Aluminum Forging: Ultimate Aluminum Forging Process Guide
The aluminum forging process is not a complicated thing. If you already know how to forge, then you will not find the process any difficult. In this guide, we have put together some of the crucial steps that must be followed to ensure a perfect and high quality forged product has been produced. Here is the process you should follow:
Preparing Raw Material
Start the aluminum forging process by identifying the metal to forge. This is a very important step because it will affect all the other stages. There are various types of aluminum metals to select from, including the many alloys. The properties you are looking for in the forged part will determine the choice of the material.
Forging temperature and pressure
The forging temperature determines what temperature you need to reach for the workpiece to start melting. That is if you are hot forging. For the cold forging, what matters is the pressure or the compression force. You need to know how much compression force is needed for hot or forging the material.
Making Molds
The next step in the aluminum forging process you need to get right is making the molds. Depending on the size and shape and the size of the aluminum product, you need to design the right molds. For both hot and cold forging, you might need two molds to form the product. Design the mold and machine it.
Heating The Workpiece (hot forging)
Heat the aluminum material to the recommended forging temperature. The temperature should enable quick plastic deformation for the hot forging. Make sure that the forging temperature and the metal is in molten form.
Forging The Workpiece
Place the heated aluminum material on the molds and press it using the punch that already has the other mold. The material will produce the shape and the size of the required forged part.
Treatment
After forging the metal, the next stage treatment. This is step is very crucial when doing hot forging. The treatment is usually done using heat. With the proper treatment, the grains of the metal should conform to the new shape.
Finishing
The last stage in the aluminum forging process is the finishing work. You must ensure that the required shape and size of the forged part had been achieved. This is a very important stage because it will determine the quality and usability of the forged part.