Are the blank forming methods for forgings the same？
It's different. In the selection of blank forming schemes, forging factories should first consider the principle of adaptability. Select a suitable blank solution based on the structural shape, external dimensions, and working conditions of the forging. For example, when forging stepped shaft forgings at Shanxi CITIC Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd., if the diameters of each step are not significantly different, bar material can be used; If there is a significant difference, it is advisable to use forged blanks. Metal mold casting should generally not be used for forgings with complex shapes and thin walls; For large-sized blanks, forging, pressure casting, and investment casting are usually not used, and more or less free forging methods are used to produce the blanks.
Forging is a forming method in which solid metals undergo plastic deformation under pressure, and is also common in forging factories. It requires metals to have good plasticity and low deformation resistance. The forging method is suitable for manufacturing forgings with dense structure, high stress, and uniform quality, such as shafts, crankshafts, gears, and cylinders. Free forging tooling is simple and the preparation cycle is short, but the product shape is simple, making it the only forging method for single piece production and large forgings; Tire forging is a method of forging using a membrane on a free equipment, which can forge small and medium-sized forgings with complex and small billets. The forged parts can be more complex, with higher material utilization and productivity than free forging, but can only forge large batches of small and medium-sized forgings.
The usage requirements of forgings determine the shape characteristics of the blank, and various different usage requirements and shape characteristics form corresponding blank forming process requirements. When producing large forgings, forging factories mainly focus on specific external quality requirements such as shape, size, machining accuracy, surface roughness, and internal quality requirements such as chemical composition, metal structure, mechanical properties, physical properties, and chemical properties based on the usage requirements of the forgings. The forging factory needs to consider the forging process performance of the forging material to determine which blank forming method to use for different forging requirements.