IntegratedComputationalDevelopmentofInductionHeatTreatmentProcessfor

AutomotiveAxleShafts

RobertGoldstein(1),Dr.ValentinNemkov(1),Dr.LynnFerguson(1),Dr.ZhichaoLi(1)

(1)Fluxtrol,Inc.,AuburnHills,MI,USA

(2)DANTESOFTWARE,Cleveland,OH,USA

•  Inductionhardeninginvolvesmultiplephenomena,including:electromagnetic,thermal,metallurgical,stressanddeformation

•  Stateoftheartmethodisdevelopedtocouplethesephysicstogether

•  Fluxsoftware(electromagneticandthermalcapabilities)iscoupledwithDANTE(thermal,stress,distortionandappliedloadcapabilities)

•  Casechosenforstudyisafull-floataxle,dimensionstypicalforaxlesmanufacturedandhardenedbyinductionheating

Introduction

2

Mutuallycoupledphenomenaininductionheatingprocess

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Failure

AxleDimensionsUsedinModel

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Axles can be broken into 3 main regions: Radius and Flange, Shaft, and Spline

2-TurnCoilDesign

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Example of fully assembled axle coil Flux 2D model showing mesh (left) and temperature (right) at end of dwell

DuetoSymmetry,SingleToothofSplineisModeledinDANTE

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Finite element meshing in DANTE is displayed

PowerDensityin3Regions(Flux2D)

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Power densities are extracted from Flux 2D and imported to DANTE

Radius Shaft Spline

TemperatureValidationBetweenFluxandDANTE

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Flux 2D DANTE

DANTESimulationofScanningProcess

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StressesandDimensionalMovementafterHardening

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EffectofTemperingonResidualStresses

SimulationofTorsionalLoads

DanteSimulationofTorsionalLoads

FailurePrediction

(Left) Fatigue crack, and (Right) Overload crack. Courtesy of Dana Corp.

•  ElectromagneticmodelingbyFluxandthermal-stressmodelingbyDANTEweresuccessfullycoupled

•  Highsurfacecompressionandhightensilestressesincorewerepredictedinmodel

•  Thelargesttensilestressesoccuratthebaseoftheshaftandatthespline

•  Totalaxialgrowthis2.3mmandradialshrinkageinshaftis4μm.Theauthorshaveshownotherpapersthattheaxialgrowthandstressprofilesarestronglyinfluencedbythequenchingseverity.

•  VirtualLoadswereappliedtotheaxlethatsimulatetorsionaltestingequipmentusedinindustry.Failuremodepredictionsaresimilartowhathasbeenfoundwhiletestingrealcomponents,showingthattheresidualstressesfromtheheattreatingprocesshaveastronginfluenceonthecomponentperformance.

•  Additionalworkneedstobedonetoincorporateresidualstressesfrommanufacturingoperationspriortotheinductionheattreatingprocesstoimprovetheaccuracyofthepredictions.

Conclusions

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