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Forged vs. Cast - What's the Difference?

17 Jun.,2024

Forged vs. Cast - What's the Difference?

Cornell Forge is an ISO :-certified company that specializes in forging design, tooling, and metal forging services to create custom-engineered products and parts. We offer a diverse array of metal forging capabilities, including closed die hot forging, as well as finishing and value-added services that simplify your supply chain. Our turnkey forging solutions are part of our commitment to excellent customer service.

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If you need custom-made metal parts, Cornell Forge is here to help during every stage of design and production. Start the process by determining whether forging or casting processes are a better fit for your specifications. The difference between casting and forging comes down to the shaping process. Casting reduces metals to a molten form while forging shapes the metal workpiece while in a solid state.

Advantages of Forging Metal

Forging processes involve rolling, pressing, hammering, or otherwise shaping metal billets while still in a solid form into a precise shape through mechanical force. The heating and deformation process refines the metal&#;s internal grain structure by allowing metallurgical recrystallization to occur, giving a uniform structure throughout the metal form. This process strengthens the metal and makes it more resistant to impact and shear damage.

The internal grain structure conformity is the core benefit of forged metal that gives it many of its advantages over cast and plate metal components. Because the flow of the grain aligns with the geometry of the shape, it becomes very tough and resistant to damage.

Advantages

Here&#;s a quick breakdown of the advantages of forged metal to consider when choosing the right metal forming process for your component order:

Toughness:
The material is more resistant to physical damage, including impact damage, and deformation.
Resistance to Wear:
The grain structure aligns with the form of the piece, reducing the risk of wear.
Strength:
Forged metals have more relative strength than cast and plate metals, even when the parts are formed using the same alloy.
Reduced Likelihood of Defects:
Other processes may result in metal pieces with shrinkage and cold pour issues, cavities within the cast, or porosity.

When you need solid, hardworking, and strong parts that you can rely on for rugged industrial or commercial applications, the forging process is an excellent option.

Advantages of Casting Metal

In metal casting, molten metal is poured directly into an existing mold, where it cools and hardens into the mold&#;s shape. Casting processes can use a wide variety of different mold types depending on the size of the order and the complexity of the part. While metal casting has been used for centuries, today&#;s manufacturers generally reserve this process for parts that are too large or unwieldy for metal forging. Casting is a superior method for more complex geometries that are difficult to achieve through the application of force alone.

At Cornell Forge, we can forge simple and complex parts that are up to 18 inches long and 100 pounds in weight. Some die forgings can even be made that weigh up to pounds or more. However, casting is often more appropriate for parts of this size.

Advantages

Metal casting is a suitable alternative to forgings in some circumstances because of these unique advantages:

Fewer Size and Complexity Restrictions:
Castings can be done for parts of virtually any size or complexity level.
Metal Options:
Castings can be made with a wider range of specialty alloys because chrome, nickel, and molybdenum can be more easily incorporated into the molten metals during the casting process.
Low-Volume Production Capabilities:
Castings can cost-effectively produce small production runs, especially because the tooling is cheaper than that for equivalent forging dies.

Casting vs. Forging: Which Is Better?

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Both forging and casting processes can be used to create high-quality metal parts. However, each method works best for different types of products based on the size, metal composition, order volume, and other factors.

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Because casting involves pouring molten metal into molds, it can be used to create highly complex parts. Casting processes can also accommodate products made from complex alloys or which weigh up to 200 tons upon completion. Forging processes use hammering and mechanical force to form metal into a certain shape, which makes the finished parts tougher, stronger, and more shatter-resistant. Overall, if your part can be forged, your end product will be stronger and more durable. But realistically, forging is not a viable option for every component, and casting is an excellent production method in these cases.

Why Choose Cornell Forge for Forged Parts

Cornell Forge is a leading provider of high-quality forged parts that we produce using our in-house manufacturing services. We provide quality assurance during every stage of production, and we have been a trusted name in the industrial forging market for more than 90 years. Contact us today to learn more about our forging capabilities or request a quote to start your order.

What Is the Difference Between Casting and Forging?

In nearly every man-made environment, metal-based products comprise the many conveniences we use on a daily basis. From lamps and kitchen appliances to automobiles and skyscrapers, we are reliant on the manufacturers and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) suppliers who produce the components that, when compiled into final products, create the world we live in.

There are many processes when it comes to manufacturing metal components and products. The metal fabrication process includes cutting, folding, welding, machining, punching, stamping, shearing, casting and forging. However, while many of these reshape the alloy, only casting and forging manipulate the shape of the metal at the interior level, allowing for a more significant reshaping of the metal.

The key differences between casting and forging are as follows:

Casting is the process in which metal is heated in a furnace until molten. While in the liquid state, the metal is poured in a die, or mold, to create a component shape.
Forging is the process in which thermal and mechanical energy is applied to ingots to cause the alloy to change shape while in a solid state.

In this blog post, we go over the difference between casting and forging, several benefits of both processes and the industries in which each are commonly used.

Casting: Benefits, Defects, and Common Products and Industries

Casting is one of the most popular manufacturing processes due to the complex and large volume of industrial parts and components. Here are the primary benefits of this process:

Complex components: When aluminum is melted and cast into a die, components with complex internal chambers and external features reduce the amount of metal removal to complete the finished part.
Flexible quantities:
Die casting is commonly used
to produce a high volume of components with a typical rate of 100 hits per die.
Strength and quality: To solidify the molten aluminum, components are rapidly chilled to solidify into a texture free of porosity, giving the components stronger
metallurgical properties
.
Minimized labor: Depending on the manufacturer, casting can occur through
robotic processes
that cut down on the number of required laborers and technicians, allowing for decreased risk and errors.
Low cost: Reduction in labor costs is a significant benefit to an automated casting process. Additionally, using metal such as aluminum reduces the price of raw materials that provide customers with a low unit price.

Although there are many benefits to casting, there is the potential for contamination while the metal is in liquid state. In the cooling state, defects such as interior tears or cracks can develop as the mass cools at different rates. However, quality assurance that implements current technology, including X-ray machines, allow for accurate readings of the components prior to packaging and shipment.

Casting in the Automotive Industry

In , the global metal casting market size was valued at $123.8 billion. This value is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.3 percent from to . The increasing demand comes, in part, from the automotive sector that anticipates to drive this market growth over the six year period.

Leading this increase in metals is aluminum, not only because it is less expensive than steel but because it creates more lightweight vehicles, which require less fuel. The stringent regulations regarding pollution and energy efficiency in vehicles plays a role in the growth of the casting industry: Casting is one of the primary processes of automotive component manufacturing due to the complexity of the components.

Forging: Benefits, Defects, and Common Products and Industries

With forging, the metal is heated to a plastic stage so that the application of compression, applied manually or automatically, elongates the material and decreases the cross section. As one of the oldest approaches to reshaping metal, it provides several benefits:

Stronger products: Shaping and reshaping the metal changes the internal microstructure to disperse alloy concentrations and eliminate voids to create a denser component.
Higher fatigue strength: Forging strengthens the mechanical properties to increase stress level, thereby curbing failure of the component.
Low operating cost: With the combination of fewer required materials and less machining, forging provides lower operating costs.
Variety of shapes accomplished: Forging creates components often found in industries that require high levels of resistance and reliability, such as the automotive, aerospace and agricultural industries.

Manufacturers choose forging for components and products that require significant strength. With this comes higher initial costs, secondary finishing processes required by hot foraging and limits to the complexity of the shapes.

Forging in the Oil and Gas Industry

In , the metal forging market size was estimated at $1.08 billion and expected to increase at a CAGR of 2.1 percent from to . One of key drivers for market growth is the oil and gas industry, which requires components and products to have high overall strength and fatigue strength. The metal components include ball valves, electric motors, turbines, wellhead equipment, pumps and more.

An OEM Supplier With a Full Range of Services

When partnering with VPIC Group, you don&#;t have to wonder about the difference between casting and forging. Instead, our team of technicians can offer the metal manipulation process that works best to produce your desired product. Whether the components are complex and need to be produced at a high volume or they require higher resistance, our manufacturing services have you covered.

Ready to get started on your casting or forging project? Contact us today.

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