Principle Methods for Hot Forming

The principal methods of hot working are extrusion, drawing, forging and rolling. Rolling is the most extensive employed forming process, though some limitations may apply to the process. Rolling mainly consists of three major sub-categories: flat rolling, shape rolling (with specifically designed roll grooves) and pipe rolling (including piercing). Forging may be sub-categorized as hamming, pressing, etc.

Forging may be performed under hammers, in mechanical presses and upsetters or by a method known as roll forging. Pressing generally includes the manufacture of forged articles in hydraulic presses. Extrusion usually is performed in hydraulic presses which force the hot steel through a die. Rolling is performed in rolling mills of a variety of types. The present discussion will be limited to general descriptions of the various types of hot-working equipment and some of the principles of their operation.

The two principal reasons for perform metal forming at elevated temperatures (hot working) are to reduce the forming loads through the reduction of the resistance of the steel to deformation, and to develop preferred metallurgical structures for strength and ductility of the finish products.

Hammering - Hammering was the first method employed by man in shaping metals. The first forging was done by hand hammers wielded by workmen. The first known power hammer, called a tilt hammer, was built in England. The first steam hammer was built in France during 1842. A variety of other types of forging equipment employing the impact principle for forming hot steel have been developed, one of which is the impact forging machine used in the manufacture of steel axles.

Pressing -The hydraulic forging press is an English invention dating from the year 1861. It was introduced into the United States about 1887. It consists (see Figure 8) essentially of a hydraulic cylinder supported by two pairs of steel columns which are anchored to a single base casting of great weight and strength. The piston or ram of the cylinder points vertically downward and carries the upper forging die, which is directly above a stationary die resting on the base casting to which the columns are attached. By admitting water under high pressure to the cylinder at its top, the ram carrying the upper die is forced down upon the material to be forged, which rests upon the lower forging die. Small auxiliary cylinders lift the ram after each application of pressure.

The pressure, which must be very high if the forging press is to do effective work, is increased gradually and maintained until the metal yields. In practice, it has been found that the lowest pressure that can be effective in shaping steel at a full forging heat is about 1.65 MPa or 1.2 net tons per square inch, but the pressures employed in actual work often will exceed about 18 MPa or 13 net tons per square inch.

Extrusion -The hot-extrusion process consists of enclosing a piece of metal, heated to forging temperature, in a chamber called a "container" having a die at one end with an opening of the shape of the desired finished section, and applying pressure to the metal through the opposite end of the container. The metal is forced through the opening, the shape of which it assumes in cross-section, as the metal flows plastically under the great pressures used.

Mechanical Forging - Many hot forgings are produced on mechanical presses. In machines of this type, pressure is applied to a vertical ram (carrying the upper forging die) through a connecting rod from a crankshaft. The heated work piece rests on the bottom die. The stroke of such a press is limited to the "throw" of the crankshaft.

Upsetting - A special type of mechanical press is the upsetting machine, in which the piece to be shaped is clamped between two dies with vertical faces and shaped by the action of a tool on a ram operated by a crankshaft. The ram of the upsetting machine operates with a horizontal, instead of vertical, stroke.

Hot Rolling Rolling has much higher productivity than other forming processes. Rolling involves passing the material between two rolls revolving at the same peripheral speed and in opposite directions, i.e., clockwise and counterclockwise, and spaced so that the distance between them is somewhat less than the height of the section entering them. These rolls can either be flat or grooved (contoured) for the hot rolling of rods or shapes. Under these conditions, the rolls grip the piece of metal and deliver it, reduced in cross-sectional area and increased in length. Detailed coverage will be dealt with in the Flat Rolling and Shape Rolling sections in this website.

Piercing - Piercing is a special type of rolling. Its a stage of the pipe/tube rolling. The first stage of the forming of seamless tubing is the piercing of hot solid billets. In piercing, a billet is forced over a piercer point between skewed rolls. The resulting shell is reworked by rolling or drawing over a plug.

Miscellaneous Hot-Working Methods - Rotary swaging is performed to taper the end of bars, wires and tubes. In hot spinning is limited to shapes symmetrical about the spinning axis, and consists of spinning

into hollow bodies (e.g., deformation of a flat disk to from a hollow body), and necking by spinning. Many steel parts are formed hot from plates and sheets by hot deep-drawing operations. The heated steel is formed in hydraulic or mechanical presses equipped with forming dies that produce the desired shapes. Another example is the manufacture of close-end cylinders by a combination of hot cupping and drawing operations.