Finite element analysis of orbital forming used in spindle/inner ring assembly

In this study, 3D FEM simulation technique for optimizing parameters in orbital forming of spindle and inner ring assembly was investigated by a) measuring the computation time and b) comparing the results of simulations with experiments. Commercial FEA software DEFORM 3D v4.0 that has an efficient numerical algorithm for simulating incremental forming processes was used for the simulations and the amount of savings in computation time was shown. Thanks to a new development in DEFORM 3D, the computation time required for simulating the incremental orbital forming process has been dramatically reduced. The predicted tab geometry of the spindle and maximum forming load by FEM simulation were compared with experimental measurements. For the particular example, the effect of axial feed rate and tool axis angle on the assembly was investigated to generate design guidelines. This study showed that 3D FEM is a reasonably reliable tool to optimize the orbital forming process used for the spindle and inner ring assembly.