Design and mechanical property analysis of ultrafine grained gears from AA5083 previously processed by equal channel angular pressing and isothermal forging

• We propose a manufacturing process to obtain ultrafine grained AA5083 gears.
• We use isothermal forging of ECAP billets to obtain the parts.
• We carry out experimental measurements to confirm the FEM results.
• We show that AA5083 mechanical properties are improved with this methodology.

In this present study, the isothermal forging of two different gears is carried out from material previously deformed by the severe plastic deformation (SPD) process known as Equal Channel Angular Pressing (ECAP). At present, there are only a few studies which use this material predeformed that exhibits improved mechanical properties as a result of the SPD process for use in subsequent processes or applications. The design and optimization of the die geometry required for the isothermal forging of gears are shown and both microhardness and microstructure are compared when these forged gears are obtained from annealed material (N0) and ECAP-processed material (N2). With this present research work, it is demonstrated that there is an improvement in forgeability and microhardness as well as a decrease in the grain size of the material predeformed by SPD.