UNIT 3 – METAL

FORMING Chapter – 3
Forging

Forging: Classification-Open Die and Closed Die Forging, Hammer and Press Forging, Hand and
Machine Forging, Force Calculation, Advantages and Disadvantages of Forging.

Introduction
• Forging is the operation where the metal is heated and then a force is
 applied to manipulate the metal in such a way that the required final
shape is obtained.
• This is the oldest of the metal-working processes known to mankind
since the copper age.
• Forging can be carried out at room temperature (cold working), or at
elevated temperatures, a process called warm or hot forging,
depending on the temperature.
• Typical parts made by forging today are :
• Crankshafts and connecting rods for engines ;
• Turbine discs, gears, wheels, bolt heads, hand tools ;
• Many types of structural components for machinery and
transformation equipment.
Advantages of Forging
• Forging improves the structure of metal and hence its mechanical
properties.
• Owing to intense working, flaws are seldom found and the
workpiece has a high reliability.
• Rapid duplication of components.
• Metal removing in machining is minimum.
• The forging can withstand unpredictable loads.
• The surface of the forging is relatively smooth.
• The forging can withstand unpredictable loads.
Disadvantages of Forging
• The initial cost of dies and the cost of their maintenance is high.
• In hot forging, due to high temperature of metal, there is rapid
oxidation or scaling of the surface resulting in poor surface finish.
• Forging operation is limited to simple shapes and has limitations
for parts having undercuts, re-entrant surfaces, etc.
 • Forgings are usually costlier than castings.
Categories of Forging
• Following are the three basic categories of forging :
1. Open-die forging.
2. Impression-die forging.
3. Closed-die forging.
between two flat dies (platens) and
Open-die forging reducing its height by compressing it.
• This type of forging is distinguished by • This process is known as upsetting. •
the fact that the metal is never completely Under ideal conditions, a solid cylinder
confined as it is shaped by various dies. deforms as shown in Fig.(a); this is known
• Open-die forging, generally involves as homogeneous deformation.
placing • Fig.(b) shows deformation in upsetting
a solid cylindrical workpiece with friction as the die-workpiece
interfaces; the specimen developsa barrel
shape.

Fig. b

Fig. a
• Barreling caused by friction can be minimised by an effective
lubricant or ultrasonic vibration of the platens.
• The use of heated platens or thermal barrier at interfaces will also
reduce barrel in hot working.
• Most open-die forgings are produced on flat-V, or swaging dies. •
Round swaging dies and V dies are used in pairs or with a flat die.
• The top die is attached to the ram of the press, and the bottom die
is attached to the hammer anvil or, in the case of press open-die
forging, to the press bed.
• As the workpiece is hammered or pressed, it is repeatedly
manipulated between the dies until hot working forces the metal to
the final dimensions.

Advantages of open-die forging :

• Simple to operate.
• Simple for low production volume.
• Inexpensive tooling and equipment.
• Wide range of workpiece sizes can be used.
Limitations :
• Suitable for simple shapes only.
• Can be employed for short run production only.
• It is difficult to maintain moderately close
tolerances. • Material utilisation is poor.
• Less control in determining grain flow, mechanical properties and
dimensions.
• Fairly skilled workers are required.
• Since machining is often required, final cost of production may be
higher than other forging methods.
Impression-die forging
• In impression-die forging, the workpiece acquires the shape of the
die cavities (impressions) while it is being upset between the
 closing dies.
• In the simplest example of this type of forging, two dies are brought
together, and the workpiece undergoes plastic deformation until its
enlarged sides touch the side walls of the die.
• A small amount of material is forced outside the die impression,
forming flash that is gradually thinned.
• The flash cools rapidly and presents increased resistance to
deformation, effectively becoming a part of the tool, and helps build
up pressure inside the bulk of the workpiece that aids material flow
into unfilled impressions.
Closed Die Forging
• In true closed-die forging, no flash is formed, and the workpiece is
completely surrounded by dies, while in impression-die forging,
any excess metal in the die cavity is formed into a flash.
• Since no flash can be formed in closed-die forging, proper control of
the volume of material is essential to obtain a forging of desired
 dimensions (and to avoid generating extreme pressures in the dies
from overfilling).
• One approach to getting the right amount of metal for the die cavity
and reduce forging time is the use of roll-formed shapes or
extruded preform shapes.
Advantages
• Can be used for production of complex shapes.
• Good dimensional accuracy and reproducibility.
• Suitable for high production rate.
• Less time consuming than open-die forging.
• Workpiece materials are utilised effectively.
• The grain flow of the metal can be controlled ensuring high
mechanical properties.
• Since the forgings are made with smaller machining allowances,
therefore, there is a considerable reduction in the machining time
and consumption of metal required for the forging.
Limitations
• More than one step required for each forging.
• Finishing required for achieving final shape. •
High equipment and tooling cost.
• Appropriate die set for production of each component.
 Drop or Hammer
Forging
• This method of forging uses a closed
impression die to obtain the desired
shape of the component.
• The shaping is done by the repeated
hammering given to the material in the
die cavity.
• The equipment employed for delivering
the blows are called drop hammers.
• The die used in drop forging consists of
two halves.
• The lower half of the die is fixed to the
anvil of the machine, while the upper half is
fixed to the ram.
• The heated stock is kept in the lower die while the ram delivers four to
five blows on the metal in quick succession so that the metal spreads
and completely fills the die cavity.
• When the two die halves close, the complete cavity is formed. • Too
complex shapes with internal cavities, deep pockets, re-entrant shapes,
etc. cannot be obtained in drop forging due to the limitation of the
withdrawal of the finished forging from the die.
• Typical products obtained in drop forging are :
• Wrench
• Crane hook
• Crank
• Crankshaft
• Connecting rod, etc.
 Press forging
• In press forging, the metal is shaped not by means of a series of
blows as in drop forging, but by means of a single continuous
squeezing action.
• This squeezing is obtained by means of presses.
• Owing to the continuous action of the press, the material gets
uniformly deformed throughout its entire depth.
• The impressions obtained in press forging are clear compared to
that of the likely jarred impressions which are likely in the drop
forged components.
• The press is generally of vertical type and the squeezing action is
carried completely to the centre of the part being pressed.
• Forging presses are of two types :
Mechanical and hydraulic.
• Mechanical presses may be either of screw
 type used for brass forging only ; or crank
type.
• Presses can be readily automated.
• “Hydraulic presses” are used for heavy
work and “mechanical press” for light
work.
• Mechanical presses operate faster than
the hydraulic presses, but hydraulic
presses are designed to provide greater
squeezing force.
Advantages of press forging
• Presses provide a faster rate of production because the die in press
forging is filled in a single stroke.
• Superior structural quality of the product.
• Quicker operation comparatively.
 • High output even with unskilled operators.
• Low susceptibility to failure and simple maintenance.
• Uniform forgings with exacting tolerances and low machining
allowances.
• Alignment of the two die halves can be move easily maintained than
with hammering.
Hand Forging
• The process involves heating the stock in the
blacksmith’s hearth and then beating it over
the anvil.
• To get the desired shape, the operator has to
manipulate the component in between the
blows.
• The types of operations available are
 fullering, flattening, bending, upsetting and
swaging.
• In fullering, the material cross section is
decreased and length increased.
• To do this, the bottom fuller is kept in the anvil
hole with the heated stock over the fuller.
• The top fuller is then kept above the stock and then with the sledge
hammer, the force is applied on the top fuller.
• The fullers concentrate the force over a very small area, thus
decreasing the cross section at that point.
• Metal flows outward and away from the centre of the fullering die.
• Then the stock is advanced slightly over the fuller and the process
repeated
• To obtain specific shapes such as round, square, hexagon, etc., open
general-purpose dies called swages are used.
• The force for shaping is applied by manual hammering or by means
of the forging hammers, the latter being the industrial practice.
• Smith forging involves a lot of skill on the part of the operator and
also is more time consuming.
• But since no special dies are used, smith forging is more beneficial
in the manufacture of small lots or in trial production, because the
heavy cost of the closed-impression dies cannot be justified in these
cases.
Machine forging
• The machine forging, as it involves the upsetting operation,
sometimes it is simply called upset forging.
• Like press forging, in machine forging also, the material is
plastically deformed by squeeze pressure into the shape provided
by the dies in the forging machine ; but unlike press forging, it
operates in horizontal direction.
• It is the forging method which is often selected when certain parts
are required with an increased volume of metal at the centre or
only at one end.
• Upsetting machines called up setters are generally horizontal
acting.
• The die set consists of a die and a corresponding punch or a
heading tool.
• The die consists of two parts, one called stationary gripper die
which is fixed to the machine frame and the other, movable gripper
die, which moves along with the die slide of the upsetter.
• The stock is held between these two gripper dies by friction.
• The upset forging cycle starts with the movable die sliding against
the stationary die to grip the stock.
• The two dies when in closed position, form the necessary die cavity.
• Then the heading tool advances against the stock and upsets it to
 completely fill the die cavity.
• Having completed the upsetting, the heading
tool moves back to its back position.
• Then the movable gripper die releases the
stock by sliding backwards.
• In machine forging, similar to drop forging,
the operation is carried out in a number of
stages.
• The die cavities required for the various
operations are all arranged vertically on the
gripper dies.
• The stock is then moved from one stage to
the other in a proper sequence till the final
forging is ready.