MANUFACTURING

PROCESSES

UNIT-2

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Unit -2
Metal Forming: Fundamentals of hot and cold working
processes; Plastic deformation and yield criteria; Load
estimation for bulk forming (Forging, Rolling, Extrusion,
Drawing)

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Metal forming

• Metals are converted into various usable products of

desired shape and size using different manufacturing
processes such as casting, machining, welding or
metal forming (rolling, forging, extruding, etc).
• Metal forming of metals involves deforming a metal
plastically into various desired shapes and sizes
under the effect of externally applied forces.
• The stresses induced during the deformation process
are greater than the yield strength, but less than the
fracture strength of the metal.

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• The type of loading may be tensile, compressive,
bending or shearing or a combination of these.
• Also, the operation of deforming the metal may be
carried out either in cold state or in hot state of the
metal using mechanical means such as press, die and
rolls.
• The process of metal forming is also called
mechanical working of metals.

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• Metal forming may be ‘cold’ or ‘hot’; cold forming or
cold-working is carried out at room temperature or
below the recrystallization temperature of the metal
and the hot forming or hot-working is done above
the recrystallization temperature but below the
melting point of the metal.

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• The hot-working is preferred for primary solid-state
shaping processes such as forging, rolling, extruding,
etc. because the power (or forces) required in
shaping the hot metals is lower and larger reductions
in the size of the metal are easily and economically
possible without its cracking.
• Hot-working gives high production rate of products
of various sizes and shapes from the original ingot
received from steel plants.
• It does not bring noticeable changes in the properties
of metal (i.e. hardness and ductility, etc.).

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• The cold-working, however, causes more noticeable
changes in the mechanical properties by increasing
the tensile strength and yield strength of cold
worked metal with a corresponding loss in the
ductility of metal.

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• Metals can be plastically deformed or (worked) at
room, warm or higher temperatures.
• Their behaviour and workability depend largely on
whether the deformation takes place below or above
the recrystallization temperature of the metal.
• Recrystallization temperature ranges between 0.3Tm
and 0.5Tm, where Tm is the absolute melting
temperature of the metal.
• Recrystallization is the process in which, at the said
temperature range, new equiaxed (having equal
dimensions in all directions) and strain-free grains
are formed.
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Metal forming processes are traditionally classified as:
(a) Hot forming or hot-working processes
(b) Cold forming or cold-working processes
(c) Warm forming processes
• The categorization of metal forming processes may
be done in the following way:

where T stands for the absolute working (or forming)

temperature and Tm is the absolute melting point of the
metal. 10
Hot forming (or hot-working) of metals

• When metals are formed or worked at temperatures

above their recrystallization temperature but below
their absolute melting temperature, they are called
being hot worked.
• Hot-working may also be defined as metal working at
a temperature above which no strain hardening
takes place.

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Advantages of Hot-working

1. High production rate (since the process is faster).

2. Very high reduction is possible without fear of
fracture.
3. Metal is made tougher because pores get closed and
impurities are segregated.
4. Deformation energy required is low, hence, less
powerful equipments are required.
5. Structure can be altered to improve the final
properties.

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Disadvantages of Hot-working

1. Handling of material is not so easy.

2. Heat resistant tools are required which are
expensive.
3. High temperature may promote undesirable
reactions.
4. Close tolerances cannot be held because of non-
uniform cooling and thermal contraction.
5. Surface finish is poor because of scale formation.

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Cold forming (or cold-working) of metals

• When metals are formed or plastically deformed

below their crystallization temperature and usually
but not necessarily at room temperature, they are
called being cold formed or cold worked.
• Examples of cold-working operations include:
shearing, blanking, bending, impact extrusion, roll
bending, deep drawing, spinning, embossing, etc.

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Advantages of cold-working

1. Handling of material is easy.

2. Good surface finish and better dimensional accuracy.
3. Energy saving since heating is not required.
4. Strength, fatigue and wear properties are improved.
5. Minimum contamination because of low working
temperature.
6. No possibility of decarburisation of the surface.
7. Economical for smaller sizes.
8. Highly suitable for mass production and automation,
because of low working temperatures.

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Disadvantages of cold-working

1. Ductility of metal is reduced.

2. Deformation energy required is high, so rugged and
more powerful equipment is required, thus equipment
cost is high.
3. Severe stresses are set up, this requires stress
relieving, which increases the cost.
4. Owing to limited ductility at room temperature, the
complexity of shapes that can be readily produced is
limited.

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Classification of metal forming processes

(1) Bulk Deformation Processes:

• These processes are generally characterized by
significant deformations and massive shape changes,
and the surface area-to-volume of the work is
relatively small.
• The term bulk describes the work parts that have
this low area-to-volume ratio.
• Starting work shapes include cylindrical billets and
rectangular bars.

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(2) Sheet metalworking processes:
• These processes are forming and cutting operations
performed on metal sheets, strips, and coils.
• The surface area-to-volume ratio of the starting
metal is high.
• Pressworking is a term applied to sheet metal
operations because the machines used to perform
them are presses.
• A part produced in a sheet metal operation is called a
stamping.

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• Sheet metal operations are almost always performed
as cold working and are usually accomplished using a
set of tools called a punch and die.
• The punch is the positive portion and the die is the
negative portion of the tool set.

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Rolling

• Rolling is a very economical process for producing

large volume of material with constant cross section.
Principle
• Rolling is a process where the metal is compressed
between two rotating rolls for reducing its cross-
sectional area.
• It is one of the most widely used of all the metal-
working processes, because of its higher productivity
and low cost.

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• Rolling would be able to produce components having
constant cross section throughout its length.
• Many shapes such as I, T, L, and channel sections are
possible but not very complex shapes.
• It is also possible to produce special sections such as
railway wagon wheels by rolling individual pieces.

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• Rolling is normally a hot working process unless
specifically mentioned as cold rolling.
• The metal is taken into rolls by friction and
subsequently compressed to obtain the final shape.
• The thickness of the metal that can be drawn into
rolls depend on the roughness of the roll surface.
• Rougher rolls would be able to achieve greater
reduction than smoother rolls.

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Rolling-Stand Arrangement

• The arrangement of rolls in a rolling mill, also called

rolling stand, varies depending on the application.
• The names of the rolling-stand arrangements are
generally given by the number of rolls employed.

2-high non-reversing rolling-stand arrangement:

• Most common arrangement.
• In this, the rolls always move in only one direction.

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2-high reversing rolling stand arrangement:
• Direction of roll rotation can be reversed.
• This type of stand is particularly useful in reducing
the handling of the hot metal in between the rolling
passes.
• When all the metal has reached the right side, the
direction of the rolls is reversed and the metal is
allowed to enter into the next pass.
• These stands are more expensive compared to the
nonreversible type because of the reversible drive
needed.
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3-high rolling stand arrangement:
• This arrangement is used for rolling of two
continuous passes in a rolling sequence without
reversing the drives.
• After all the metal has passed through the bottom roll
set, the end of the metal is entered into the other set
of the rolls for the next pass.
• For this purpose a table-tilting arrangement is
required to bring the metal to the level with the rolls.

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4-high rolling stand arrangement:
• It is essentially a 2-high rolling mill, but with the
small-sized rolls.
• The other two rolls are the backup rolls for providing
the necessary rigidity to the small rolls.

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Cluster rolling stand arrangement:
• A better backup can be provided to the small rolls
with a cluster arrangement of rolls.

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Planetary rolling-mill arrangement :
• It consists of a number of free rotating wheels
instead of a single small roll, are fixed to a large
backup roll.
• This arrangement provides large reduction.

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• The steel coming out of a blast furnace or a remelting
shop is in the form of an ingot which has a cross
section of the order of 600x600 mm.
• These ingots are further processed in rolling mills to
produce the intermediate shapes such as blooms,
slabs and billets.
• Blooms are generally square cross section varying
from 150x150 mm to 400x400 mm.
• Slabs are rectangular cross section with widths
varying from 500 to 1800 mm and thickness varying
from 50 to 300 mm.
• Billets are rectangular cross sections with sizes
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varying from 40x40 mm to 150x150 mm.
Forging

• Forging is the operation where the metal is heated

and then a force is applied to manipulate the metal in
such a way that the required final shape is obtained.
• Forging is generally a hot-working operation though
cold forging is used sometimes.

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Forging Operations

Drawing Out
• In this operation, metal is elongated with a reduction
in the cross-sectional area.
• For this purpose, the force is to be applied in a
direction, perpendicular to the length axis.
Upsetting
• This is applied to increase the cross-sectional area of
the stock at the expense of its length.
• To achieve the upsetting, force is applied in a
direction parallel to the length axis.

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Forging types

• Smith Forging
• Drop Forging
• Press Forging
• Machine Forging

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Smith Forging

• Also known as hammer forging.

• Also known as open die forging. It means that there
is no constraint on the spread of the metal.
• In this process, metal is heated to the proper forging
temperature with the help of gas, oil or electric
furnace.
• Then heated metal is placed on anvil.
• After that, it is hammered either by a hand hammer
or mechanical hammer to obtain the desired shape.
• Skilled workers are required in this forging method.

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Operations used in smith forging
• Fullering
• Flattening
• Bending
• Upsetting
• Swaging

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Drop Forging

• Drop forging utilises a closed-impression die to

obtain the desired shape of the component.
• The shaping is done by the repeated hammering
given to the material in the die cavity.
• The equipment used for delivering the blows are
called drop hammers.

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Impression dies have following characteristics:
• Do not require high skilled workers.
• Complicated shapes can be made.
• Rapid production rate.
• More dimensional accuracy.
• Cost of tooling is high.
• Suitable only for large production rate.

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• The drop-forging die consists of two halves.
• The lower half of the die is fixed to the anvil of the
machine, while the upper half is fixed to the ram.
• The heated stock is kept in the lower die while the
ram delivers four to five blows on the metal, in quick
succession so that the metal spreads and completely
fills the die cavity.

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• The typical products obtained in drop forging are
crank shaft, connecting rod, wrench, crane hook, etc.
• The final shape desired in drop forging cannot be
obtained directly from the stock in a single pass.

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Press Forging

• Press-forging dies are similar to drop-forging dies as

also the process.
• In press forging, the metal is shaped not by means of
a series of blows as in drop forging, but by means of a
single continuous squeezing action.
• This squeezing is obtained by means of hydraulic
presses.

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• Because of the continuous action of the hydraulic
presses, the material gets uniformly deformed
throughout its entire depth.
• The press capacity required for deforming is higher.
• Smaller size components are press forged in closed-
impression dies.
• But there is no such limitation for press forging in
open dies.

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Advantages of press forging over drop forging
• Press forging is faster because one squeeze is
needed.
• Quality of products is better because more
penetration can be obtained.
• Die forging presses are safer than forging hammers.
• Large and heavy work can be done easily.

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Machine Forging

• Also known as upset forging because it involves

upsetting operation.
• Both drop and press forgings are also done by
machines but upset forging is referred to as machine
forging.
• It is used for making gear blanks, shafts, axles and
similar parts.

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• Upsetting machines called upsetters are generally
horizontal acting.
• The die set consists of a die and a corresponding
punch or a heading tool.
• The die consists of two parts, one called the
stationary-gripper die which is fixed to the machine
frame and the other, movable-gripper die, which
moves along with the die slide of the upsetter.
• The stock is held between these two gripper dies by
friction.

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Extrusion

• Extrusion is the process of confining the metal in a

closed cavity and then allowing it to flow from only
one opening so that the metal will take the shape of
the opening.
• The operation is identical to the squeezing of
toothpaste out of the tooth paste tube.

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Extrusion Principle

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• It is possible to make components which have a
constant cross-section over any length.
• The complexity of parts that can be obtained by
extrusion is more than that of rolling.
• Die required being very simple and easier to make.
• It is a single-pass process unlike rolling.
• Amount of reduction that is possible in extrusion is
large.
• Generally, brittle materials can also be very easily
extruded.

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• It is possible to produce sharp corners and re-
entrant angles.
• It is also possible to get shapes with internal cavities
in extrusion by the use of spider dies.

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• Extrusion ratio is defined as the ratio of cross-
sectional area of the billet to that of the extruded
section.
• The typical values of the extrusion ratio are 20 to 50.
• The extrusion pressure for a given material depends
on the extrusion temperature, the reduction in area
and the extrusion speed.
• Extrusion speed depends on the work material.
• Too high an extrusion speed would cause excessive
heat generation in the extruded metal causing lateral
cracks.
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Classification of extrusion processes

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Hot Extrusion Processes (Forward Hot
Extrusion)

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• In forward hot extrusion, flow of metal is in forward
direction, i.e. the same as that of the ram.
• In forward extrusion, the problem of friction is
prevalent because of the relative motion between the
heated metal billet and the cylinder walls.
• This is particularly severe in the case of steels
because of their higher extrusion temperatures.
• To reduce this friction, lubricants are to be used.
• At lower temperatures, a mixture of oil and graphite
is generally used.

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• The problem of lubrication gets compounded at the
higher operating temperatures.
• Molten glass is generally used for extruding steels.
• To reduce the damage to equipment, extrusion is
finished quickly and the cylinder is cooled before
further extrusion.

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Backward Hot Extrusion

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• In order to completely overcome the friction,
backward hot extrusion is used.
• In this, the metal is confined fully by the cylinder.
• The ram which houses the die, also compresses the
metal against the container, forcing it to flow
backwards through the die in the hollow plunger or
ram.
• It is termed backward because of the opposite
direction of the flow of metal to that of ram
movement.
• Thus, the billet in the container remains stationary
and hence no friction.
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• Extrusion pressure is not affected by the length of
the billet in the extrusion press since friction is not
involved.
• The surface quality achieved is generally good since
there is no heat cracking due to the friction between
the billet and the extrusion cylinder interface.
• Disadvantage of backward extrusion is that the
surface defects of the billet would end up in the final
product unlike direct or forward extrusion where
these are discarded in the extrusion container.
• This process is not extensively used because of the
problem of handling extruding metal coming out
through the moving ram. 56
Cold Extrusion (Forward Cold Extrusion)

• The forward cold extrusion is similar to that of

forward hot extrusion process except for the fact that
the extrusion ratios possible are lower and extrusion
pressures are higher than that of hot extrusion.
• It is normally used for simple shapes requiring better
surface finish and to improve mechanical properties.
• Examples of the applications are cans, various
aluminium brackets, shock absorber cylinders,
rocket motors and heads, etc.

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Impact Extrusion

• The backward cold extrusion is much more common

particularly with softer materials such as aluminium
and its alloys.
• In backward cold extrusion called the impact
extrusion, the set up consists of a die and a punch.

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• The slug for making the component is kept on the die
and the punch strikes the slug against the die.
• The metal is then extruded through the gap between
the punch and die opposite to the punch movement.
• Because of the impact force, the side walls go straight
along the punch though they are not confined.
• The height of the side walls is controlled by the
amount of metal in the slug.
• This process is more commonly used for making the
collapsible tubes for housing pastes, liquids and
similar articles.
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Cold-Extrusion Forging

• The cold extrusion forging is similar to impact

extrusion but with the main difference that the side
walls are much thicker and their height is smaller.
• This also contains a die and punch set.

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• Punch slowly descends over the slug kept on the die,
thus forging some metal between the punch and the
die and the rest being extruded through the
clearance between the punch and die side walls.
• The side walls thus generated are short and thick
with any profile in the end unlike the impact
extrusion.
• Afterwards, the component is ejected by means of
the ejector pin provided in the die.
• Backward cold-extrusion processes are limited to
smaller sizes and for nonferrous alloys only.

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Hydrostatic Extrusion

• In this, metal billet is compressed from all sides by a

liquid rather than the ram.
• The presence of liquid inside the container
eliminates the need for any lubricant and also, the
material is more uniformly compressed from all
sides throughout the deformation zone.

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• Because of this, highly brittle materials such as grey
cast iron can also be extruded.
• Pressure-transmitting fluids used are castor oil with
10% alcohol, SAE 30 mineral lubricating oil,
glycerine, ethyl glycol and iso pentane.
• The hydrostatic pressure range is from 1110 to 3150
MPa.
• The commercial applications of the process are
limited to the extrusion of reactor-fuel rods, cladding
of metals, and making wires of less ductile materials.

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Wire Drawing

• A wire by definition, is circular with small diameters

so that it is flexible.
• The process of wire drawing is to obtain wires from
rods of bigger diameter through a die.
• Wire drawing is always a cold-working process.

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• The wiredrawing die is of conical shape.
• The end of the rod or wire, which is to be further
reduced is made into a point shape and inserted
through the die opening.
• This end is then gripped on the other side with a
gripper, which would then pull the wire through the
die.
• The wire thus drawn is then coiled round a power
reel.

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• The material should be sufficiently ductile since it is
pulled by the tensile forces.
• Hence, the wire may have to be annealed properly to
provide the necessary ductility.
• Further, the wire is to go through the conical portion
and then pulled out through the exit by the gripper.
In this process, there is no force applied for pushing
the wire into the die from the entrance side.
• To make for an easier entrance of wire into the die,
the end of the stock is made pointed to facilitate the
entry.

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• This pointing is done by means of rotary swaging or
by simple hammering.
• The other aspect of preparation needed is the
cleaning of the wire and lubricating it as it flows
through the die.
• Cleaning is essentially done to remove any scale and
rust present on the surface which may severely affect
the die.
• It is normally done by acid pickling.

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• The pressures acting at the interface of the die and
the metal being very high, the lubrication of the die is
a serious problem.
• Therefore, to carry the lubricant through the die,
special methods such as sulling, coppering,
phosphating and liming are used.
• The wire is coated with a thin coat of ferrous
hydroxide which when combined with lime acts as
filler for the lubricant. This process is called sulling.
• In phosphating, a thin film of manganese, iron or zinc
phosphate is applied on the wire which makes the
lubricant to stick to the wire, thereby reducing the
friction. 68
• Another lubricant vehicle that is used in wire
drawing is a coating of lime.
• After acid pickling, lime is applied and then allowed
to dry.
• The lime neutralises any amount of acid left on the
surface, and adsorbs the lubricant for carrying it to
the die.
• The lubricant normally used is the soap solution.
• For very thin wires, electrolytic coating of copper is
used to reduce friction.

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• The dies used for wire drawing are severely affected
because of high stresses and abrasion.
• The various die materials that are used are chilled
cast iron, tool steels, tungsten carbide and diamond.
• The cast-iron dies are used for small runs.
• For very large sizes, alloy steels are used in making
the dies.
• Tungsten-carbide dies are used most commonly for
medium size wires and large productions.
• Tungsten-carbide dies are preferred because of their
long life which is 2-3 times that of alloy-steel dies.
• For very fine wires, diamond dies are used. 70