Filed under: Forged vs Cast, Forging Benefits, Forging Process, Top Forging Questions, Types of Forging New to the metalworking industry, especially anyone working in machining operations, one will need to recognize the variety raw materials forms to assure success in finishing operations. Different bulk forming methods produce different results, especially in surface condition and metallurgy. Each will require different approaches to assure consistent high-quality results. Visual Clues Visual clues are the first things to observe to determine how raw material was produced. Many people ..read more

Filed under: Forging Innovations, Forging Process, Types of Forging Buyers that are new to managing industrial supply chains often lack understanding issues of lead times. There is a saying, “If you want to learn how to bake bread, first become a farmer, then a miller, then a chemist, then a baker.” One must understand how the many ingredients are grown and come together to make bread, much less something desirable and delicious. The difference between bread and metal component parts is that it is possible to buy a standard loaf of bread. Forgings and other metal component parts are not as ..read more

Filed under: Forging Benefits, Top Forging Questions, Types of Forging Forging Design Part 2 – Choosing the best option. Requirements of True Wrought Properties Strength The mechanical property requirements for Yield Strength (Yield), Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS), Elongation and Reduction of Area (ROA) should be calculated for any design using computational analysis. A safety factor multiple over model predictions is needed to account for shock/momentary loading. Wrought properties provided by forging provide ultimate strength for almost every alloy. Durability Impact toughness provide ..read more

Filed under: Forging Benefits, Forging Innovation, Top Forging Questions While there is no record of when or how the forging process was “discovered” by humans, we can imagine the origins of the process. Liquid metals smelted from crude ores needed to be fashioned into more useful objects. Hammering the lumps of metal was the means to change them into more useful shapes. There are some who still think forging is nothing more than “heat it and beat it” to make crude end products. This may have been the original concept but working metal into high quality products has been a hallmark of ci ..read more

Filed under: Forged vs Cast, Forging Benefits, Forging Innovation, Forging Materials, Forging Parts, Forging Process To design a component that requires the ultimate metallurgical advantage of forging, a design engineer must understand how to generate a design to maximize forging advantages. Forging is the initial, critical process to assure product quality. All other steps are included to generate a finished, integrated product to achieve the optimum result. While specialized forging processes can produce nearly complete components, forging is not generally considered a process to provide ..read more

Filed under: Forged vs Cast, Forging Benefits, Forging Innovation,Forging Process, Top Forging Questions Anyone engaged in process design for a metal product has a range of choices for the production of a component far beyond what design engineers had available just a few decades ago. This discussion is to focus on several of the typical metalworking processes, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each. Many processes and possibilities, such as component parts made from polymers, fiber-reinforced epoxies, or items made entirely from ceramic material will not be addressed. Not all ..read more

Filed under: Components,Forged vs Cast, Forging Benefits, Forging Materials The difference between iron and steel is simply that iron is an element and steel, in its most basic form, is an alloy of iron and carbon. Some may believe that “wrought iron” is, in some manner, also referring to steel since “wrought” means forged. The terms go back to the origins of ironwork, even before it was done on an industrial scale. The initial refining of iron from ore was, by today’s standards, a crude process, resulting in cast material that was full of defects and inclusions. Making “wrought iron”, the ..read more

Filed under: Forged vs Cast, Forging Benefits, Forging Materials There are differences between forged vs cast material. The basic difference between forging and casting is that the forging process does not melt the work piece material to create a new shape. In casting, metal is melted and poured or forced into a mold made in the shape of the desired item. In forging, deformation of the material in solid form, often by hammering or pressing the material, creates the desired shape. Both processes have certain advantages that may lead to one or the other being used to create a component depen ..read more

Filed under: Forged vs Cast Forging and casting processes are often confused, one with the other. To the untrained observer, the appearance of a forging compared to a casting may be similar. Surface appearances can be misleading. The significant differences lie under the surface, in the metallurgical structure, each process contributes to the finished part. An understanding of the differences between forging and casting will allow an engineer to design the component best suited to the service performance both desired and required for a manufactured product. Forged vs. Cast products undergo ..read more

Filed under: Components, Forging Benefits, Forging Innovation, Forging Materials, Forging Parts, Forging Process Many companies are impacted by the pandemic and supply chain disruption.  Faced with delays, unknowns, and increased costs from their overseas suppliers, Reshoring has become a viable option. Many businesses who offshore their manufacturing are considering reshoring.  The COVID-19 Pandemic and unknown political climate has disrupted oversea supply chains.  Delayed deliveries have threatened ongoing production for business.  With increased unknowns and uncerta ..read more