Forging
In open die forging, the work piece is compressed
between two flat platens or dies, thus allowing the
metal to flow without any restriction in the sideward
direction relative to the die surfaces
Forging Defects
• The common forging defects are:
• 1. Dirt, slag, blow holes: These are defects, resulting from the melting practice.
• 2. Seams, piping, cracks, scales or bad surface and segregation: These are ingot
defects.
• 3. Decarburization: These defects result from improper heating of the forging.
• 4. Flakes: These defects result from improper cooling of the forging.
• 5. Fins and rags: These are small projections or loose metal driven into the
forging surface.
• 6. Mismatch: This occurs due to improper alignment between the top and
bottom forging dies.
• 7. Pitting: These are shallow surface depressions caused by scales which is not
removed from dies.
• 8. Cold shut or laps: These are short cracks which usually occur at corners and at
right angles to the surface. These are caused when the metal surface folds
against itself during forging.
• 9. Dents: These arise due to careless work.
• 10. Unfilled section: It occurs when metal does not completely fill the die cavity.
Remedies
• 1. Shallow cracks and cavities can be removed by chipping out of the cold
forging with pneumatic chisel or with hot sets during the forging
processes.
• 2. Surface cracks and decarburized areas are removed from important
forgings by grinding on special machines. Care should also be taken to see
that the work piece is not under-heated, decarburized, overheated and
burnt.
• 3. Die design should be properly made taking into consideration all
relevant and important aspects that may impair forging defects and
ultimate spoilage.
• 4. The parting line of a forging should lie in one plane to avoid
mismatching.
• 5. Distorted forgings are straightened in presses, if possible
Advantages of Forging
• 1. Directional strength: Forging produces predictable and uniform
grain size and flow characteristics. These qualities translate into
superior metallurgical and mechanical qualities, and deliver increased
directional strength in the final part.
• 2. Structural strength: Forging also provides a degree of structural
integrity that is unmatched by other metalworking processes. It
eliminates internal voids and gas pockets that can weaken metal
parts. Predictable structural integrity reduces part inspection
requirements, simplifies heat treating and machining, and ensures
optimum -part performance under field-load conditions.
• 3. Variety of sizes: Open die forged part weights can run from a single
pound to over 400,000 pounds
• 4. Variety of shapes: Shape design is just as versatile, ranging from
simple bar, shaft and ring configurations to specialized shapes.
Advantages of Forging
• 5. Metallurgical spectrum: Forgings can be produced from literally
all ferrous and nonferrous metals.
• 6. Material savings: Forging can measurably reduce material costs
since it requires less starting metal to produce many part shapes.
• 7. Machining economies: Forging can also yield machining, lead
time and tool life advantages.
• 8. Reduced rejection rules: By providing weld-free parts produced
with cleaner forging quality material and yielding improved
structural integrity, forging can virtually eliminate rejections.
• 9. Production efficiencies: Using the forging process, the same part
can be produced from many different sizes of starting ingots or
billets. This flexibility means that forged parts of virtually any
grade can be manufactured more quickly and economically.
Limitations of Forgings
• 1. The forged parts often need to be machined before use.
• 2. Tooling for complicated geometry may be expensive and require
multiple passes on the same workpiece.
• 3. The rapid oxidation of metal surfaces at high temperature results
in scaling which wears the dies.
• 4. Initial cost of dies and maintenance cost is high.
Applications of Forging
Typical parts made by forging are:
•crankshafts
• connecting rods for engines,
• turbine disks,
• gears,
•wheels,
•bolt heads,
•hand tools, and
• many types of structural components for
machinery and transportation equipment