Process Flow and Technical Characteristics of Metal Forging

Process Flow and Technical Characteristics of Metal Forging

Metal forging is a precision processing technology that uses pressure equipment to apply impact force or pressure on metal blanks, causing plastic deformation of metals to obtain finished forgings. As one of the core processes in mechanical manufacturing, forging differs from casting molding. It can optimize the internal microstructure of metals and greatly improve the comprehensive mechanical properties of parts. It is widely used in the manufacturing of high-strength parts for heavy machinery, wind power equipment, mining accessories, automobile parts and other fields.

Metal forging follows standardized and standardized processing procedures. Firstly, blank pretreatment is carried out. Metal raw materials are cut according to product specifications, and surface oxide scales and impurities are cleaned to ensure accurate dimensions and clean surfaces of the blanks. Secondly, heat treatment is performed. The blanks are evenly heated through a furnace to improve metal plasticity, reduce deformation resistance, and avoid cracking defects during forging. Subsequently, forging forming is conducted. High-temperature blanks are pressed by equipment such as forging hammers and presses, and basic product contours are formed through free forging, die forging and other processes.

After forming, cooling, calibration and subsequent treatments are required. Uniform cooling is adopted through air cooling, wind cooling and other methods in accordance with process standards to prevent deformation and cracks of forgings caused by excessive temperature differences. Precision calibration is performed on minor deviations of formed workpieces to ensure dimensional compliance with standards. Finally, heat treatment, shot blasting derusting and grinding finishing are carried out to remove surface defects and internal stress, improve the hardness and stability of forgings, and complete the processing of finished products.

The forging process has remarkable technical advantages. First, it can break the cast microstructure of metals, eliminate internal defects such as pores and shrinkage porosity, form continuous internal fiber distribution, and achieve a denser and more uniform metal structure. Second, it significantly enhances the mechanical properties of products. Forgings far outperform castings in strength, toughness, impact resistance and wear resistance, and can withstand long-term heavy loads and alternating loads.

In addition, forged products feature high precision, stable performance and strong process adaptability, suitable for processing simple large forgings as well as mass production of precision special-shaped parts. Although the processing cost of forging is higher than that of ordinary casting