Forging Processes

Subjects of interest
1. Introduction/objectives
2. Classification of forging processes
a) - Hammer or drop forging
b) - Press forging
c) - Open-die forging
d) - Closed-die forging
3. Effect of forging on microstructure
4. Residual stresses in forgings
5. Typical forging defects
6. Different types of forging Problems
 Introduction
➢ Forging is the working of metal into a useful
shape by hammering or pressing.

➢ The oldest of the metalworking arts

(primitive blacksmith).

➢ Replacement of machinery occurred during

early the Industrial revolution.

➢ Forging machines are now capable of

making parts ranging in size of a bolt to a
turbine rotor.

➢ Most forging operations are carried out hot,

although certain metals may be cold-forged.
Forging operations
Edging is used to shape the
ends of the bars and to
gather metal. The metal
flow is confined in the
horizontal direction but it
is free to flow laterally to
fill the die.

Drawing is used to reduce the

cross-sectional area of the
work-piece with concurrent
increase in length.

Piercing and punching are

used to produce holes in
metals.
 Forging operations
Fullering is used to reduce the cross-sectional area
of a portion of the stock. The metal flow is outward
and away from the centre of the fuller. i.e., forging
of connecting rod for an internal combustion
engine.

Fuller move fast and moves metal perpendicular to

the face
Fullers come in
different shapes
 Forging operations
Swaging is used to produce a bar with a smaller
diameter (using concave dies).

Swaging is a special type of forging in which

metal is formed by a succession of rapid hammer
blows

Swaging at the ends, ready for next forming process

 Classification of forging processes

By equipment

1) Forging hammer or drop hammer

2) Press forging

By process

1) Open - die forging

2) Closed - die forging
 Forming machines
There are four basic types of forging machines
Hammer and press forging processes
Forging hammers There are two basic types of forging hammers used;

• Board hammer

• Power hammer

Forging presses There are two basic types of forging presses available;

• Mechanical presses

• Hydraulic presses
 Board hammer –forging hammer
• The upper die and ram are raised by friction rolls
gripping the board.

• After releasing the board, the ram falls under

gravity to produce the blow energy.

• The hammer can strike between 60-150 blows per

minute depending on size and capacity.

• The board hammer is an energy restricted machine.

The blow energy supplied equal the potential energy
due to the weight and the height of the fall.

Board hammer
• This energy will be delivered to the metal work-
piece to produce plastic deformation.
Drop hammer
• Provide rapid impact blows to the surface of the
metal.

• Dies are in two halves

- Lower : fixed to anvil
- Upper : moves up and down with the TUP.

• Energy (from a gravity drop) is adsorbed onto the

metal, in which the maximum impact is on the metal
surface.

• Dies are expensive being accurately machined from

special alloys (susceptible to thermal shock).

• Drop forging is good for mass production of

complex shapes.
Example:
Forging hammer or drop hammer
The energy supplied by the blow is
equal to the potential energy due
to the weight of the ram and the
height of the fall.

Potential energy = mgh

Power hammer
• Power hammer provides greater capacity, in
which the ram is accelerated on the down
stroke by steam or air pressure in addition to
gravity.
• Steam or air pressure is also used to raise
the ram on the upstroke.
• The total energy supplied to the blow in a
power drop hammer is given by

Where
m = mass
v = velocity of ram at start of deformation
g = acceleration of gravity
p = air or steam pressure acting on ram cylinder on down
stroke
A = area of ram cylinder
H = height of the ram drop
Hydraulic press forging
• Using a hydraulic press or a mechanical press
to forge the metal, therefore, gives continuous
forming at a slower rate.
• Provide deeper penetration.
• Better properties (more homogeneous).
• Equipment is expensive.
Example: Hydraulic Press forging

• Hydraulic presses are load-restricted machines in

which hydraulic pressure moves a piston in a
cylinder.

• The full press load is available at any point during

the full stroke of the ram. Therefore, hydraulic
presses are ideally suited for extrusion-type forging
operation.

• Due to slow speed, contact time is longer at the

die-metal interface, which causes problems such as
heat lost from work-piece and die deterioration.

• Also provide close-tolerance forging.

• Hydraulic presses are more expensive than

mechanical presses and hammers.
 Mechanical press forging
• Crank press translates rotary motion into
reciprocating linear motion of the press slide.

• The ram stroke is shorter than in a hammer or

hydraulic press.

• Presses are rated on the basis of the force

developed at the end of the stroke.

• The blow press is more like squeeze than like

the impact of the hammer, therefore, dies can be
less massive and die life is longer than with a
hammer.

Mechanical press • The total energy supplied during the stroke of a

press is given by
Where
I is moment of inertia of the flywheel ω is angular
velocity, ωo-original, ωf-after deformation, rad.s-1
Closed and open die forging processes
Open-die forging

• Open-die forging is carried out

between flat dies or dies of very
simple shape.

• The process is used for mostly

large objects or when the number of
parts produced is small.

• Open-die forging is often used to

perform the work-piece for closed-
die forging.
 Closed-die forging (or impression-die forging)
• The work-piece is deformed between two die
halves which carry the impressions of the desired
final shape.
• The work-piece is deformed under high pressure
in a closed cavity.

Normally used for smaller components

• The process provide precision forging with close

dimensional tolerance.
• Closed dies are expensive.
 Closed-die forging operation

Flash is the excess metal, which

Typical curve of forging load vs. stroke for squirts out of the cavity as a thick
closed-die forging. ribbon of metal.
Functions of flash

The flash serves two purposes:

➢Acts as a ‘safety value’ for excess metal.
➢Builds up high pressure to ensure that the
metal fills all recesses of the die cavity.

Remark: It is necessary to achieve complete filling of the forging cavity without

generating excessive pressures against the die that may cause it to fracture.
 Closed-die design
Usually the deformation in closed-die forging is very complex and the design of the
intermediate steps to make a final precision part requires considerable experience and skill.

The design of a part for production by closed-die forging involves the prediction of

• work-piece volume and weight

• number of performing steps and their configuration

• flash dimensions in performing and finishing dies the load and energy requirement for
each forging operation, for example; the flow stress of the materials, the fictional
condition, the flow of the material in order to develop the optimum geometry for
the dies.
Perform design is the most difficult and
critical step in forging design. Proper
perform design assures defect-free flow,
complete die fill, and minimum flash loss.

-Metal flow consists only of two basic types

• extrusion (flow parallel to the direction of the

die motion)
• upsetting ( flow perpendicular to the
direction of the die motion).
- However both types of metal flow can occur
simultaneously.
 Metal flow in forging
Finite element analysis was
originally developed to model the
elastic deformation of complex
structures but recently has been
extended to cover large plastic
deformation under real stress
system.

Finite element analysis of upsetting an aluminium cylinder

 Die materials
Required properties

• Thermal shock resistance

• Thermal fatigue resistance
• High temperature strength Die materials: alloyed steels (with Cr,
Mo, W, V), tool steels, cast steels or cast
• High wear resistance iron. (Heat treatments such are nitriding
• High toughness and ductility or chromium plating are required to
improve die life)
• High hardenability
• High dimensional stability during
hardening
• High machinability Note:
1) Carbon steels with 0.7-0.85% C are appropriate for small tools
and flat impressions.
2) Medium-alloyed tool steels for hammer dies.
3) Highly alloyed steels for high temperature resistant dies used in
presses and horizontal forging machines.
Die life can be increased by
1) Improving die materials such as using composite die or
2) Using surface coating or self-lubricating coatings

Ultra hard surface coatings

Ultra hard surface coating on die

surface is used to

• Improve die life.

• Reduce energy input.
• Reduce die-related uptime and
downtime.
• Reduce particulate emission from
lubricants.
 Die failures
Different types of die failure

• Different parts of dies are liable to permanent deformation and wear resulting from
mechanical and thermal fatigue.
• Important factors: shape of the forging, die materials, how the workpiece is heated, coating of
die surface, the operating temperature (should not exceed the annealing temperature).
Effect of forging on microstructure

grain structure resulting from (a) forging, (b) machining and (c) casting.

• The formation of a grain structure in forged parts is elongated in the direction of the
deformation.
• The metal flow during forging provides fibrous microstructure (revealed by etching). This
structure gives better mechanical properties in the plane of maximum strain but (perhaps) lower
across the thickness.
• The workpiece often undergo recrystallisation, therefore, provide finer grains compared to the
cast dendritic structure resulting in improved mechanical properties.
Crystallographic orientation of the grains

Castings Forgings

Cast iron structure

Fibre structure in forged steels
Mainly epitaxial,
dendritic or Redistribution of grains
equiaxed grains in the working directions
Residual stresses in forging

• The residual stress produced in forgings as a results of inhomogeneous deformation are

generally small because the deformation is normally carried out well into the hot-working region.
• However, appreciable residual stresses and warping can occur on the quenching of steel
forgings in heat treatment.
• Large forgings are subjected to the formation of small cracks, or flakes at the centre of the cross
section. This is associated with the high hydrogen content usually present in steel ingots of large
size, coupled with the presence of residual stresses.
• Large forgings therefore have to be slowly cooled from the working temperature.
Examples: burying the forging in ashes for a period of time or using a controlled cooling furnace.
• Finite element analysis is used to predict residual stresses in forgings.
Typical forging defects

• Incomplete die filling.

• Die misalignment.
• Forging laps.
• Incomplete forging penetration- should forge on the press.
• Micro structural differences resulting in pronounced property variation.
• Hot shortness, due to high sulphur concentration in steel and nickel.

• Pitted surface, due to oxide scales occurring at high

temperature stick on the dies.
• Buckling, in upsetting forging. Subject to high
compressive stress.
• Surface cracking, due to temperature differential
between surface and centre, or excessive working of
the surface at too low temperature.
• Microcracking, due to residual stress.
Typical forging defects

• Flash line crack, after trimming-occurs more often in thin work-pieces. Therefore should
increase the thickness of the flash.
• Cold shut or fold , due to flash or fin from prior forging steps is forced into the work-piece.
• Internal cracking, due to secondary tensile stress.
 1. Open Die
a. Cold upsetting a cylinder
Assumptions are:
• Metal is cold formed, platen workpiece
interface is frictionless
• As the deformation proceeds the cylinder
becomes shorter and the diameter increases.
true strain associated with the upsetting operation
is

true stress required for upsetting (often called

the flow stress in forming situations) can be
calculated using the Hollomon equation as

The forming force is given by

The material strength constant, K, and strain hardening
exponent, n, are listed for some common engineering
materials in Table 3.1.
The ideal work for deformation is given by equation
3.33

V is the volume of the cylinder, and el is the total

true strain due to upsetting
Power is the time rate of doing work, and therefore
equation 3.33 can be used to calculate the average
power consumed per cycle as
 b. Hot upsetting a cylinder
• If the cylinder is hot upset, then strain hardening (is the
strengthening of a metal by plastic deformation) effects
are minimal, but strain rate (is the rate of change in
strain (deformation) of a material with respect to time)
effects become important.
When the deformation is homogeneous, the strain rate is
defined as
• Assuming the deformation to be homogeneous,
uniaxial and frictionless,
In Chapter 3 the true stress during hot working as a
function of strain rate was given (equation 3.37) as

where C is the strain rate strength constant, and m

is the strain rate sensitivity exponent

Deformation force is obtained

The work done can be defined as

To obtain an estimate of the magnitude of the work
and power, most hot forging operations can be
approximated as constant strain rate processes

Average power necessary to upset a cylinder is the

time rate of doing work,
 c. Upsetting a cylinder with friction
• Friction is almost certain to develop between the die
and workpiece.
• Horizontal platen friction causes the cylinder to
assume the barrelled shape
• The barrelling causes secondary horizontal stresses,
and the associated redundant work increases the
vertical stress required for deformation.
• The amount of barrelling, and the consequent
redundant work, depends upon the friction coefficient
Using the friction coefficient, the average vertical flow
stress is estimated with the aid of Fig. 4.7, which gives a
friction multiplying factor Qa

Fig 4.7
This factor is combined with the true stress for
deformation (the flow stress) to give an estimate for
the actual stress required for deformation according to

The deforming force in this case is then

where Am is the mean cross-sectional area of the

workpiece
 Example
A 302 stainless steel cylinder of height 12 cm and
diameter 7 cm at room temperature is
compressed to a height of 2 cm between large
platens. Mineral oil is used as a lubricant
between the cylinder and platens.
Calculate the force necessary and stress on the
platens.
Solution
 Example

The 302 stainless steel cylinder of the previous

example is hot upset at 1000 C to a height of 2 cm
by a platen moving at 2 cm/s. Graphite is used as
the lubricant between platen and workpiece.
Calculate the forging force necessary.
 Solution

Increasing the forging temperature reduces the

power required by about a factor of nearly 3
 2. Open Die
Forging of rectangular work pieces

• One important difference related to the stress

state of the workpiece. If the width of the
workpiece is considerably greater than the length
(w > 10L in Fig. 4.8), frictional resistance along
the width prevents deformation from taking
place in this direction Hence, deformation occurs
in two dimensions only. A plane strain stress state
exists
The average interface stress calculated according
to
 Closed die
and impression forging
• The most difficult part of the analysis is often
the calculation of the strain
• Closed die and impression forging are clearly
not uni-axial deformation problems, with
different strains applied to different parts of
the work piece, approximate average strain
The actual stress estimated according to

Equations 4.17 and 4.18 are useful for closed die and
impression forging operations at temperatures below
the recrystallization temperature
However, most operations such as this are performed
hot, so that strain rate effects become important. The
average strain rate can be estimated from

The average flow stress is calculated using the strain

rate of equation 4.19 from equation 3.37, and the
actual stress estimated, utilizing Qh from Table 4.2,
according to