Chapter 4: Metal Forming

Learning objectives
Understand the basic metal forming processes, including
forging and sheet metal stamping
Understand how the metal forming process changes the
shape and the material properties of the metal
Recognize different metal forming machines (presses),
including mechanical press and hydraulic press
Recognize the dies for sheet metal forming, their design
and constructions

 The aspects of metal forming:

The material (metal)

The machine
The tool (dies)
The operation (process)
Heat and Beat
Material
Press

Process

Product

Die
2

 A list of different metal forming processes:

Metal Forming

 Types of metal forming processes

Rolling (Chapter 13)

Bulk deforming (Chapter 14)
Extrusion and Drawing (Chapter 15)
Sheet metal forming (Chapter 16)

 Rolling
Different types of rolling process

 Rolling
Rolling machines

 Rolling
Rolling process
The forces act on the workpiece
The force and torque act on the roll

 Rolling
The rolling force

F LwYavg

L = roll-strip contact length

w = width of the strip
Yavg = average true stress of the strip

The total power (for two rolls)

Power (in kW)

2FLN
60,000

N = rolling speed (RPM)

 Rolling
An example: An annealed copper strip 228 mm wide and
25 mm thick is rolled to a thickness of 20 mm in one pass.
The roll radius is 300 mm, and the rolls rotate at 100 rpm.
Calculate the roll force and the power required in this
operation

 Rolling
Solution
Roll-strip contact length is calculated through geometry,

L Rho h f 3000 25 20 38 .7 mm

25
Absolute true strain of the strip is ln 0.223
20
Average true stress is 80 280 / 2 180 MPa
38.7
250
1000
180 17 .4 MN
The roll force is F LwYavg 1000
Total power is
2FLN
38 .7
100
6
Power
2 1.74 10

705 W
66,000
1000 66,000
10

 Rolling
Dimensional Tolerances
Thickness tolerances for cold-rolled sheets range from
0.1~0.35 mm
Flatness tolerances are within 15 mm/m for cold rolling
and 55 mm/m for hot rolling
Surface Roughness
Cold rolling can produce a very fine surface finish
Cold-rolled sheets products may not require additional
finishing operations

11

 Rolling
Straight and long structural shapes can be formed by shape
rolling

12

 Rolling
Roll forging: Cross section of a round bar is shaped by
passing it through a pair of rolls with profiled grooves

13

 Rolling
Skew rolling: Similar to roll forging and used for making
ball bearings

14

 Rolling
Ring rolling:

A thick ring is expanded into a large-diameter thinner one

Thickness is reduced by bringing the rolls closer together as they
rotate
Short production times, material savings and close dimensional
tolerances
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSbywBfXlHg

15

 Rolling
Thread rolling:

Thread rolling is a cold-forming process by which straight or

tapered threads are formed on round rods or wire
Threads are formed with rotary dies at high production rates

16

 Rolling
Rotary tube piercing:

Also known as the Mannesmann process

It is a hot-working operation for making long, thick-walled
seamless pipe and tubing
The round bar is subjected to radial compressive forces while
tensile stresses develop at the center of the bar

17

 Rolling
Tube rolling:

Diameter and thickness of pipes and tubing can be reduced by

tube rolling, which utilizes shaped rolls

18

 Rolling
Computer simulation of rolling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6iODHla6qY
Concluding remarks

Rolling is highly efficient

Rolling is reasonably accurate
Rolling can generate good surface
Rolling results in residual stress

19

 Forging
workpiece is shaped by compressive forces applied
through dies and tools
produce discrete parts
Forged parts have good strength and toughness, and are
reliable for highly stressed and critical applications

Types of forging
Open die forging and closed die forging
Hot forging and cold forging

20

 Characteristics of forging

21

 Forging
The machine
The process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTU0ZFkhtU

22

 Open-die forging
Workpiece is deformed uniformly under frictionless
conditions
Barreling occurs because of the friction force. It can be
reduced by adding lubrications

23

 Open-die forging
Different types of open-die forging

In open die forging, the stress varies continuously

24

 Open-die forging (continue)

The directional flow of the material in forging
Folding

25

 Open-die forging
The forging force, F, in an open-die forging operation on
a solid cylindrical workpiece can be estimated from
2 r
F Y f r 2 1

3h

Yf = flow stress of the material

= coefficient of friction between the workpiece and die
r = the instantaneous radius
h = height of the workpiece

26

 Open-die forging
An example: A solid cylindrical slug 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.

27

 Open-die forging
Solution
The final radius is 75 2 100 r 2 100

2 r 106 mm
100
0.69
50

Absolute value of the true strain is ln

From Table 2.3, 304 stainless steel has K = 1275 MPa and n =
0.45. Thus for a true strain of 0.69, the flow stress is 1100 MPa.

The forging force is F 1000 10

20.20.106
0.106 1 30.05 45 MN
2

28

 Analysis of open die forging

This is the simplest case in metal forming. Consider the
deformation of a square workpiece:
e1

h0 h1
h0

e1

v
h0

h0
1 ln
h1
v

1
h1

F, v

h0

d0

F, v

h0

d0

h1

d1

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 The reaction force

F YA1

A0 h0
A1
h1
F, v

K n d
0

K 1n

n 1

h0

d0

The required work for deformation

1

Work Volume d
0

Volume K n d

h1

d1

Volume Y 1
30

 Note:
We are primary interested in the plastic deformation and hence,
always use true strain and stress
How to compute the average yield stress and average work

= F/A

Ws ,5

l
A
Y 5 Y ln 5 Y ln 0
l0
A5

Average yield stress

ln ln 0
A
l0
31

 In order to study the stress distribution, in general, we

need to understand the 3D strain and stress
In general, strain and stress are three dimensional

x
ij

Shear strain yx

yx zx
y zy
z

u v

y x

ij

Shear stress

F, v

h0

x t yx t zx

y t zy

txy
y

d0

tyz

tzx
32

 In open die forging, it can be simplified as a 2D problem. In the

horizontal direction:
x d x h 2 z dx x h 0
Using the distortion-energy criterion:
d z d x
Therefore,
d x

2
dx
h

dx
Square h
specimen

x(a) = 0
z(a) = Y
a

x + dx

z
z

33

 Solving the differential equation results in

z Y ' e a x h

x Y ' e 2 a x h 1

Similarly, we can find the solution for y

The stress distribution is shown below

34

 Open die forging (continue)

The facture
Under excessive force, the barreling will become fracturing
Improved lubrication can reduce fracture

35

 Cold forming and hot forming

Cold forming is used for near shape manufacturing
The micro-process of cold forming
Reorientation (deformation ratio = 3)
Single crystal slip
Polycrystalline deformation

Crystal elongation (deformation ratio = 8 ~ 10)

Crystallographic fibrous structure

Slip line

Polycrystalline deformation
Crystal elongation

36

 Cold forming and hot forming

Hot forging is used to form large bulk steels
The temperature effect is significant
Finding the right temperature range using phase diagram
Overheat, steel may
burn or oxidize

oC

Right temperature

Under-heat, much
large force is required

37

 The forming process affects the grain size

Finer grain have higher yield strength and toughness and lower
internal strains and stresses
The process of forging and grain size

Grain size increase

because of heating
punching

Grain size after one

forging

Heating

Grain size after many

forgings

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 Closed-die forging
Application example

39

 Closed-die forging (continue)

Application example

40

 Closed die forging

making an aircraft landing gear

41

 Closed-die forging
The workpiece resemble the shape of the die
Anatomy of a die set: gutter and flash, parting line

42

 Closed-die forging
Forging Force
The forging force, F, required to carry out an impression-die
forging operation is
F kYf A
k = multiplying factor obtained
Yf = flow stress of the material at the forging temperature

43

 Extrusion and drawing

A0
F A0 k ln
A
f

44