72
Tube Products International January 2012
stainless steel tubes
Cold forming: shaping the
future for stainless steel
As a method of manufacturing precision
components, cold forming has dipped
under the radar of many engineers.
However, the development of cold
forming stainless steel looks set to
revolutionise the way this material
is manufactured, according to Mark
Jennings, technical director at Dawson
Shanahan.
Cold forming has long been established
as a method for producing simple, high
volume components such as fasteners
quickly and cost effectively.
Increasingly, though, this process is
being used to produce high precision
components from a range of advanced
engineered metals.
More significantly, a new technique
has now been developed by Dawson
Shanahan enabling the production
of cold formed austenitic and
martensitic stainless steels that
virtually eliminates galling.
This manufacturing breakthrough
has offered new opportunities
and benefits for component
manufacturers operating in a diverse
range of sectors, from aerospace
and automotive engineering through
to medical, electronic and optical
instruments.
Unlike the traditional energy intensive,
time consuming, wasteful or even
hazardous methods of shaping metal,
cold forming is a particularly simple
process that produces metal com-
ponents at low ambient temperatures
without removing any material.
A typical cold forming press uses coiled
wire at room temperature that is cut to
length then using advanced mould and
die sets, combined with extremely high
levels of applied pressure (in excess
of 600 tonnes), and extruded to the
desired shape.
By working with the material and
eliminating the need for trimming and
cutting, cold forming can cut waste by
up to 80% in comparison with traditional
machining processes.
As cold forming is carried out at
ambient temperatures, this high speed
process can be completed 15 times
faster than more conventional options,
significantly saving on production
time.
As a result, components can be made
precisely to order extremely quickly,
cutting lead times and the need to store
high volumes of spare parts on-site.
Another advantage of producing
components at ambient temperatures
is the significant reduction in energy
consumption, helping to reduce costs
still further, as well as carbon footprint.
Just as importantly, the cold forming
process can improve the mechanical
properties, with a finished part 18%
stronger than that of machined
components. Unlike machining, where
sections are usually cut across the grain
structure of the metal, the direction of
forming and the geometry of the part are
aligned with that of the grain.
In addition, finished parts can have
complex internal and external
geometries, with exceptionally smooth
surface finish, so that only minimal
secondary processing is needed. This
offers the potential for design engineers
to specify components to a higher
specification.
While the technique has long been used
with other advanced engineering metals
The cold forming process means faster output and lower energy consumption
Cold formed parts
