PROJECT REPORT

ON

METAL
FORMING

SUBMITTED BY-
AASHISH DUTTA
100808001 (MECHANICAL)
GROUP C2

PROJECT REPORT
ON

METAL
FORMING
SUBMITTED BY-
SAKSHAM KUMAR
100802057(CIVIL)
GROUP C4

PROJECT REPORT
ON

METAL
FORMING
SUBMITTED BY-
PANKAJ JAIN
100806122(ECE)
GROUP C4

FORMING OPERATIONS
4.0 Introduction
Since the dawn of mankind, metalworking has assured strength, toughness, reliability,
and the highest quality in a variety of products. Today, these advantages of forged
components assume greater importance as operating temperatures, loads, and stresses
increase. Forged components make possible designs that accommodate the highest
loads and stresses. Recent advances in forging technology have greatly increased the
range of properties available in forgings. Economically, forged products are attractive
because of their inherent superior reliability, improved tolerance capabilities, and the
higher efficiency with which forgings can be machined and further processed by
automated methods. The degree of structural reliability achieved in a forging is
unexcelled by any other metalworking process. There are no internal gas pockets or
voids that could cause unexpected failure under stress or impact. Often, the forging
process assists in improving chemical segregation of the forging stock by moving
centreline material to various locations throughout the forging. To the designer, the
structural integrity of forgings means safety factors based on material that will respond
predictably to its environment without costly special processing to correct for internal
defects. To the production employee, the structural reliability of forgings means
reduced inspection requirements, uniform response to heat treatment, and consistent
machinability, all contributing to faster production rates and lower costs.
4.1 Hot Working and Cold Working in Forming Processes
A forming operation is one in which the shape of a metal sample is altered by plastic
deformation. Forming processes include stamping, rolling, extrusion and forging, where
deformation is induced by external compressive forces or stresses exceeding the yield
stress of the material. Drawing is a fundamentally different process in that the external
forces are tensile in nature and hence the yield stress of the material cannot be
exceeded.
Metals or alloys used in forming processes require a moderate level of ductility to
enable plastic deformation with no fracture. Forming can be broadly divided into Hot
Working and Cold Working Forming Processes.

4.1.1 Hot Working

Deformation is carried out at a temperature high enough for fast recrystallisation
leading to nucleation and growth of new, relatively strain-free grains within a
previously cold-worked material. The driving force for recrystallisation is the removal
of dislocations and their associated energies. Recrystallisation is complete when all the
new grains have impinged on one another and the old grains have been consumed. At
this point, the mechanical properties of the material are restored to those prior to
deformation. A crude estimate for a hot working temperature for a particular metal or
alloy is that it must be greater than 0.6Tm where Tm is the melting point. This lower
bound for the hot working temperature varies for different metals, depending on factors
such as purity and solute content. Thus, a highly pure metal will undergo recovery and
recrystallisation at a particular hot working temperature more readily than an alloyed
metal. Deformation energy requirements for hot working are less than that of cold
working. At hot working temperatures, a metal remains ductile through dynamic
reforming of its grain structure, so repeated, large deformations are possible. The strain
rates of many metal-working processes are so high that there is insufficient time for the
metal to recrystallise as it deforms. However, recovery and recrystallisation do occur in
the time period between repeated hot working operations.
Hot working achieves both the mechanical purpose of obtaining the desired shape and
also the purpose of improving the physical properties of the material by destroying its
original cast structure. The porous cast structure, often with a low mechanical strength,
is converted to a wrought structure with finer grains, enhanced ductility and reduced
porosity. Depending on the final hot working temperature, an annealed microstructure
can be obtained. At elevated temperatures, most metals experience some surface
oxidation, which results in a poor surface finish as well as a loss of material. Processing
in an inert atmosphere is possible, but it is very expensive and is usually avoided unless
the metal is very reactive.

4.1.2 Cold Working

This is the term for processes that are performed at room temperature (or up to about
200°C for some metals). Cold working leads to increased stiffness and strength in a
metal. There is a corresponding decrease in ductility and malleability as the metal strain
hardens. It results from increasing numbers of dislocations and is accompanied by
reduction in ductility.
Advantages over hot working include a better quality surface finish, closer dimensional
control of the final particle and improved mechanical properties. Cold working
processes can be divided into two broad classes:

- Those in which cold working is carried out for the purpose of shaping the
particle only. Here, any strain hardening effects are not desired and may have to
be removed by annealing both between the various stages of plastic shaping as
well as after the final cold working shaping operation.
- Those in which the objective of cold rolling is not only to obtain the required
shape but also to strain harden and strengthen the metal.
Plastic deformation must not be carried beyond a certain point or brittle fracture is
likely to result. In order to avoid this, total deformation can be accomplished in a series
of steps in which the article is successively cold worked by a small amount and then
process annealed in order to reduce hardness and increase ductility, thereby permitting
further cold working as required. During Process Annealing, a heavily cold-worked
metal is heated to just below its transformation temperature and maintained there for
long enough to allow recrystallisation to change the size, shape and distribution of the
grain structure. The metal is cooled and the softened structure allows further cold
working.

4.2 Review of Forming Processes

4.2.1 Rolling
Rolling is the most widely used deformation process. It consists of passing metal
between two rollers, which exert compressive stresses, reducing the metal thickness See
Figure 4.1. Where simple shapes are to be made in large quantity, rolling is the most
economical process. Rolled products include sheets, structural shapes and rails as well
as intermediate shapes for wire drawing or forging. Circular shapes, ‘I’ beams and
railway tracks are manufactured using grooved rolls.
 Figure 4.1: Rolling Process
Hot Rolling
Initial breakdown of an ingot or a continuously cast slab is achieved by hot rolling.
Mechanical strength is improved and porosity is reduced. The worked metal tends to
oxidise leading to scaling which results in a poor surface finish and loss of precise
dimensions. A hot rolled product is often pickled. Scaling is formation of an oxide layer
or scale on the surface of the metal, as a result of oxidation process in a gaseous
atmosphere (normally air). Pickling is a continuous process in which oxide, dirt and oil
are removed from the surface of a metal in a series of acid baths to remove scale, and
further rolled cold to ensure a good surface finish and optimise the mechanical
properties for a given application.
Cold Rolling
Cold rolling is often used in the final stages of production. Sheets, strips and foils are
cold rolled to attain dimensional accuracy and high quality surface finishes. With softer
metals such as lead and copper, a succession of cold-rolling passes can impose very
large deformations. For many materials, however, the rolling sequence has to be
interrupted for intermediate annealing in order to prevent fracture.

4.2.2 Forging
In this operation, a single piece of metal, normally hot, is deformed mechanically by
the application of successive blows or by continuous squeezing. Forged articles range
in size from nuts and bolts, crankshafts to gun barrels. Most engineering metals and
alloys can be forged readily and include most steels, aluminium and copper alloys and
certain titanium alloys. Forged articles have excellent mechanical properties, combining
fine grain structure with strengthening through strain hardening.
Closed Die

Figure 4.2: Closed-die forging

A force is brought to bear on a metal slug or preform placed between two (or more) die
halves. (See Figure 4.2). The metal flows plastically into the cavity formed by the die
and hence changes in shape to its finished shape. Examples of the machinery used
include hydraulic presses, mechanical presses and hammers. Possible geometries range
from simple spherical blocks and discs to intricate components incorporating holes,
cavities, pockets and ribs. As metal flow is restricted by the die contours, closed-die
forging can produce complex shapes and higher tolerances than the shapes and
tolerances achieved using open-die forging processes.
Open Die
Open-die forging is performed between flat dies with no pre-cut profiles. The dies do
not confine the metal laterally during forging. Deformation is achieved through
movement of the work piece relative to the dies. Parts up to thirty metres in length can
by hammered or pressed into shape in this way. Open-die forging comprises many
process variations, enabling an extremely broad range of shapes and sizes to be
produced. Unlike rolling operations, which generally produce continuous plates, sheets,
strip, or various structural cross-sections, forging operations produce discrete parts.
In addition to round, square, rectangular, hexagonal bar and other basic shapes, open-
die processes can produce Spindles or rotors, whose diameter increases or decreases at
multiple locations along the longitudinal axis, Hollows cylindrical in shape, usually
with length much greater than the diameter of the part, Ring-like parts resembling
washers or approaching hollow cylinders in shape, depending on the height:wall
thickness ratio.

Figure 4.3: Open-die forging

Seamless rolled ring forging

Seamless rolled ring forging is typically performed by punching a hole in a thick, round
piece of metal, and then rolling and squeezing that into a thin ring. Performance-wise,
there is no equal for forged, circular-cross-section rings used in energy generation,
mining, aerospace, off-highway equipment and other critical applications. Seamless
ring configurations can be flat (like a washer), or feature higher vertical walls
(approximating a hollow cylindrical section). Depending on the equipment utilized,
wall-thickness/height ratios of rings typically range from 1:16 up to 16:1, although
greater proportions have been achieved with special processing.

Upset Forging
Upset forging is a process of increasing the diameter of a material by compressing its
length. It is one of the most widely used forging processes suitable for mass production
of various parts. Both hot and old upsetting is possible using high-speed machines
where the work piece is moved form station to station. The starting raw material is
generally a wire or rod, although it is also possible to upset bars up to 250mm diameter.
The process is carried out using split dies with multiple cavities and are separated
enough for a heated bar to advance into them and to be placed in position. They are
then clamped together and a ram moves longitudinally against the bar, upsetting it into
the die cavity. If a shearing process like blanking is performed prior to loading on the
upset forging dies and both are linked, continuous coils or long length rods can be used.
This operation is mostly used to form heads on bolts and other fasteners besides may
other small components.

4.2.3 Extrusion
In extrusion, a bar or metal is forced from an enclosed cavity via a die orifice by a
compressive force applied by a ram. Since there are no tensile forces, high
deformations are possible without the risk of fracture of the extruded material. The
extruded article has the desired, reduced cross-sectional area, and also has a good
surface finish so that further machining is not needed. Extrusion products include rods
and tubes with varying degrees of complexity in cross-section.
 Figure 4.4: Extrusion
Examples of metals that can be extruded include lead, tin, aluminium alloys, copper,
brass and steel. The minimum cross-sectional dimensions for extruded articles are
approximately 3 mm in diameter for steel and 1 mm in diameter for aluminium. Some
metals such as lead alloys and brass lend themselves to extrusion rather than drawing or
rolling.
Hot extrusion is carried out at above recrystallization temperature and the pressures
required range from 35 to 700 MPa. Under these demanding conditions, a lubricant is
required to protect the die. Oil and graphite lubricants function well at temperatures up
to 150°C, but borate glass or hexagonal boron nitride powders are favoured at higher
temperatures where carbon-based lubricants oxidise.
Cold extrusion is performed at temperatures significantly below the melting
temperature of the alloy being deformed, and generally at room temperature. The
process can be used for most materials, provided that sufficiently robust machinery can
be designed. Products of cold extrusion include aluminium cans, collapsible tubes and
gear blanks.

4.2.4 Drawing
Drawing is the pulling of a metal piece through a die by means of a tensile force
applied to the exit side. A reduction in cross-sectional area results, with a corresponding
increase in length. A complete drawing apparatus may include up to twelve dies in a
series sequence, each with a hole a little smaller than the preceding one. In multiple-die
machines, each stage results in an increase in length and therefore a corresponding
increase in speed is required between each stage. This is achieved using “capstans”
which are used both to apply the tensile force and also to accommodate the increase in
the speed of the drawn wire. Dies must be very hard so they tend to be made from steel.
However, tungsten carbide and even diamond are increasingly used because of their
greater ability to retain shape. Metals can be formed to much closer dimensions by
drawing than by rolling. Shapes ranging in size from the finest wire to those with cross-
sectional areas of many square centimetres are commonly drawn. Larger artefacts may
be drawn to square, round and even irregular cross sections. Drawn products include
wires, rods and tubing products. Large quantities of steel and brass are cold drawn.
Cold drawing can produce seamless tubing when thin walls and very accurate finishes
are required.

Figure 4.5: Drawing

4.2.5 Stamping
Stamping is used to make high volume parts such as aviation or car panels or electronic
components. Mechanical or hydraulic powered presses stamp out parts from continuous
sheets of metal or individual blanks. The upper die is attached to the ram and the lower
die is fixed. Whereas mechanical machinery transfers all energy as a rapid punch,
hydraulic machinery delivers a constant, controlled force.

4.2.6 Deep Drawing

For deep drawing, the starting sheet of metal is larger than the area of the punch. A
pressure plate, fixed to the machine, prevents wrinkling of the edges as the plug is
drawn into a top die cavity. The outer parts of the sheet are drawn in towards the die as
the operation proceeds. The process is limited by the possibility of fracture occurring
during drawing; the maximum sheet width is rarely more that twice the die diameter.
Many shapes are possible including cups, pans, cylinders and irregular shaped products.

Figure 4.6: Deep drawing

4.2.7 Pressing
A sheet of metal is deformed between two suitably shaped dies usually to produce a cup
or dish shaped component. A thick pad of rubber may replace one of the dies, giving
reduced tooling costs and allowing larger deformations to be imposed.

Figure 4.7: Pressing