Simulation and experiment research on integrated casting and forging process of automobile control arm

Integrated casting and forging process (ICFP) has broad application prospects, especially for products with complex shapes and high performance. Numerical simulation of the ICFP of A356 alloy automobile control arm was carried out on Thercast and Forge software. The numerical results showed that part without porosities was obtained at pouring temperature of 680 °C, mold temperature of 150 °C, forging start-up time of 1s, and forging stroke of 2 mm. The scaled automobile control arms were fabricated by ICFP platform. The experimental results confirmed the accuracy of the numerical simulation. Better mechanical properties involving tensile strength of 238.96 Mpa and elongation of 8.13% were obtained by ICFP than die-casting due to the fine microstructure without porosities. This research has resulted in a solution of the design and optimize of process parameters through simulation, which played an important role in promoting the applications of ICFP.