Feasibility study for the manufacturing of hybrid bevel gears with multi-material claddings using the Tailored Forming process chain

The use of hybrid multi-material components instead of mono-material components offers the possibility of adapting the material properties to the locally occurring loads. In this way, cost- and resource-efficient components can be manufactured. One possibility for manufacturing hybrid components is the Tailored Forming process chain. Semi-finished products made of unalloyed steel are cladded by means of deposition welding and then hot formed with integrated heat treatment. In this study, hybrid bevel gears were manufactured by laser hot-wire cladding with a multi-material cladding of X2CrNiMo19-12 and X45CrSi9‑3 followed by die forging. Various cladding thicknesses and geometries (fully and partially cladded) were investigated with regard to the properties obtained after the respective process steps. The hybrid semi-finished products could be successfully welded and formed without layer separation. The partial cladding did not cover the entire loaded area of the bevel gear tooth flanks after forming, so this cladding geometry was unsuitable for the application. In case of the fully cladded bevel gears, it was possible to achieve complete coverage of the teeth with high-strength material. It was not possible in all cases to obtain sufficient material thickness to ensure adequate hardness in the critical area after subsequent machining. In the outer cladding, a high hardness of up to 715 HV0.5 was observed. It has been demonstrated that the manufacturing of bevel gears with multi-material claddings is possible.