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FORGING DEFINED

Forging is defined as the process of heating, deforming, and finishing a piece of metal. Forgings are made by forcing materials into customized shapes either by the force of a falling ram upon an anvil or by a die press enclosing a piece of metal and squeeze-forming the part. Due to the realigning of the grains of metal when heated and deformed, forgings can withstand extreme pressure and maintain structural integrity under stress. Once produced, forgings have a broad range of uses across a variety of industries ranging from heavy trucks, medical supplies, automotive parts, to aerospace.

What is The Metal Forging Process?

When choosing a type of forging, buyers have a long list of options for producing a critical metal component. It can be challenging to make the right choice, because each technique comes with varying pros and cons, revolving around costs and logistics.

However, choosing the forging method brings a plethora of unique benefits unavailable with any other choice.

With regards to price and overall quality, metal forging brings the most value. This notion rings doubly when maximum part strength, custom sizes, and critical performance specifications are needed for the application.

Metal Materials of Forging

Much of the determination of which forging process to use is dependent on the type of metal. Nearly every metal can be forged regardless of the fact that metals have different characteristics and properties in relation to their weight, tensile strength, and deformation capabilities.

The common types of metals for forging include carbon, alloy, stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, brass, copper, cobalt, nickel, and molybdenum.

Forged products can be structural components in the following:

Critical aircraft parts:

• Landing gear
• Shafts for jet engines
• Turbines

Transportation equipment:

• Automobiles
• Railroads
• Crankshafts
• Levers
• Gears
• Connecting rods
• 
  

Also, forging is used to fortify hand tools (e.g., chisels, rivets, screws, and bolts).

HOW DO FORGINGS COMPARE TO CASTINGS?

Forgings are stronger. Castings do not have strengthening benefits yielded by hot and cold forgings. Forging surpasses casting in predictable strength properties and produces superior simultaneously more ductile and resistant pieces with uniform quality assured across the production run.

Forging refines defects from cast ingots or continuous cast bar. A casting is defined as having neither grain flow nor directional strength and the casting process cannot prevent the formation of certain metallurgical defects. Pre-working forge stock produces a grain flow oriented in directions requiring maximum strength. Dendritic structures, alloy segregations, and similar imperfections are also refined in forging.

Forgings are consistently more reliable and often less costly over time compared to castings. Casting defects occur in a variety of forms. Because hot working refines grain patterns and imparts high strength, ductility, and resistance to each forged piece they are also more durable. Also, they are manufactured without the added costs for tighter process controls and inspections that are required for castings.

Forgings also offer a better response to heat treatment. Castings require close control of melting and cooling processes because alloy segregation may occur. This results in a non-uniform heat treatment response that can affect the straightness of finished parts. Forgings respond more predictably to heat treatment and offer better dimensional stability.

Production of forgings allows for flexible, cost-effective adaption to market demand. Some castings, such as special performance castings, require expensive materials and process controls, and longer lead times. Open-die and ring rolling are examples of forging processes that adapt to various production run lengths and enable shortened lead times.

HOW DO FORGINGS COMPARE TO WELDMENTS/FABRICATIONS?

Forgings offer production economies and material savings. Welded fabrications are more costly in high-volume production runs. In fact, fabricated parts are a traditional source of forging conversions as production volume increases. Initial tooling costs for forging can be absorbed by production volume and material savings. Forgings’ production economics lower labor costs, scrap and rework reductions through reduced inspection costs.

Forgings are stronger. Welded structures are not generally free of porosity. Any strength benefit gained from welding or fastening standard rolled products can be lost by poor welding or joining practice. The grain orientation achieved in forging makes stronger parts.

Forgings also offer cost-effective designs. Defined as a multiple-component welded assembly cannot match the cost-savings gained from a properly designed, one-piece forging. Such part consolidations can result in considerable cost savings. In addition, weldments require costly inspection procedures, especially for highly stressed components. Forgings do not.

Forgings offer more consistent, better metallurgical properties. Selective heating and non-uniform cooling that occur in welding can yield undesirable metallurgical properties such as inconsistent grain structure. When in use, a welded seam may act as a notch that can contribute to part failure. Forgings have no internal voids that might cause unexpected failure under stress or impact.

Forgings offer simplified production. Welding and mechanical fastening require careful selection of joining materials, fastening types and sizes, and close monitoring of tightening practices both of which increase production costs. Forging simplifies production and ensures better quality and consistency.

HOW DO FORGINGS COMPARE TO MACHINED BAR/PLATE?

Forgings offer a broader size range of desired material grades. The sizes and shapes of products made from steel bars and plates are limited to the dimensions in which these materials are supplied. Often, forging may be the only metalworking process available with certain grades in desired sizes. Forgings can be economically produced in a wide range of sizes, from parts whose largest dimension is less than 1 inch, to parts weighing more than 450,000 lbs.

Forgings are grain-oriented to shape for greater strength. Machined bar and plate may be more susceptible to fatigue and stress corrosion because machining cuts into material grain patterns. In most cases, forging yields a grain structure oriented to the parts’ external contours, resulting in optimum strength, ductility, and resistance to impact and fatigue.

Forgings make better, more economic use of materials. Flame cutting plate is defined as a wasteful process, one of several fabricating steps that consumes more material than needed to make such parts as rings or hubs. Even more material is lost in subsequent machining.

Forgings yield lower scrap and increase the efficiency of production. Forgings, especially near-net shapes pieces, make better use of material and generate little scrap. In high-volume production runs, forgings have a decisive cost advantage.

Forgings require fewer secondary operations. As supplied, some grades of bar and plate require additional operations such as turning, grinding, and polishing to remove surface irregularities and achieve the desired finish, dimensional accuracy, machinability, and strength. Often, forgings can be put into service without expensive secondary operations.