Superstrong parts

Advanced forging processes now yield parts with directional strength and high impact resistance. A thin-walled ring takes shape on a ring mill. A spindle has been forged and is now being planished under the press to achieve a smooth surface, keeping stock allowance to a minimum. The open-die and rolled-ring forging process can produce parts in a virtually limitless array of sizes, shapes, materials, and finishes. Forging is one of the oldest mechanical metalworking processes. It forms and shapes metals through the use of hammering and pressing. A cast ingot (or a "cogged" billet that has already been forged from a cast ingot) is heated to its plastic deformation temperature, then upset or "kneaded" between dies to the desired shape and size. Recent advances in forging technology, including better equipment and the use of computers and electronic controls, have greatly increased the ability to produce superior quality metal parts in a wide array of sizes, shapes, materials, and finishes. Several well-known forging processes include impression or closed die, cold forging, and extrusion. There are also open-die and seamless-rolled-ring forging processes, each offering their own advantages while serving in diverse applications ranging from high-quality driveshafts, gear rims, pinions, and couplings to eye bolts, nozzles, hydraulic cylinders, and suspension components. Open-die forging shapes heated metal parts between a top die attached to a ram and a bottom die attached to a hammer anvil or press bed. Metal parts are worked above their recrystallization temperatures (1,900 to 2,400°F for steel) and gradually shaped into the desired profile through skillful hammering or pressing operations. Unlike impression or closed-die forging that confines the metal in dies, open-die forging uses flat dies that do not completely confine or restrain the metal. However, round swaging dies, V-dies, mandrels, pins, and loose tools are also used depending on the