 4.2 Taguchi multiple objective optimization based on weight-
1 2370 0.991 -67.49 0.079 ing method
2 2640 1.000 -68.43 0
3 2850 0.991 -69.00 0.079 It is suitable for the optimization of only single object to use
4 3370 0.988 -70.55 0.105 Taguchi method, so it must be modified to solve multi-
5 2000 0.997 -66.02 0.026 objective optimization problems. A weighting method is made
6 2770 1.000 -68.85 0
7 2150 0.983 -66.65 0.149
use of to determine the importance of each optimum object in
8 2270 1.000 -67.12 0 this paper. Then the optimization of multiple objective is con-
9 2410 1.010 -67.64 0.086 verted into that of single objective by weighting method.
10 2120 0.992 -66.53 0.07 The multi-objective S/N ratio ηj in the jth experiment is de-
11 1970 1.000 -65.89 0 fined as follows:
12 1970 0.992 -65.89 0.07
13 1680 0.996 -64.51 0.035 2
14
15
1650
2540
0.990
0.996
-64.35
-68.00
0.086
0.035
ηj = ∑ω η
k =1
k kj (5)
16 2110 1.000 -66.49 0
2

tors. The FEM software Deform-3D is used to simulate the

∑ω
k =1
k =1 (6)

gear warm forging process and to calculate the optimal objec-

tive function value. Table 4 shows the simulation results of
maximum forging force Fmax and minimum distance Dmin.
4. The Taguchi method with multi-objective design
4.1 Signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio)
where ηj is the multi-objective S/N ratio in the jth experiment,
ηjk is the kth single objective S/N ratio for the jth experiment.
ωk is the weighting factor in the kth single objective S/N ratio
and k is the number of optimization objective. Table 5 shows
the multi-objective S/N ratio with different combinations of
the weighting factors.

Taguchi method utilizes the S/N ratio approach instead of the

4.3 S/N and ANOVA analysis
average value to transform the FEM results into a value for the
evaluation characteristic in the optimum parameter analysis. The larger the multi-objective S/N ratio is, the smaller the
 W. Feng and L. Hua / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 25 (6) (2011) 1519~1527 1523

Table 5. Multi-objective S/N ratio with different weighting factors.

Multi-objective S/N ratio(dB)

Exp. No. Case 1 Case 2 Case 3

ω1=0.5 ω1=0.4 ω1=0.6
ω2=0.5 ω2=0.6 ω2=0.4
1 -33.71 -26.95 -40.46
2 -34.22 -27.37 -41.06
3 -34.46 -27.55 -41.37
4 -35.22 -28.16 -42.29
5 -33.00 -26.39 -39.60
6 -34.43 -27.54 -41.31
7 -33.25 -26.57 -39.93
8 -33.56 -26.85 -40.27
9 -33.78 -27.00 -40.55 Fig. 3. Average values of S/N rations for case 1.
10 -33.23 -26.57 -39.89
11 -32.95 -26.36 -39.53
12 -32.91 -26.31 -39.51
13 -32.24 -25.78 -38.69
14 -32.13 -25.69 -38.58
15 -33.98 -27.18 -40.79
16 -33.25 -26.60 -39.89

variance of performance characteristics around the desired

value is. The multi-objective S/N ratio for case 1 to 3 for each
parameter at different levels is plotted in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, re-
spectively. From Figs. 3-5, it can be easily find that the opti-
mum factor level combination is A4B1C1for each case, that is
the maximum forging force Fmax and minimum distance Dmin
are minimum at forth level of deformation temperature (A4),
Fig. 4. Average values of S/N rations for case 2.
first level of punch velocity (B1), first level of friction coeffi-
cient (C1).
In order to investigate the effects of the process parameters
on the optimization objective quantitatively, analysis of vari-
ance (ANOVA) is carried out. It utilizes the total sum of
squares SST , which is a deviation of the multi- objective S/N
ratio from the total average S/N ratio η , to evaluate the sig-
nificance of process parameters on optimization objective. SST
can be calculated as below:

m
SST = ∑ (η
j =1
j − η )2 (7)

∑η )
1 2 Fig. 5. Average values of S/N rations for case 3.
η= ( j (8)
m
j =1
number of this parameter p, r is the repetition of each level of
where m is the number of experiments in the orthogonal array the parameter p, and Sηip is the sum of the multi-response S/N
(m=16 in this study) and ηj is the multi-objective S/N ratio in ratio involving this parameter p and level k.
the jth experiment. The sum of squares for error SSe is given by
The sum of squares due to the variation from the average
S/N ratio for factor p is given by SSe = SST − ( SS A + SS B + SSC + SS A× B ) (10)

r ( Sηkp ) 2 m where SSA, SSB, SSC, SSA × B is sum of squares for factor
∑ ∑
1
SS p = − ( η j )2 (9) A,B,C,A×B, respectively.
r m
k =1 j =1 Sum of squares divided by corresponding degree of free-
dom (DOF) can give the mean square. Mean square for each
where p represents one of the process parameters, k is the level factor MSp and error mean square are given respectively by
1524 W. Feng and L. Hua / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 25 (6) (2011) 1519~1527

Table 6. Results of ANOVA for case 1. Table 9. Results of the confirmation test for case 1.

Sum of Mean F- Initial Optimal parameters

Source DOF Contribution(％)
squares square ratio parameters (A4B1C1)
A 5.02 3 1.67 20.88 47.00 (A4B2C1) Prediction Experiment
B 0.72 3 0.24 3 4.72 T (℃) 900 900
C 4.16 3 1.39 17.38 38.55 v (mm/sec) 50 30
A×B 0.02 3 0.01 0.13 0.00 μ 0.05 0.05
Error 0.25 3 0.08 9.73 Fmax (kN) 1650 1550
Total 10.17 15 100.00 Dmin (mm) 0.990 0.986
S/N ration(dB) -32.13 -32.05 -31.85
Relative error of S/N 0.63%
Table 7. Results of ANOVA for case 2. Improvement of S/N 0.28 dB

Sum of Mean F-
Source DOF Contribution(％)
squares square ratio
Table 10. Results of the confirmation test for case 2.
A 3.19 3 1.06 21.2 46.70
B 0.48 3 0.16 3.2 5.07 Initial Optimal process
C 2.68 3 0.89 17.8 38.86 parameters Parameters (A4B1C1)
A×B 0.02 3 0.01 0.2 0.00 (A4B2C1) Prediction Experiment
Error 0.14 3 0.05 9.68 T (℃) 900 900
Total 6.51 15 100.00 v (mm/sec) 50 30
μ 0.05 0.05
Fmax (kN) 1650 1550
Table 8. Results of ANOVA for case 3. Dmin (mm) 0.990 0.986
S/N ration (dB) -25.69 -25.61 -25.46
Sum of Mean F- Relative error of S/N 0.59%
Source DOF Contribution(％)
squares square ratio Improvement of S/N 0.23 dB
A 7.27 3 2.42 20.17 47.04
B 1.05 3 0.35 2.92 4.70
C 6.00 3 2.00 16.67 38.39 formation temperature and friction coefficient. The effect of
A×B 0.02 3 0.01 0.08 0
Error 0.35 3 0.12 9.87
punch velocity is very small compared to that of deformation
Total 14.69 15 100.00 temperature and friction coefficient. The effect of interaction
between deformation temperature and punch velocity in each
case is very small, so they could be ignored.
SS p
MS p = (11)
df p
SSe 5. Confirmation test
MSe = (12)
df e Based on the S/N ratio and ANOVA analysis, the optimal
process parameters combination for cases 1, 2 and 3 are
where dfp, dfe represents degree of freedom for a factor p and A4B1C1. However, the optimum factor level combination is
error, respectively. A4B2C1 according to visual analysis from Table 5. Therefore,
The F-ratio value for each process parameter is the ratio of a confirmation test should be carried out to evaluate the opti-
mean square for a factor p to error mean square, it can be cal- mal combination.
culated as Confirmation test was carried out to predict and verify the
improvement of optimization objective, after the optimal level
MS p of the design parameters has been selected. The estimated
FP = . (13)
MSe optimum value of S/N ratio ηopt of A4B1C1 for each case can
be calculated as
The percentage contribution Cp for a factor p can be calcu-
lated as ηopt = η A4 + η B1 + ηC1 − ( P − 1) × η (15)

SS p − df p × MSe where η A4 is the average S/N ratio for factor A at level 4

Cp = . (14)
SST
Tables 6, 7 and 8 show the results of ANOVA for cases 1, 2
and 3 respectively. It can be seen from the F-ratio value and
the percentage contribution result that the significant parame-
ters influencing multi-objective optimization design are de-
obtained from Table 5, η B1 is the average S/N ratio for fac-
tor B at level 1 obtained from Table 5, ηC1 is the average
S/N ratio for factor C at level 1 obtained from Table 5, η is
the mean of S/N ratio obtained from Table 3. Executing forg-
ing FEM simulation under the optimum setting condition, that
is deformation temperature is 900℃, punch velocity is
 W. Feng and L. Hua / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 25 (6) (2011) 1519~1527
(a) (b)
Fig. 6. The minimum distance Dmin distribution before optimization (a)
isoregion distribution; (b) distribution of deformed block.
(a) (b)
Fig. 7. The minimum distance Dmin distribution after optimization (a)
isoregion distribution; (b) distribution of deformed block.
30mm/s , friction coefficient is 0.05, the optimum result can
be obtained. Tables 9, 10 and 11 show the results of the con-
firmation test.
The obtained maximum forging force Fmax is 1550kN and
its S/N ratio is -63.81, the obtained minimum distance Dmin is
0.986 and its S/N ratio is 0.114. Compared with the results
obtained in the initial process parameters A4B2C1, i.e., de-
formation temperature is 900℃, punch velocity is 50mm/s,
and friction coefficient is 0.05, it shows that both the maxi-
mum forging force Fmax and the minimum distance Dmin are
improved under the optimal setting of the process parameters
which is determined by the approach presented in this study.
The increase of the multi-objective S/N ratio from the initial
process parameters to the optimal process parameter is 0.28
dB, 0.23dB and 0.34dB for case1 to 3, respectively. Based on
the result of the confirmation test, the relative error between
the estimated optimum value and the optimum experiment
value of the multi-objective S/N ratio for case1 to 3 is 0.63%,
0.59% and 0.6%, respectively, they are within the engineering
requirement. This indicates that the optimal settings of process
parameters obtained by modified Taguchi approach are reli-
able, i.e., deformation temperature is 900℃, punch velocity is
30mm/s, and friction coefficient is 0.05. The minimum dis-
tance Dmin distribution and the forging Load-Stroke curve after
optimization with before are shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, respec-
tively.
Fig. 6(a) shows the percentage of the nodes with the same
minimum distance Dmin of the total nodes, and Fig. 6(b) shows
the Dmin distribution in the deformed block before optimiza-
1525
Fig. 8. Comparing of the forging Load-Stroke curve after optimization
with before.
tion. It can be seen from Fig. 6(a) that the range of the same
Dmin is 0~0.02mm and their percentage of nodes is 50.337%,
moreover, the filling condition isn’t good in the bottom of the
forged gear, as shown in Fig. 6(b).
Fig. 7(a) shows the percentage of the nodes with the same
minimum distance Dmin of the total nodes, and Fig. 7(b) shows
the Dmin distribution in the deformed block after optimization.
It can be seen from Fig. 7(a) that the range of the same Dmin is
0~0.015mm and their percentage of nodes is 50.934%, more-
over, the filling condition is very good in the whole forged
gear, as shown in Fig. 7(b).
Fig. 8 gives the comparison of the forging Load-Stroke
curve for the initial and the optimized parameters. It can be
observed from Fig. 8 that the forging load after optimization is
hardly less than before during forging. Furthermore, after op-
timization, the maximum forging force Fmax is 1550kN in heli-
cal gear forming which is 6% lower than before.
6. Conclusions
Multi-objective optimization design based on the Taguchi
method and the finite element method has been implemented
for the helical gear warm forging process in this paper. In the
light of S/N ratio analysis, variance analysis and FEM simula-
tion results, the following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The significant forming parameters affecting the helical
gear warm forging process such as deformation temperature,
friction coefficient, and punch velocity can be easily recog-
nized by performing the experiments which are designed
based on the orthogonal array of the Taguchi method.
(2) Deformation temperature and friction coefficient affect
the helical gear warm forging process greatly regardless of
case 1 to 3, they contribute about 86% together, while punch
velocity does not affect the helical gear warm forging process
too much, it only contributes about 5%, and interaction be-
tween deformation temperature and punch velocity has little
effect on the helical gear warm forging process.
(3) For a given helical gear forming process, the optimal
combination of process parameters can be determined through
the modified Taguchi method to obtain the minimum values
of the maximum forging force Fmax and the minimum distance
1526 W. Feng and L. Hua / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 25 (6) (2011) 1519~1527

Dmin. That is when forming process parameters deformation nol., 43 (1994) 35-53.
temperature is 900℃, friction coefficient is 0.05, and punch [5] J. C. Choi, Y. Choi and S. J. Tak, The forging of helical
velocity is 30mm/s, the maximum forging force Fmax and the gears (Ⅱ): comparisons of the forging processes, Int. J.
minimum distance Dmin are the smallest simultaneously. Mech. Sci., 41(1999) 725-739.
(4) The optimal process parameters were confirmed with [6] V. Szentmihalyi, K. Lange, Y. Tronel, J. L. Chenot and R.
confirmatory experiments. Ducloux, 3-D finite-element simulation of the cold forging
of helical gears, J. Mater. Process Technol., 43 (1994) 279-
291.
Acknowledgment
[7] K. Lange and V. Szentmihalyi, Optimized cold forging of
This work has been supported by the Natural Science Foun- helical gears by FEM-simulation, Proc. of 9th International
dation of China for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. Cold Forging Congress, U.K. (1995) 283-289.
50725517). [8] Y. B. Park and D. Y. Yang, Finite element analysis for pre-
cision cold forging of helical gear using recurrent boundary
conditions, Proc. of the KSME(Ⅰ), Korean (1995) 296-301.
Nomenclature------------------------------------------------------------------------
[9] S.-Y. Jung, M.-C. Kang, C. Kim and C.-H. Kim et al., A
T : Deformation temperature (℃) study on the Extrusion by a two-step process for manufactur-
v : Punch velocity(mm/s) ing helical gear, Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., 41 (2009) 684-
μ : Friction coefficient 693.
Fmax : Maximum forging force (kN) [10] G. Zhao, E. Wright and R. V. Grandhi, Sensitivity analysis
x, y, z : Cartesian coordinates based preform die shape design for net-shape forging, Int. J.
fiz : z direction force of the element node i Mach. Tools Manuf., 37 (1997) 1251-1271.
Dmin : The minimum distance (mm) [11] G. Zhao, X. Ma, X. Zhao and R. V.Grandhi, Studies on
xib, yib : Coordinate value of node i on the workpiece surface optimization of metal forming processes using sensitivity
xjd, yjd : Coordinate value of node j on the tool surface analysis methods, J. Mater. Process Technol., 147(2004)
η, ηj : Signal-to-noise ratio(dB), multi-objective S/N ratio in 217-228.
the jth experiment(dB) [12] X. Zhao, G. Zhao, G. Wang and T. Wang, Preform die
η : The total average S/N ratio(dB) shape design for uniformity of deformation in forging based
ηopt : The estimated optimum value of S/N ratio on preform sensitivity analysis, J. Mater. Process Technol.,
MSD : Mean square deviation 128 (2002) 25-32.
Si : The ith experiment value of optimal objective [13] X. Chen and J. D. Won, Gear hot forging process robust
ωk : Weighting factor in the kth single objective S/N ratio design based on finite element method, J. Mech. Sci. Tech.,
SST : The total sum of squares 22 (2008) 1772-1778.
SSp : The sum of squares for factor p [14] Y. K. Lee, S. R. Lee, C. H. Lee and D. Y, Yang, Process
SSe : The sum of squares for error modification of bevel gear foging using three-dimensional
MSp : Mean square for factor p finite element analysis, J. Mater. Process Technol., 113
MSe : Mean square for error (2001) 59-63.
dfp : Degree of freedom for factor p [15] X. He, Z. Yu and X. Lai, Robust parameters control meth-
dfe : Degree of freedom for error odology of microstructure for heavy forgings based on Ta-
Fp : F-ratio value for factor p guchi method, Materials & Design, 30 (2009) 2084-2089.
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Beijing (1992).
[17] H. Oktem, T. Erzurumlu and I. Uzman, Application of
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 W. Feng and L. Hua / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 25 (6) (2011) 1519~1527
Wei Feng is a Ph.D candidate and is
also a lecturer of Material processing
Engineering at Wuhan University of
Technology. She received her M.S.
degree in Pressure Processing from
Wuhan University of Technology,
China, in 2002. Her research areas
include advanced forming and its
applications.
1527
Lin Hua received his M.S. degree in
Pressure Processing from Wuhan Uni-
versity of Technology, China, in 1985.
He then received his Ph.D. degree in
Mechanical Engineering from Xi’an
Jiaotong University, China, in 2000. Dr.
Hua is currently a professor at the
School of Automotive Engineering,
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology of Automo-
tive Parts at Wuhan University of Technology, China. Dr.
Hua’s research interests include advanced forming and
equipment technology.