DROP FORGING
Drop forging is a mass production
technique which hammers the metal between two
dies. Half of the die is attached to the hammer
(upper section) and half to the anvil (lower
section). The hot metal is placed in the lower half
of the die and struck one on more time with the
upper die. This forces the metal to flow in all
directions, filling the die cavity. Excess metal
squeezed out between the die faces is called flash
or flashing. After the forging is completed the
flash is cut off in another press with a trimming
die.
A metal shaping process, the metal to be
formed is first heated then shaped by forcing it
into the contours of a die, this force can be in
excess of 2000 tons. The drop forging process can
be performed with the material at various
temperatures;
Hot Forging
During hot forging the metals are heated to
above their recrystallization temperature. The
main benefit of this hot forging is that work
hardening is prevented due to the recrystallization
of the metal as it begins to cool.
Cold Forging
Cold Forging is generally performed with metal at
room temperature below the recrystallization
temperature. Cold forging typically work hardens the
metal
TWO TYPES OF DROP FORGING
OPEN DIE
Drop forging requires the operator to position the work
piece while it is impacted by the ram. The die attached to the
ram is usually flat or of a simple contour, most of the shaping is
CLOSED DIE (Impression die)
Drop forging comprises of a die on the anvil which
resembles a mould, the ram which falls and strikes the top
of the metal billet can also be equipped with a die. The
heated metal billet is placed on the lower die while the
ram drives down forcing the metal to fill the contours of
the die blocks.
Process details
Closed-die forging
A heated blank is placed between 2
halves of a die
A single compressive stroke squeezes the blank
into the die to form the part. In hammer or drop
forging this happens by dropping the top of the
mould from a height. An alternative is to squeeze
the moulds together using hydraulic pressure.
Once the die halves have separated, the
part can be ejected immediately using an
ejector pin.
The waste material, flash, is removed later.
Advantages
1. Parts of sizes up to 25 tons can be
produced with closed die forging
2. Closed die forging can produce near net
shapes that will require only a small
amount of finishing
3. Economic (profitable) for large runs of
product
4. Forging provides superior mechanical
properties over castings due to the
internal grain structure formation in
forged parts
5. Makes strong products.
6. Many metals are forged cold, but iron
and its alloys are always forged hot.
Disadvantages
1. Not very economical for short runs due to the
high cost of die production
2. The business set up cost of drop forging is very
high, not only are the machines and furnaces
costly but special building provisions must be in
place to cope with the powerful vibrations caused
by drop forging. A special foundation must be laid
to deal with this environment
3. Drop forging presents a dangerous working
environment
Materials and shapes
1. Any metal can be forged, provided the
blank is hot enough (( 60% of the melting
temperature).
2. Typical possible sizes for closed dies range
from 10g to 10kg, depending on complexity.
3. The part is left with good surface and
mechanical properties, although cold-forging
can perform even better.
4. Complex parts can be formed using a
series of forging dies with increasing levels
of detail.
5. A draft (taper) angle has to be
incorporated to allow easy removal of the
part.
6. Any waste material squeezed between
the die halves, called flash, is readily
recycled.
Economics
Production rate is limited by the insertion
and removal of the blank, so some form of
automation is often used.
As a result, machines can cost 100,000+,
but can produce many parts a minute (if
small).
As both the machines and the dedicated dies
are costly, production runs in excess of
50,000 are often needed to produce small
parts economically.
Large parts can be produced economically at
smaller batch sizes, because there is less
competition.
APPLICATION
Typical Products
Spanners
pedal cranks
gear blanks
valve bodies
hand tools
crankshafts
coins
MATERIALS USED
The materials that are used most commonly in
drop forging are: aluminium, copper, nickel, mild
steel, stainless steel, and magnesium.
Best Material: Mild Steel
Worst Material: Magnesium
