Forming (metalworking)

Forming,metal forming, is the metalworking process of fashioning metal parts and objects through
mechanical deformation; the workpiece is reshaped without adding or removing material, and its
mass remains unchanged.[1] Forming operates on the materials science principle of plastic
deformation, where the physical shape of a material is permanently deformed.

Characteristics
Metal forming tends to have more uniform characteristics across its subprocesses than its
contemporary processes, cutting and joining.
On the industrial scale, forming is characterized by: [2]

Very high loads and stresses required, between 50 and 2500 N/mm2 (7-360 ksi)

Large, heavy, and expensive machinery in order to accommodate such high stresses and
loads

Production runs with many parts, to maximize the economy of production and compensate
for the expense of the machine tools

Forming processes
Forming processes are particular manufacturing processes which make use of suitable stresses
(like compression, tension, shear or combined stresses) to cause plastic deformation of the
materials to produce required shapes.

During forming processes no material is removed, i.e. they are deformed and displaced.

Forming processes tend to be categorised by differences in effective stresses. These categories and
descriptions are highly simplified, since the stresses operating at a local level in any given process
are very complex and may involve many varieties of stresses operating simultaneously, or it may
involve stresses which change over the course of the operation.

Compressive forming involves those processes where the primary means of plastic deformation is
uni- or multiaxial compressive loading.

Rolling, where the material is passed through a pair of rollers

Extrusion, where the material is pushed through an orifice

 Die forming, where the material is stamped by a press around or onto a die

Forging, where the material is shaped by localized compressive forces

Indenting, where a tool is pressed into the workpiece

Tensile forming[edit]
Tensile forming involves those processes where the primary means of plastic deformation is uni- or
multiaxial tensile stress.

Stretching, where a tensile load is applied along the longitudinal axis of the workpiece

Expanding, where the circumference of a hollow body is increased by tangential loading

Recessing, where depressions and holes are formed through tensile loading
Combined tensile and compressive forming[edit]
This category of forming processes involves those operations where the primary means of plastic
deformation involves both tensile stresses and compressive loads.

Pulling through a die

Deep drawing

Spinning

Flange forming

Upset bulging
Bending[edit]
Main article: Bending (metalworking)

This category of forming processes involves those operations where the primary means of plastic
deformation is a bending load.

Shearing[edit]
Main article: Shear forming

This category of forming processes involves those operations where the primary means of plastic
deformation is a shearing load.

Some of example of forming processes are:

 Forging

Extrusion

Rolling

Sheet metal working

Rotary swaging

Thread rolling

Explosive forming

Electromagnetic forming

Metal forming is a manufacturing process in which forces are applied on raw material such
that stresses induced in the material are greater than yield stress and less than ultimate
stress.
The material experiences plastic deformation to change the shape of the component and
converted to the desired shape of the component.

Forming process can be broadly classified into two types as cold working and hot working.

1. Cold Working:

Deforming the material at a temperature below the recrystallization temperature of the work
metal is called cold working. In cold working process, strength and hardness increases due
strain hardening, but ductility decreases. Good surface finish and high dimensional
accuracy are achieved. If cold working is higher than certain limits, the metal will fracture
before reaching the desired shape and size. Usually cold working operations are performed
in many steps with intermediate annealing operation.

2. Hot Working:

Deforming the material at a temperature higher or equal to the recrystallization temperature

of the work metal is called hot working. In hot working, refinement of grain size occurs, thus,
improving mechanical properties. Even a brittle material can be hot worked. This requires
much less force for deformation, but the finally formed surface finish and dimensional
accuracy are not good. There is no work hardening.

Advantages:
The amount of wastage of metal during metal forming process is negligible.
Grain orientation is possible.
Because of grain orientation the material is converted from isotropic to anisotropic
material.
In most of engineering applications it requires anisotropic material.
Sometimes the strength and hardness of work material is increasing.
Some other metal forming process, the surface finish obtained on the component is
very good and excellent.
Disadvantages:
Higher mount of force and energy is required for metal forming process compared to
other manufacturing methods.
Except the forging operation, all other metal forming process are used for producing
uniform cross sectioned components only.
The components with cross holes cannot be produced easily using metal forming
process.