Drop forging manufacturer
sales@dropforging.netType 6061 aluminum is of the 6xxx aluminum alloys, in which magnesium and silicon are the primary alloying elements. The second digit indicates the degree of impurity control for the base aluminum. When this second digit is a “0”, it indicates that the bulk of the alloy is commercial aluminum containing its existing impurity levels, and no special care is needed to tighten controls. The third and fourth digits are simply designators for individual alloys (note that this is not the case with 1xxx aluminum alloys). The nominal composition of type 6061 aluminum is 97.9% Al, 0.6% Si, 1.0%Mg, 0.2%Cr, and 0.28% Cu. The density of 6061 aluminum alloy is 2.7 g/cm3 (0.0975 lb/in3). 6061 aluminum alloy is heat treatable, easily forfged and machined, and is good at resisting corrosion.
6061 Aluminum alloy are generally forged by drop forging manufacturer on hydraulic presses because of their high strain-rate sensitivity. The use of hammers and mechanical presses are the exception rather than the rule. Ram speeds are generally on the slow side, with 1 inch/second or less being typical. Hot dies, including isothermal, are common. In most cases, the tooling temperature is within 250°F of the workpiece temperature. For net-shape/precision forgings, isothermal tooling and low strain rates are the norm.
Aluminum alloys, for its low density, can always be used to make metal parts with light weight. Generally, aluminum alloys are divided into casting alloys and forged alloys, and are best suited for different applications. Forged aluminum alloys, such as the 6061 alloy, are widely used in drop forging process to creat specified shapes and dimensions. During the process, the billet is heated through an induction furnace and forged using a closed die drop forging process.
Among all the forged aluminum alloys, 6061 is one of the most commonly used aluminum grades in the world. Whether hot or cold forging, 6061 is the choice for a wide range of applications, including automotive, motorcycle, aerospace, and so on. So, what makes 6061 so versatile? Like with any grade, it starts with the makeup of the metal. Its major alloying elements are magnesium (1.0%) and silicon (0.6%). This makes it highly resistant to corrosion, stress, and cracking. This also means the grade features good formability and weldability. Pls note 6061 is not an alloy that is traditionally cast due to its low silicon content affecting the fluidity in casting.
Drop forging is the metal forming process that shaping metal and increasing its strength. In drop forging, an upper die is forced against a heated workpiece placed on a stationary lower die, and the billets will fastly filled the cavity of dies under the workforce of high pressure. Then, the billets become a forged blank that has the desired shape as designed. Finally, remove the flash under trimming dies to achieve a net shape drop forged part.
CFS Company is the largest drop forging company in China. We have an extensive amount of drop forging experiences for copper and brass alloys. Here at CFS Forge, we put the customer first and our mission is to exceed your expectations. We offer uncompromising drop forgings and our teams go out of their way to ensure all of your needs are met. If you have any special requests please let us know today! We are ready to answer all of your questions!
CFS Company is the largest drop forging company in China. We have an extensive amount of drop forging experiences for copper and brass alloys. Here at CFS Forge, we put the customer first and our mission is to exceed your expectations. We offer uncompromising drop forgings and our teams go out of their way to ensure all of your needs are met. If you have any special requests please let us know today! We are ready to answer all of your questions!
First of all, you should understand the charteristics of aluminum alloys. Aluminum is a metal similar to steel, brass, copper, zinc, lead or titanium. It can be melted, cast, forged and machined in a similar way to these metals and conducts electric currents. Aluminum is a very light metal with a specific weight of 2.7 g/cm3, about a third of that of steel. This cuts the costs of manufacturing with aluminum forgings. Again, its use in vehicles reduces dead-weight and energy consumption while increasing load capacity. This also reduces noise and improves comfort levels.
On the internet, you will find many numbers of companies that can provide drop forging service. For your RFQs, you may contact several potential drop forging suppliers for comparision. Besides comparing prices from these different drop forging companies, it is also a process for you to understand and choose a best drop forging company.
Drop Forging is a manufacturing process that squeezes heated round bars between upper and lower dies until filling the cavity of dies completely. Parts produced by this method are of precise sizes, little or no machining allowance and complex structure with high productivity. Drop forging process has high production efficiency and low labor intensity, which will be able to make complex components with higher strength than casting process. This production method is suitable for mass production. However, the cost of forging dies is relatively high, not suitable for single piece or small batch production.
In general, the mechanical performance of castings is lower than that of forgings with the same raw material. In addition, the forging process can ensure the succession of the metal fibers and keep the forged fibers consistent with the shape of the forged pieces. What’s more, the metal streamlines are intact, which can ensure the parts have outstanding mechanical performance and long working life. With the process of precision die forging, cold kneading and warm kneading, forgings are more superior than castings in performance.
Aluminum forgings have been widely used in various fields such as machinery, aviation, automobiles, railway vehicles, ships ,marine vessles, buildings, bridges, chemicals, and power owing to their excellent properties. By replacing steel forgings with aluminum forgings, it can greatly reduce the weight of mechanical products and increase the structural stability. Therefore, aluminum forgings are essential components in the fields of aviation, aerospace and many defense industry sectors. For example, there are many aluminum forgings used in aircrafts ,which accounts for 15% -50%.
There are several color options for anodized aluminum forgings, taking forged aluminum brake lever for example, one of our customer needs 5 colors: silver natural, black, red light, blue and light grey. This multi-colored anodized aluminum forgings are available from CFS Forge. After coloring, anodized aluminum forgings have a characteristic “metallic” look. This is caused by two factors. One, because of the uniform electro-chemical etching, a rough surface is left behind. The deeper the pores, the rougher the surface will be but the colors will also be that much more durable. Secondly, light striking the surface partly interacts with the colorant and partly with the uncolored metal at the top. So the light that bounces back to strike your eye will in fact be a combination of two distinct wavelengths interacting as they reflect from slightly different surfaces. This causes the distinctive shine of anodized aluminum forgings.
What is forged brass and where is it commonly used? In a nutshell, forged brass is an alloy of copper and zinc that is heated up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit before it is squeezed into shape in precision-machined closed die presses. This gives the resulting material more tensile strength as compared to its molded counterparts.
Depending on the amounts of copper and zinc used, the resulting alloy can provide varying degrees of electrical and thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, ductility and machinability. The unique metal combination can also determine its joining and plating characteristics, non-magnetic and non-sparking properties and its polishing and finishing characteristics as well.
Aluminum is one of the common materials used in drop forging process, where you basically heat and squeeze the aluminum material until the shapes of parts are formed. Aluminum hot forging is commonly used for manufacturing automotive suspension parts. You get geometrically complex parts with excellent mechanical properties and tight tolerances. It is competitive as a manufacturing process for light-weighting suspension parts for cars. After forging, both the strength and mechanical properties will get improved, which makes forging a competitive process for automotive suspension parts.
Why suspension parts? Several reasons. One is that suspension parts are generally dimensioned for dynamic fatigue loads. And any adverse surface quality will impact the fatigue lifetime of the suspension. Another reason is that suspension parts forged from aluminium are the lowest-weight suspension parts in industrial scale use, and weight is particularly important in a vehicle’s unsprung mass. Furthermore, they provide better vehicle response, since the inertia of the parts are reduced, and they lessen the noise from the chassis, which gives you a more comfortable ride. Lastly, by using aluminium, the reduced weight helps you save emissions.
Why suspension parts? Several reasons. One is that suspension parts are generally dimensioned for dynamic fatigue loads. And any adverse surface quality will impact the fatigue lifetime of the suspension. Another reason is that suspension parts forged from aluminium are the lowest-weight suspension parts in industrial scale use, and weight is particularly important in a vehicle’s unsprung mass. Furthermore, they provide better vehicle response, since the inertia of the parts are reduced, and they lessen the noise from the chassis, which gives you a more comfortable ride. Lastly, by using aluminium, the reduced weight helps you save emissions.
The forgings of wheel hub type are often made by means of drop forging processes realized on presses. Due to the necessity of lightweight structure, wheel hubs are often manufactured by aluminum forging. Forming of drop forged wheel hub is a specific hot forging process and it differs from steel forging process.
The big changeability of aluminum alloys properties within the range of the applied forming parameters results in difficulties in the process design. The majority of aluminum alloys’ forgings are made by means of forging process with flash. The degree of complex forging geometry decides about the amount of heating and type of the applied tooling. The forgings with a complex geometry, ribbed, which need a precise preforming, are forged in preforming impression, and next, after the damages removing and reheating they are forged in forming impression. In the forming process of less complex forgings, which are made in small series, the application of preforming impression is usually omitted. Preforming operation is made in forming impression with several millimeters of underfilling. After the damages removing and reheating, it is finally made in the same impression. In case of enlarged forgings, the preforms are rarely used despite difficulties in their obtaining. For the preforming of material, enlarging and rolling impressions are not applied. The operation of this type causes fast lowering of material temperature and the overlapping creation as a result forging with rotation at the same time. Because of that, workpiece in the form of a bar with the section close to the biggest forging section is used.
Abstract: It has been proved that forged aluminum alloy is a perfect option compared to steel forgings and cast aluminum parts in the competition for reducing vehicle weight. Additionally, this choice leads to a decisive productivity improvement in the high-volume production under competitive price levels.
In terms of automotive chassis, the light weight of inelastic materials is beneficial for safety and comfort. Heinz Lowak, a doctor of engineering, argues that before he put the box with the silvery lateral guides for the front axles of the Audi A6 and Volkswagen Passat: "Our aluminum forgings weigh only half the weight of the same functional steel components, which is a decisive advantage." Meinertzhagen, the light metal technology sales and marketing department head of the Otto Fuchs company believes that aluminum can achieve very good mechanical properties through forging. The tensile strength and yield limit of the above lateral guide can reach 440N/mm2 and 380 N/mm2 respectively, the elongation can be more than 10%, especially for the yield limit and elongation, the level of aluminum forgings is higher than the commonly used cast aluminum alloy.