Comparison of Warm and Cold Forging with Friction Welding for Inner Constant Velocity Joints (CVJs)

Driveshafts are used in all vehicles, and their service life is expected to be at least three years or 100.000 km. Many driveshaft manufacturers prefer friction welding due to its relatively cheaper cost and ease of the process. However, they should meet some property-related criteria to achieve the expected lifetime. The forging technique becomes essential to succeed in these mechanical requirements. A comparative study evaluates the performance of constant velocity joints (CVJs) produced by multi-step warm–cold forging and friction welding processes. Medium carbon steels were used in both of the techniques. The microstructures, mechanical properties (i.e. hardness, strength, impact energy and shear strength), low-cycle fatigue (LCF) properties, wear resistance and cost-efficiency (number of operations, material saving, number of produced components and cost) are compared in detail for an industrial production point of view. The experimental results reveal that warm–cold forged specimens exhibit superior mechanical properties such as increased strength, hardness, relatively higher impact energy, improved shear strength, relatively longer LCF life and enhanced wear resistance (lower wear volume loss). In addition, it is also assessed that warm–cold forging is a more cost-effective manufacturing process (reduced weight, decreased number of operations and increased yield) in the production of CVJs compared to the friction welding process.