Upset Forging

What Types of Parts are Good Candidates for Upset Forging?

Upset Forging is the most commonly employed method of forging in modern industry.  As such, it can be used for a wide range of parts.  The basic physics involved is compressing the length of a piece of material in order to enlarge its diameter.  Many components that serve as connectors are fashioned this way.  Among these are bolts, screws, and other fasteners.  Upset Forging Companies frequently use high speed presses to do the work.  The presses themselves can be of a number of designs including hydraulic, vertical, and crank.  Rod or wire typically forms the building block from which the components are fabricated.  They will be fed into the press from the side in order to facilitate rapid production output.

Designing Parts for Upset Forging

Upset Forging Companies tend to produce components in bulk.  Material may be forced into multiple chambers of the same dimensions to produce a number of identical parts at once.  Since this is a one step procedure, this method is ideal for mass production of a simple part such as a screw.  This process can be used with or without heat depending on the requirements of the finished product and the alloys contained in the material.  Upset Forging work will require more equipment and greater care if heat is part of the process.

Sourcing Upset Forging

Upset Forging can result in products that have greater strength than something similar which is made by a part that is machined or cast.  It is a production method applied worldwide.  The internal structure of the metal remains constant in all portions making the product uniform in strength.  Certain alloys such as those based on aluminum and titanium are adaptable to Hot Upset Forging which adds additional strength.  The choice of exact technique is often a matter of economics.  Titanium is an expensive material, and while it offers many desirable qualities, its price makes it unsuitable for the more mundane products such as bolts, but may be justified for more exotic purposes.