Abstract
Improvement of the TR crank shaft forging technology is the objective of the paper. New concept of forging of crank shafts is considered. Plastometric tests were performed for steels used for manufacturing of crank shafts and a rheological model for these steels was determined. This model was implemented in the finite element software and simulations of various variants of forging were performed. Results of simulations were used to select the best variant, which gives the lowest loses of the material and proper shape of the final product. Two technological parameters are selected as the optimization variables. Finite element simulations of the forging process for various values of the selected parameters were performed. Optimization of the forging process is performed using the surface response methodology. Optimal forging parameters are given in the paper.