There are several methods for aluminum forging, including:
- Cold forging – using forging equipment at room temperature to reshape the metal material through plastic deformation, which has advantages such as high production output and high precision.
- Hot forging – a processing method commonly used for aluminum alloys or composite materials. The material is heated to a certain temperature and then squeezed into shape, providing significant improvements in mechanical performance.
- Extrusion molding – the material is uniformly formed into a variety of profiles under continuous stretching, suitable for high-volume production and with high efficiency.
- Wheel hub forging – generally used for vehicle wheel hubs such as automobiles, motorcycles, and aircraft parts, for better strength and toughness through forging.
As an example, a certain automobile company chose aluminum alloy as the material for the vehicle body structure when producing their new car model. The following process was used to manufacture the body structural parts:
- First, high-quality aluminum alloy materials were selected, processed and surface treated as necessary before entering the cold-forging workshop.
- In the workshop, the cold-forging equipment was used to reshape the aluminum alloy raw materials through plastic deformation while ensuring precision to increase production output.
- Afterwards, the forged parts were heated and sent to the heat treatment workshop for hot forging extrusion molding. This step significantly improved the durability and strength of the parts.
- Then, the formed parts were further processed according to specific needs, such as painting or coating.
- Finally, the parts were quality inspected and packaged for shipment.
Through this process, the aluminum alloy body structural parts were successfully produced, greatly improving the lightweight characteristics and overall vehicle performance.
There are various methods of forging aluminum and each has its own range of application and characteristics. Proper selection can not only improve product quality and production efficiency but also lower production costs.
