Warm forging is a forming method that has been around for decades now. The technology is being widely being used in the manufacturing industry for the production of machine parts, workshop tools and many other metallic parts. In this article, we look deeper at what warm forging is and what are the major benefits it has over cold forging.
What Is Warm forging?
Warm forging is a forming technology and one of the forging types that where the metal or the workpiece is heated slightly above room temperature for the forging to be done. Therefore, it is the process that is in between the hot forging and cold forging techniques.
How Does Warm forging Work?
The warm forging manufacturing process is basically the same as the hot forging. The only difference is that is the heating of the metal does not meet the crystallisation temperature. The metal is slightly heated to reduce the plasticity resistance in that it can be deformed easily than when cold forging.
Advantages Over Cold Forging
There are many ways that warm forging may be better than cold forging. Here are just some of the advantages that this forging process may have over cold forging.
Low Cost Per Part
The major reason why both manufacturers and buyers are going for warm forging parts is the cheaper cost. Warm forged parts may be cheaper than cold forged parts because of the less investment in the forging machinery. Because of the slight heating of the metal, the punching machine needed for the forging work is smaller. This is because less force is needed to deform the parts. That’s one of the biggest advantage warm forging has over cold forging.
Fast of Operation
With a warm forging setup and the production start, you can produce more products per hour than in cold forging. This is because the time spent on a single forging is significantly small as the deforming process has been made easy. Therefore, when looking for mass production, this is one of the best techniques to consider.
Better Flexibility
The flexibility of the warm forging in the production of a range of products is better than that of cold forging. Because of the heating of the blanks, it is possible to produce a range of products, even those with complex shapes. This is another reason why manufacturers are going for warm forging.
