CHAPTER 14
FORGING
BMIS 1613
MANUFACTURING PROCESS
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Chapter Outline
• Introduction
• Open Die Forging
• Impression Die and Close Die Forging
• Forging Die Design
• Forging Machines
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Introduction
• Forging: a process in which the
workpiece is shaped by compressive
forces applied through various dies and
tools.
• Typical forged products: large rotors
for turbines, cutlery, bolts, rivets,
connecting rods, shafts for turbines,
gears, hand tools and others.
• Forging operations produce discrete
parts.
FIGURE 14.1 (a) Illustration of the steps involved in forging a knife. (b) Landing-gear components for the C5A and C5B transport aircraft,
made by forging. (c) General view of a 445-MN (50,000-ton) hydraulic press.
Source: (a) Courtesy of Mundial, LLC. (b) and (c) Courtesy of Wyman-Gordon Company.
Introduction
• Because the metal flow in a die and the material’s grain structure can
be controlled, forged parts have good strength and toughness, and
are very reliable for highly stressed and critical applications.
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• Forging may be carried out at room
temperature (cold forging) or at
elevated temperatures (warm or hot
forging).
• Cold forging requires higher forces,
because of the higher strength of the
workpiece material, which also must
possess sufficient ductility at room
Introduction temperature to be able to undergo the
required deformation without cracking.
• Cold forged parts have good surface
finish and dimensional accuracy.
• Hot forging requires smaller forces, but
it produces dimensional accuracy and
surface finish that are not as good as in
cold forging.
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TABLE 14.1 General Characteristics of Forging Processes
Open Die
Forging
FIGURE 14.3 (a) Solid cylindrical billet upset between two flat dies. (b) Uniform deformation of the billet without friction. (c) Deformation with
friction; note barreling of the billet caused by friction forces at the billet–die interfaces.
• Barreling (Fig. 14.3c) is caused primarily by frictional
forces at the die-work-piece interfaces that oppose
the outward flow of the materials at these
interfaces. Barreling can be minimized by using an
effective Lubricant.
• Barreling can also occur in upsetting hot work-
pieces between cold dies. The material at and near
Open Die the interfaces cools rapidly, while the rest of the
work-piece remains relatively hot. Thus, the
Forging material at the ends of the work-piece has higher
resistance to deformation than the material at its
center. Consequently, the central portion of the
work-piece expands laterally to a greater extent
than do its ends.
• Barreling from thermal effects can be reduced or
eliminated by using heated dies.
• Cogging (drawing out): an open-die forging operation
in which thickness of a bar is reduced by successive
forging steps at specific intervals.
• Because contact area per stroke is small, a long section
of a bar can be reduced in thickness without requiring
large forces or machinery
Open Die
Forging
FIGURE 14.4 (a) Schematic illustration of a cogging operation on a rectangular bar. Blacksmiths
use this process to reduce the thickness of bars by hammering the part on an anvil; reduction in
thickness is accompanied by barreling. (b) Reducing the diameter of a bar by open-die forging; note
the movements of the dies and the workpiece. (c) The thickness of a ring being reduced by open-die
forging.
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Forging Force
• The forging force, F, in an open-die forging operation on a solid
cylindrical piece:
2
2𝜇𝑟
𝐹 = 𝑌𝑓 𝜋 𝑟 1 +
3ℎ
• Yf : flow stress of the material, stress required to continue
plastic deformation of the work-piece at a particular true strain.
• µ : coefficient of friction,
• r and h: radius and height of the work-piece
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Example
A solid cylindrical workpiece made of 304 stainless steel is 150 mm in
diameter and 100 mm high. It is reduced in height by 50% at room
temperature by open-die forging with flat dies. Assuming that the
coefficient of friction is 0.2.
Calculate the forging force at the end of the stroke.
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Solution
The forging force at the end of the stroke is,
2
2𝜇𝑟
𝐹 = 𝑌𝑓 𝜋 𝑟 1 +
3ℎ
The final height, h = 100/2 = 50 mm, and the final radius, r, is
determined from volume constancy by equating the volumes before
and after deformation. Hence,
𝜋 75 2 100 = 𝜋 𝑟 2 50
Thus, r = 106 mm.
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Solution
• The quantity Yf is the flow stress of the
material, which is the stress required
to continue plastic deformation of the
workpiece at a particular true strain.
• The absolute value of the true strain
that the workpiece has undergone at
the end of the stroke in this operation
is:
100
𝜖 = ln = 0.69
50
• Flow stress for 304 stainless steel at a
true strain 0.69 is about 1000 MPa.
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Solution
• Taking the value for flow stress, the forging force can be calculated.
Note that in this problem the units in the equation must be in N and
m.
• Thus,
6 2
2 0.2 0.106
𝐹 = 1000 × 10 𝜋 0.106 1 +
3 0.050
= 4.5 × 107 𝑁 = 45 𝑀𝑁
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Example
A solid cylindrical workpiece made of 5052-O aluminium that is 125
mm in diameter and 90 mm high. It is reduced in height by 30% at
room temperature by open-die forging with flat dies. Assuming that the
coefficient of friction is 0.15.
Calculate the forging force at the end of the stroke.
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Impression-
die and
Closed-die
Forging
FIGURE 14.6 (a) through (d) Stages in impression-die forging of a solid round billet; note the formation of flash, which is excess metal that is
subsequently trimmed off. (e) Standard terminology for various features of a forging die.
Impression-die Forging
• Pre-forming processes, such as fullering and edging (Figs.14.8b and c),
are used to distribute the material into various regions of the blank.
• In fullering material is distributed away from an area.
• In edging, it is gathered into a localized area.
• The part is then formed into the rough shape of a connecting rod by a
process called blocking, using blocker dies.
• The final operation is the finishing of the forging in impression dies
that give the forging its final shape. The flash is removed later by a
trimming operation.
FIGURE 14.8 (a) Stages in forging a connecting rod for an internal combustion engine; note the amount of flash required to ensure proper
filling of the die cavities. (b) Fullering and (c) edging operations to distribute the material properly when preshaping the blank for forging.
• The blank is placed on the lower die and, as the upper
Impression-die and die begins to descend, the blank’s shape gradually
Closed-die Forging changes, as is shown for the forging of a connecting
rod in fig. 14.8a.
Impression-die Forging Force
The forging force, F, required to carry
out an impression-die forging
operation can be estimated from the
formula
𝐹 = 𝑘𝑌𝑓 𝐴
K: a multiplying factor (Table 14.2)
Yf: flow stress of material at the
forging temperature,
A: is projected area of forging,
including the flash.
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• In hot forging operations, the actual
forging pressure for most metals
typically ranges from 550 to 1000 MPa.
Example Given that the flow stress of a material at
the forging temperature is 700 MPa.
And a part (in Fig. 14.8a) has a projected
(with flash) of 38,000 mm2.
Taking a value of k = 10 (from Table 14.2),
the forging force would be,
𝐹 = 10 700 38,000 = 266 𝑀𝑁
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Closed-die
Forging
• In true closed-die or flash-less forging,
flash does not form and the work-
piece completely fills the die cavity
(Fig. 14.10b).
• Consequently, the forging pressure is
very high,
• Undersize blanks prevent complete
filling of die cavity.
• Oversize blanks generate excessive
pressures and may cause dies to fail.
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FIGURE 14.10 Comparison of (a) closed-die forging with flash and (b) precision or flashless forging of a round billet. Source: After H.
Takemasu, V. Vazquez, B. Painter, and T. Altan.
• In order to reduce the number of
additional finishing operations required-
hence the cost-the trend has been toward
greater precision in forged products (net-
Precision shape forming).
• Special dies produce parts having greater
Forging accuracies than those from impression die
forging and requiring much less machining.
• Process requires higher capacity
equipment because of greater forces
required to obtain fine details on part.
• Precision forging requires special and more
complex dies, precise control of billet’s
volume and shape, accurate positioning of
the billet in die cavity, and hence higher
investment. However, less material is
wasted, less subsequent machining
required. 27
Various
Forging
Operations -
Coining
FIGURE 14.11 (a) Schematic illustration of the coining process; the earliest coins (see TABLE I.2) were made by open-die forging and lacked
precision and sharp details. (b) An example of a modern coining operation, showing the coins and tooling; note the detail and superior surface
finish that can be achieved in this process. Source: Courtesy of C & W Steel Stamp Company Inc.
Various Forging Operations - Heading
• Heading: upsetting operation
usually performed at end of
round rod or wire to produce a
larger x-section.
• Production rates: 100 pieces per
min for small parts.
• Typical products are nails, bolt
heads, screws, rivets, and
various other fasteners (Fig.
14.12). FIGURE 14.12 (a) Heading operation to form heads on
fasteners, such as nails and rivets. (b) Sequence of operations in
producing a typical bolt head by heading.
Various Forging Operations - Piercing
• Piercing: a process of indenting the
surface of a work-piece with a
punch in order to produce a cavity
or an impression
• The piercing force depends on the
x-sectional area and the tip
geometry of punch, strength of
material, and magnitude of friction
at the sliding interfaces.
• The pressure may range from 3 to 5
times the strength of the material
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FIGURE 14.14 (a) The stepped pin used in Case Study 14.1. (b) Illustration of the manufacturing steps used to produce the stepped pin.
Source: Courtesy of National Machinery, LLC.
• Also known as radial forging, rotary forging, or
simply swaging.
• a solid rod or tube is subjected to radial impact
forces by a set of reciprocating dies of the machine
Various (Fig. 14.14a and b).
• Die movements are obtained by means of a set of
Forging rollers in a cage.
Operations - • The work-piece is stationary and the dies rotate,
striking the work-piece at rates as high as 20
Rotary strokes per second
• In die closing swaging machines, die movements
Swaging are obtained through reciprocating motion of
wedges (Fig. 14.14c).
• In another type of machine, the dies do not rotate,
but move radially in and out.
• Typical products made are screwdriver blades and
soldering iron tips. 33
FIGURE 14.15 (a) Schematic illustration of the rotary-swaging process. (b) Forming internal profiles on a tubular workpiece by swaging. (c) A
die-closing swaging machine, showing forming of a stepped shaft. (d) Typical parts made by swaging. Source: (d) Courtesy of J. Richard
Industries.
• Internal diameter and/or thickness of the
tube can be controlled with or without
use of internal mandrels (Fig. 14.16).
Various • Mandrels can also be made with
Forging longitudinal grooves, to allow swaging of
internally shaped tubes.
Operations
• Swaging process can be used to
- assemble fittings over cables and wire.
Tube Swaging • Swaging is usually limited to max work-
piece diameter of about 150 mm
FIGURE 14.16 (a) Swaging of tubes without a mandrel; note the increase in wall thickness in the die gap. (b) Swaging with a mandrel; note
that the final wall thickness of the tube depends on the mandrel diameter. (c) Examples of cross-sections of tubes produced by swaging on
shaped mandrels; rifling (internal spiral grooves) in small gun barrels can be made by this process.
Defects in
Forged Parts
FIGURE 14.17 Examples of defects in forged parts. (a) Laps due to web buckling during forging; web thickness should be increased to avoid
this problem. (b) Internal defects caused by an oversized billet; die cavities are filled prematurely, and the material at the center flows past the
filled regions as the dies close.
Considerations for die design:
• The shape and complexity of the workpiece,
its ductility, its strength and sensitivity to
deformation rate and temperature, and its
frictional characteristics
Forging Die
• Die distortion under high forging loads.
Design • The most important rule in die design is the
fact that the part will flow in the direction of
least resistance. Thus, the workpiece
intermediate shapes should be planned so
that they properly fill the die cavities.
Die Materials
General requirements for die
materials are:
• Strength and toughness at
elevated temperatures.
• Hardenability and ability to
harden uniformly.
• Resistance to mechanical and
thermal shock, and Wear
resistance.
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Selection of proper die materials
depends on:
• die size,
• composition and properties of work-
piece,
• complexity of the shape,
• the forging temperature,
Die Materials • type of forging operation,
• cost of die materials,
• number of forgings required,
• Heat transfer from the hot work-
piece to the dies.
• Common die materials are tool and
die steels containing chromium,
nickel, molybdenum, and vanadium. 41
Lubricants act as:
• A thermal barrier between the hot work-
piece and the relatively cold dies, slowing
the rate of cooling of the work-piece and
improving metal flow.
• A parting agent preventing the forging
from sticking to the dies and helping
release it from the die..
Lubrication • For hot forging, graphite, molybdenum
disulfide, are used.
• For cold forging, mineral oils and soaps
are common Lubricants,
• in hot forging, the Lubricant is usually
applied directly to the dies
• In cold forging, it is applied to the work-
piece.
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• The die manufacturing methods include casting,
forging, machining, grinding, electrical and
electrochemical methods-particularly electrical-
discharge machining (EDM) and wire EDM-and the use
of lasers for small dies.
• Causes of Die Failures:
• Improper die design
Die • Defective or improper selection of die material
Manufacturing • Improper manufacturing and improper heat-
Method and treatment and finishing operations
• Overheating and heat checking (i.e., cracking
Die Failures caused by temperature cycling)
• Excessive wear
• Overloading (i.e., excessive force on the die)
• Improper alignment of the die components with
respect to their movements
• Misuse
• Improper handling of the die. 43
• Hydraulic presses: Constant speeds, load
limited (press stops if the load required
exceeds its capacity). Because forging in a
hydraulic press takes longer than in other
Forging types of forging machines, the work-piece
Machines - may cool rapidly unless the dies are
heated. Compared to mechanical presses,
Presses hydraulic presses are slower and involve
higher initial cost, less maintenance.
• Press capacities range up to 125 MN for
open die forging, and up to 405 MN.
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FIGURE 14.19 Schematic illustration of the principles of various forging machines. (a) Crank press with an eccentric drive; the eccentric shaft
can be replaced by a crankshaft to give up-and- down motion to the ram. (b) Knuckle-joint press. (c) Screw press. (d) Hydraulic press.
• Mechanical presses: either the crank or the eccentric
type.
• The speed varies from max at the centre of the stroke
to zero at the bottom of the stroke, are stroke limited.
• A Knuckle-joint mechanical press is shown in Fig.
14.19b; because of the linkage design, very high
Forging forces can be applied in this type of press.
Machines - • The Force available in a mechanical press depends on
the stroke position; it becomes extremely high at the
Presses bottom dead centre.
• High production rates; easier to automate, less
operator skill than do other types of forging
machines.
• Press capacities generally range from 2.7 MN (300
tons) to 107 MN (12,000 ton).
• Mechanical presses are preferred for forging parts
with high precision.
• Screw Presses: These presses (Fig. 14.19c)
derive their energy from a flywheel; hence
they are energy limited.
Forging • The forging load is transmitted through a
Machines - vertical screw, and the ram comes to a
stop when the flywheel energy is
Presses dissipated.
• Suitable for small production quantities
and precision parts,
• Capacities range from 1.4 MN to 280 MN
(160 tons to 31,500 tons).
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• Hammers derive their energy from the
potential energy of the ram, which is
converted into kinetic energy; hence, they
are energy limited.
Forging • Operate at high speeds; the resulting low
Machines - forming time minimizes the cooling of a
hot forging. Low cooling rates allow the
Hammers forging of complex shapes.
• To complete the forging, several
successive blows usually are made in the
same die.
• The least expensive type of forging
equipment.
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FIGURE 14.20 (a) Schematic illustration of a servo press, with the power source and transmission components highlighted. (b) An example of
a servo press, with a 23,000 kN (2500 ton) capacity.
Source: Courtesy of Aida Engineering, Inc.
THANK YOU
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