Development of an Austempered Ductile Iron Unimog 3 Point Linkage Power Lift Arm

This paper summarizes the investigation of the conversion of an 11-piece steel fabrication to an austempered ductile iron (ADI) casting. It was a collaborative effort involving the component manufacturer, foundry, machinist, local university, and an ADI heat treater. A number of design concepts were developed, with the final, significantly stronger, ADI design being compared to the fabrication using FEA analysis. The resulting conversion, at similar weight and cost, eliminated the failures that were experienced in the fabricated components in addition to reducing the production lead-time.