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Hot forging of geometrically challenging components such as joint crosses is highly sensitive to process parameter variations, leading to geometric deviations and increased scrap rates under industrial conditions. A reliable description of the forming process, taking varying process parameters into account, is therefore essential for improving process stability and enabling model-based quality assurance. This study presents a comprehensive numerical investigation of a hot forging process of joint crosses made of 1.7225 steel. A numerical model is developed using the finite element (FE) software Simufact.Forming, consisting of an inhomogeneous inductive heating, billet transfer and single-stage forging. The predicted temperature field distribution obtained from inductive heating is validated by experimental temperature measurements and subsequently transferred to a thermo-mechanically coupled FE simulation. A reduced 90° symmetry approach is employed to ensure computational efficiency while accurately capturing material flow, contact interactions and geometric feature formation under industrially relevant forging conditions. The numerical results are validated by comparing simulated force-displacement behaviour and final component geometry with experimental reference data. The validated model provides a robust foundation for future process optimisation and systematic sensitivity-based parameter identification.
Keywords: Finite element analysis, Inductive heating, Hot forging, Joint cross forging© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.