Methods
Forging
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Forging shapes metal using localized compressive force, delivered by a hammer, press or die, usually after heating the workpiece to make it more malleable. Unlike casting, forging does not melt the metal; the applied force deforms and aligns the material internal grain structure, which typically leaves the finished part stronger and tougher than an equivalent cast or machined part.
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearBronze Age smiths were forging metal by around the third millennium BCE; a single point of origin is not established. Core PrincipleDeforming a heated or cold metal workpiece under compressive force from a hammer, press or die, shaping it while it stays solid and aligning its internal grain structure along the part contours. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Annealing, Methods Forged and cold-worked metal is frequently annealed afterward to relieve the stresses working introduced.
Casting, Methods Casting and forging are the two principal ways of shaping a metal part, one through a liquid mold and one through solid deformation.
Smelting, Methods Forging typically works metal that smelting has already extracted from its ore.
Wrought Iron, Materials Wrought iron is worked and consolidated principally by forging and hammering, not casting.
In Field
Sources
1. Forging (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die.
2. A History of Technology
Charles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors, Oxford University Press, 1954
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