Hot forging is a crucial technique in metalworking in which local compression forces are applied to form metals under high temperatures. All Aluforge locations are equipped with modern, fully automatic hot presses.
The hot forging process at Aluforge involves heating metal above its crystallization temperature to make it malleable. This heated metal is placed in a mold and pressed under high pressure, producing complex shapes with high strength. Hot forging offers advantages such as better material flow and improved mechanical properties compared to cold forging. Below, you can read about how the hot forging process unfolds at Aluforge:
Please leave your details for more information on hot forging parts production and supply. We will be in touch with you as soon as possible.
Engineering
At Aluforge, our international team of trained engineers, located across all our branches, work closely with our clients to develop and design optimally feasible hot forged products. With our expertise in Hot Forging Technology, we ensure that our clients receive the highest quality products.
Materials
To ensure the quality of our products and processes, we only use raw materials from reputable, certified suppliers, including brass alloys.
Hot forging
Aluforge is equipped with modern, fully automated hot forging facilities, ensuring efficient and precise manufacturing of our products.
Machining
The Hot Forged parts are machined to their final form using fully automated, CNC-controlled processes, ensuring that they are ready to be used for their intended purpose.
Assembly
By incorporating assembly and increasing its presence in our production process, we improve efficiency and also provide added value to our customers.
Raw materials: The process begins with the selection of suitable raw materials, in our case this involves aluminum (Kálló, Hungary & Geisingen, Germany). The raw materials come in unprocessed. They are then cut into pieces depending on the size of the press product.
Preheating: The raw materials are preheated to a temperature suitable for hot forging. This helps to make the materials deformable and reduce internal stresses, allowing them to be easily formed during the hot forging process. This temperature varies by material:
Preparation: While the raw materials are preheated, the forging dies are also prepared. These dies define the shape of the final product and are often made of hardened steel to withstand the high temperatures and pressures during forging. All dies are designed by our engineers and produced by our tool shop. During the design phase, our engineers have already ensured that the die has an optimal lifetime, that waste is kept to a minimum and that machining can take place efficiently.
Material placement & forging process: The dies are lubricated and temperatures are checked. The preheated materials are placed between the halves of the forging die in the press. Then the forging press is activated, applying tremendous pressure to the raw materials between the die halves. Under this high pressure, the raw materials are deformed and shaped to the contours of the die in no time. The hot forging speed varies by product, this is on average between 2 and 4 seconds.
Cooling: After hot forging, the press parts are cooled on the cooling belt, to what extent the part must be cooled varies per product. This can be done by air or water cooling, depending on the material and requirements of the part.
Surface treatment: After forging, a surface treatment is carried out at the customer’s request. The surface of the press part is treated by blasting or ball polishing.
Blasting: Is a surface treatment process in which a blasting material (usually glass, stainless steel or aluminum oxide or similar abrasive substances) is shot at the component surface at high speed in order to clean or roughen it.
Ball polishing: Also known as ball polishing or barrel polishing, it is a mechanical surface finishing process in which workpieces are smoothed and polished using rotating or vibrating drums and small, hard balls or grinding wheels.
Machining and machining of the pressed parts: The components are edited, cleaned and measured on CNC machining centers according to customer requirements.
Inspection and quality control: During and after the hot forging and machining process, parts are regularly inspected for surface quality and any imperfections, and dimensional accuracy is checked. This helps to ensure that the parts produced meet the required specifications and quality standards. To start production, there is a mandatory release. During production, there is another inspection measurement every hour. Through these inspections and quality controls, quality is maintained and we always ensure a perfect service level.
Lead-free hot forging: We also press and machine lead-free material. Lead-free parts offer a range of health, environmental, legal compliance and sustainability benefits, among others. Read more here.
Specifications
Hot forging is based on two techniques: hollow hot forging and full hot forging. The choice between the two techniques depends on the product design. In both cases, an attractive homogeneous material structure is created during the hot forgingprocess. Subsequently, deburring is performed fully automatically.
Band widths:
