RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF

PRECISION FORGING IN JAPAN

T. Nakamura1 , K.Osakada2
1
Faculty of Engineering, Shizuoka University, Japan
2
Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Japan;

Summary
The historical trend of Japanese precision forging is reviewed first, and then the results
of research and development in recent 15 years are introduced. New forging methods
such as enclosed die forging, divided flow method, forging utilizing friction, controlling
of elastic deformation of die, extrusion against pressure supported tool, forging of sheet
metal are explained. Some topics related with servo controlled mechanical press, finite
element simulation and tribology are also presented.

Keywords: Japan, precision, forging, servo, press, simulation, tribology

1 Introduction
1.1 Car Production in Japan

Since about 70% of the forged products are used in the automotive industry in Japan,
the historical trend of the domestic production of cars is explained by using Figure 1.
The automakers began production of small passenger cars around 1960 and the annual
production grew rapidly until the oil crisis
in 1973. Because the small cars were
suitable for fuel saving, the number of
12
production went up again due to the
Annual Production /106

increase of export.
From around 1990, overseas manufacturing
became significant and the domestic 8

production decreased, and thus the forging

industry suffered. Presently the Japanese
car makers are producing almost half of 4
their cars in their overseas factories.

1.2 Precision Forging 1960 - 1990 0

1960 1980 2000
Year
In parallel to the car production, cold
forging was introduced in the 1960s from Figure 1: Domestic production of
Germany and U.S.A. to be applied to passenger cars in Japan.
production of small parts.
Cold forging was chosen as one of the national projects and Prof. H. Kudo was
appointed as the team leader for development of cold forging in the Mechanical
Engineering Laboratory. He also organized the research group "Cold Forging
Committee" in JSTP with the members from the car, cold forging, press, steel and tool
manufacturing companies together with academic members. They improved the cold
forging technologies by utilizing the results of the researches such as theory of plasticity,
material science and tribology [1].
In the 1970s, the level of the Japanese cold forging technology caught up the advanced
countries and new forging technologies were begun to be developed. Warm forging is
the most significant result of
Cold Forging 9.9% Others
development in the 1970s, and Cold Forging 15.5%
Sinter Forging
it was successfully applied to Others
0.7% Sinter Forging
larger parts for constant Warm Forging
1.7%
0.8%
Warm Forging
velocity joint (CVJ), which 4.0%
became important for small Hot Forging Hot Forging
cars in the 1980s. 78.4% 70.6%

Iwama reported the changes in

the forging processes in In 1987 In 1991
Toyota from 1987 to 1991 as Figure 2: Change in forging process in Toyota [2]
shown in Figure 2 [2]. The
percentages of cold and warm forging increased significantly and hot forging decreased
in this period.
Figure 3 shows the changes of the weight of cold forged parts mounted on a car and the
typical new products from 1960 to 1995 [3]. The weight of cold forged products
increased steadily until 1980. In the 1960s, small axi-symmetric products like hub bolt
were produced, and larger products like alternator and air pump rotor were made in the
1970s. In the 1980s, CVJ parts such as outer and inner race were the important products.
From 1990, accurate gears became the main targets. In this review, recent researches
and developments in precision forging technologies, mainly after 1990, are introduced.
1960 1970 1980 1990
Weight /car /kg

50
40 As cold forged
30
After machining
20
10
hub bollt pump rotor outre race

innere race
gear with
alternator spline

viscous
coupling

Figure 3: Change of weight of cold forged products used in a

Japanese car during1960-1995 [3]
1.3 Significance of Precision Forging

Precision forging can be employed when its production cost is lower than other
manufacturing methods, especially machining.
Figure 4 is an example of cost reduction in
manufacturing of transmission and synchronous
gears achieved through integrating two parts by
precision forging. Reduction of the total cost is
effectively achieved by reducing the machining
cost through integration of plural components
although the forging cost increases [2].
Another important feature of precision forging
is that the manufacturing cost decreases
gradually with the volume of production,
whereas machining requires new machine tools Figure 4: Forging cost of
when the volume is increased [2]. integrated transmission and
synchronous gear [2]
2 New Precision Forging Methods
2.1 Enclosed Die Forging

In the 1980s, new forging method named "enclosed die forging" became to be used for
production of bevel gears, spiders and other CVJ parts. Figure 5 shows the concept of
this process and the products. The billet located in the cavity between the upper and the
lower dies is compressed by the upper and lower punches simultaneously. The material
flows in the lateral direction by keeping the contacting area with the punches to be small
and thus the forming load is much lower than semi-closed die forging. In this method,
the upper and the lower punches moves independently and a force for die closing should
be given, and thus a multi-axis motion of the equipment is required.
Upper pnch
Closing pressure
Upper die
Work piece

Lower die

Lower pnch

(a) Before (b) After

Figure 5: Concept of enclosed die forging and products (spider)

Figure 6 illustrates a method developed by Nichidai for realizing enclosed die forging
with a die set [4]. To attain the relative movements of the upper punch with the lower
punch and the dies, a pantograph mechanism is used. The upper punch is pushed down
by the ram of a mechanical press, and the lower punch is kept stationary on the press
bed. Because the dies are located on the middle plate moving downwards with a half
speed of the ram, the relative movements are realized.
 hydraulic cylinder

upper punch

hydraulic
pressure
pantograph

middle
plate

lower die lower punch

upper die
Figure 6: Enclosed die forging with pantograph type die set and product [4]

2.2 Divided Flow Method

In backward extrusion with a large reduction in area, an ejector with an opening is often
used to allow for forward rod extrusion as shown in Figure 7 [5]. With the opening, the
free surface of the billet increases and the extrusion pressure is reduced. The forward
rod is cut out after forging.
From the view point of material movement,
the flow is divided into outwards and inwards
at the middle point. Kondo et al. named this
sort of forming method as “divided flow
method” and applied to some products [5,6].
When a helical gear is forged, the conventional
closed die forging is carried out as the first
step and then divided flow method is used to
finish the gear part. A helical gear with a boss,
internal spline and grooves has been produced Figure 7: Concept of divided flow
successfully by this method as shown in method
Figure 8 [6].

Figure 8: Helical gear with boss and internal spline made by divided flow method [6]
2.3 Extrusion against Tool Supported by Pressure

When forward extrusion is carried out using a die with multiple exit holes, the lengths
of the extruded part through the holes may be different as Figure 9 (a). The lengths can
be equalized by extruding against a counter tool supported by back pressure as Figure 9
(b). The counter tool restricts the velocity of the part which tends to move faster than
the others. The average pressure acting from the exit can be as low as 5% of the flow
stress [7]. Figure 10 shows examples of the product made by this forging method [8].
Punch
Work Piece

(a) without counter tool

Punch (a) heat sink

Work Piece

Back Pressure

(b) with counter tool (b) scroll

Figure 9: Concept of extrusion Figure 10: Products made by extrusion
against pressure supported tool against pressure supported tool

2.4 Forging of Sheet Metal

Recently, sheet metal blanks are often forged to form various precision electric parts.
Figure 11 shows a precision forging process combined with deep drawing and burring
process [9]. Figure 12 is a product with teeth formed by this process. The work-piece is
0.35% carbon steel sheet of thickness 5 mm. The thickness of the outer rim portion is
increased by axial compression and a gear is shaped by extrusion type forging.

Figure 12: Product formed by

Figure 11: Precision forging process forging process combined with sheet
combined with sheet metal forming [9] metal forming [9]
In high temperature forging, a sheet is easily cooled down during transferring from the
furnace to the die, and methods to avoid cooling are necessary. Matsumoto et al.
proposed a forging method for Mg thin billet as shown in Figure 13 [10]. The sheet
billet is sandwiched between high-temperature tools (200 – 300°C) to heat directly to
the forging temperature. This method has an advantage of preventing oxidation of billet.

Mg billet Tool (200– Mg Mg billet

(room temp.) Lubricant 300ºC) billet Heater (200–300ºC)

Lubricant

(1) Lubrication (2) Heating (3) Forging (4) Product

Figure 13: Forging method for magnesium alloy sheet [10]

2.5 Control of Elastic Deformation of Die

The amount of elastic deflection of cold forging tool is usually 50 – 500 lm while the
size tolerance of precision forgings is in the order of 10 lm. To cancel the effect of the
elastic deformation on the product size, the tool shape should be modified for the elastic
deformation. Due to the fluctuation of forming pressure in each stroke, however, the
elastic deflection varies and thus the size error cannot be compensated completely.
To decrease the diameter error of extruded rod due to the variation of extrusion load,
Osakada et al. [11] proposed a die structure shown in Figure 14. By the increase of
forming load, the die holder expands, but the ring shaped die is pushed downwards by
the increased load and
the exit diameter can be
kept constant if the
inclination angle of the
interface between the
ring die and die holder
Deviation from die exit diameter μm

is properly chosen. As
shown in Figure 15, the
diameter of extruded
Figure 14: Die structure
rod is kept almost
for controlling diameter of
constant when the angle
extruded rod [11]
is 15 degrees in this
case.
Ishida [12] reported a net shape cold forging process
for forming helical gears and spline with crowned teeth
by utilizing elastic deformation of tool as shown in
Extrusion ratio r
Figure 16. When the core die is pushed into the
tapered die case, the core die shrinks elastically and Figure 15: Difference of
forms the crowning shape on the gear teeth. When the diameter of extruded rod
core die is removed from the die case, it returns to the from original die exit [11]
original shape, expanding away from the part and enables the crowned teeth to be
removed easily from the die. Another unique aspect of this die structure is that it is
equipped with a mechanism to rotate the core die during forging. Figure 17 shows the
process to form a helical gear using this process.

Punch B

Punch
Core
A
die C
Ｂｉｌｌｅｔ
Outer
die D
Die E

Figure16: Principle of net shape cold Figure17: Process for manufacturing

forging of gears with crowned teeth helical gear with crowned teeth utilizing
utilizing elastic deformation of die[12] elastic deformation of die [12]

2.6 Forging Methods Utilizing Friction

In metal forming, friction tends to hinder plastic

flow, and increases the forming load and reduces the
forming limit. If the tool moves faster than the
material flow, however, friction helps the flow and
can reduce the forming load and enhances the
forming limit. Nakamura et al. [13] proposed a
method of backward extrusion by moving the
container to the direction of exit flow as shown in
Figure 18 to produce thin walled cans.
Osakada et al. developed some forging methods
utilizing friction with driven dies [14]. Figure 19
shows closed die forging methods with fixed die,
floating die and the moving die. By moving the die
to the axial direction, the material is pushed into the Figure18: Backward extrusion
corners by friction, and the direction of unfavorable with moving container [13]
frictional force in the tooth tip is changed. As a
result, filling in the cavity is attained with a pressure 8
about a half of the fixed die as shown in Figure 20. 7
Fixed die
6

5
Floating die
Upper Die 4
1

Punch
p /σ

3
Billet Tooth τf
cavity
τf 2
τf 1 Oscillation
Lower 0
Punch 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Punch stroke /mm

(a) fixed die (b) floating die (c) moving die Figure20: forging pressure in
Figure19: Closed die forging with fixed, floating closed die forging with fixed,
and moving dies [14] floating and moving dies [14]
3 Servo Controlled Mechanical Press

From around 1998, the Japanese press makers began to produce AC servo mechanical
presses. This became possible by the appearance of high power AC servo motors. In an
AC servo press, no clutch brake and flywheel are used and the number of gears
transmitting power and oil used for these mechanisms are reduced. The most important
feature is that the motion of the ram/slide is flexible and thus new forming processes
and new functions could be realized [15]. Compared with the hydraulic servo presses,
much more accurate motion is possible and the noise due to oil pump is not caused.
In Figure 21, three types of AC servo presses produced by Komatsu are shown [16].
The simplest usage of servo motor for a press is to move the slide through ball screws as
type A. Although the maximum load can be generated at any position in the stroke with
this type, the maximum load cannot be very high due to the power limit of the motors.
Types B and C utilize the link mechanisms, which are often used for mechanical presses,
and much greater maximum load can be attained. The maximum capacities are 800kN
(A type), 16000kN (B type), and 800kN (C type), respectively, in 2005.

Figure21: Driving mechanisms of AC servo controlled presses

4 Finite Element Simulations

4.1 Usage of Simulation

From around 1990, the finite element

simulation has become to be used in the
forging practice and various researches were
carried out by utilizing the simulators.
Ishikawa et al. [17] used the finite element
simulation for determining the dimensional
error of extruded cup by calculating the elastic
deformation of the die as shown in Figure 22.
The material property of a forged product is Figure22: Elastic deformation of
affected by the history of plastic deformation die for backward extrusion [17]
 254 252253 252 252
and temperature. Ishikawa et al. [18] carried 245 245
246
258
244 251 250
out hot forging simulation taking the effect 235 240 240
249
255 250244247 249
250 253 252
of these histories and predicted the 245
235
245
249
252
240 264 244
distributions of grain size and hardness 240
235
262
252
248

(Figure 23). 240

265 249
252
260
250 245
245 255 245

4.2 Flow Stress Data 240

260
254
257

(a) Predicted (b) Measured

Although the flow stress data are very
Figure23: Predicted distribution of
important for simulation, they are not easily
hardness in hot forged product [18]
acquired at large strains. The simple
compression test by flat dies with good lubrication (Figure 24 (a)) provides accurate
flow stress up to a strain of about 0.5, but the error due to friction and non-uniform
deformation becomes significant at larger strains.

Upper
Platen

Specimen

Lower
Platen

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Simple compression Upsettability test Ring compression Side compression
Figure24: Flow stress measuring methods
Osakada et al. proposed a method to determine the flow stress of equivalent strains up
to about 2.0 using the upsettability test [19], in which a cylindrical specimen is
compresses between grooved platens as Figure 24 (b). The effect of non-uniform
deformation is taken into account by using the result of simulation; the average
equivalent strain in the specimen is calculated, and the average flow stress is estimated
by multiplying the computed constraining factor to the measured nominal pressure. This
method is now used as a standard cold forging test in Japan. This idea was extended to
ring compression (c) [20] and side compression of wire (d) [21].
In the simulation with temperature calculation, isothermal flow stress curves are needed.
It is, however, impossible to measure the isothermal flow stress directly by experiment
because of the plastic temperature rise. Kada et al. [22] proposed a method to estimate
isothermal flow stress curves from simple
compression tests. They carried out ring
compression and simple compression tests
at different temperatures and measured the
friction coefficients and average forming
pressures. By applying the measured data
to simulation, they estimated the correction
factors and obtained approximate
isothermal flow stress curves. Figure 25
shows the estimated curves of 0.45% C
steel in hot forging temperatures. Figure25: Estimated isothermal flow
curves of 0.45%C steel [22]
5 Lubricants and Tribology Test
5.1 Lubricants

To cope with the pollution problems in cold

forging, some types of lubricants without
conversion coating were developed. The
non-conversion lubricants can be applied to
the work-pieces in a few minutes. Figure 26
shows a process of cold forging with the
lubricant applied to a drive pinion shaft [23]. Figure26: Cold forging processes
For improving the working environment of of drive pinion shaft lubricated
warm and hot forging, non-graphite lubricants with non-conversion lubricant [23]
were developed. Figure 27 shows the friction
coefficients of a graphite lubricant and a polymer based lubricant [24]. The friction
coefficient of the non-graphite lubricant is almost equal to that of the graphite lubricant.
As shown in Figure 28, the ratio of the non-graphite lubricants applied to warm or hot
forging was already 21% in 1993 and the ratio may have increased much since then.

Figure28: Ratio of lubricants applied

Figure27: Friction coefficients of
for hot forging in 1993 [24]
graphite and polymer lubricants [24]

5.2 Testing Methods of Tribology

Saiki et al. [25] proposed local drawing tribotester shown in Figure 29. The drawing
speed and the specimen temperature can be varied and the degree of surface expansion
is changed by the profile of the wavy die. The performance of a lubricant is evaluated
by the apparent friction coefficient.
Nakamura et al. [26] examined a method
of forward conical can - backward
straight can extrusion as shown in Figure
30 to evaluate friction with large surface
expansion. The friction coefficient is
estimated from the lengths of the
extruded parts.
Figure 29: Drawing type tribotester [25]
 Load cell

Punch
Ball

Container Work piece

Counter punch
Figure 30: Combined extrusion
type friction testing [26] Figure 31: Ball penetrating
type galling test [27]
Kitamura et al. [27] put forward a method for evaluating galling properties. A bearing
ball is penetrated into a cylindrical hollow work piece confined in a container as Figure
31. The surface condition of the work piece after penetration is observed and the length
of ball travel until occurrence of galling is measured.

6 Concluding Remarks
In the last 15 years, the Japanese economy stagnated and the industries related with
precision forging were also affected. But research and development in precision forging
have been continued actively during the period, and the results are now becoming to be
used for supplying high grade products with low prices.
By the increase of hybrid cars and fuel cell cars, electric components will become more
important. For this, forging of more precise products, sheet and plate, and non-ferrous
metals will increase the importance in the research and developments.

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