Aerospace Forgings

Forgings refer to products manufactured by the process of shaping metal utilizing compressive forces. The compressive forces used are generally delivered via pressing, pounding, or squeezing under great pressure. Although there are many different kinds of forging processes available, they can be grouped into three main classes:

Forging produces pieces that are stronger than an equivalent cast or machined part. As the metal is shaped during the forging process, the internal grain deforms to follow the general shape of the part. This results in a grain that is continuous throughout the part, resulting in its high strength characteristics. Forgings are broadly classified as either cold, warm or hot forgings, according to the temperature at which the processing is performed.

Iron and steel are nearly always hot forged, which prevents the work hardening that would result from cold forging. Work hardening increases the difficulty of performing secondary machining operations on the metal pieces. When work hardening is desired, other methods of hardening, most notably heat treating, may be applied to the piece. Alloys such as aluminum and titanium that are amenable to precipitation hardening can be hot forged, followed by hardening. Because of their high strength, forgings are almost always used where reliability and human safety are critical such as in the aerospace, automotive, ship building, oil drilling, engine and petrochemical industries.

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Forgings

Forged parts vary in size, shape and sophistication and can be produced using nearly any metal. The most common metals used include carbon, alloy, tool and stainless steels as well as aluminum, titanium, high-temperature superalloys, brass and copper.

High strength-to-weight ratios and structural reliability favorably influence performance, range and payload capabilities in the aerospace industry. Made of ferrous, non-ferrous and special alloy materials, forgings are widely used in jets and piston-engine planes, helicopters, engine mounts, military aircraft and spacecraft. Some examples of where a forging's versatility of size, shape and properties make it an ideal component include bulkheads, wing roots and spars, hinges, engine mounts, brackets, beams, shafts, landing gear cylinders and struts, wheels, brake carriers and discs and arresting hooks. In jet turbine engines, iron-base, nickel-base and cobalt-base superalloys are forged into components such as discs, blades, buckets, couplings, manifolds, rings, chambers and shafts.