B. Forged metal parts

1. Advantages of forging:

Change the particle flow of the material so that it flows in the shape of the part.

Create parts that are stronger than other manufacturing processes. Forged parts are very suitable for use in dangerous or extremely inconvenient situations, such as gears in automobile engines.

Can be made into most shapes.

Can create very large parts.

Relatively cheap compared to mechanical processing.

2. Disadvantages of forging:

Lack of control over the microstructure.

There is greater demand for secondary processing, which increases the cost and delivery time of the project.

It is impossible to produce porous bearings, cemented carbides or mixed metal parts.

Without machining, small parts with delicate designs cannot be produced

Mold production is expensive, making the economics of short-term production undesirable.

3. If you want to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of forging and powder metallurgy, it may mean that you are looking for a manufacturing process that can achieve the ideal cost performance. The more you look at each process, the more you will find that depends on your project standards. Forging is good in some situations, while PM is good in others. Honestly, it depends on what you want to accomplish. With the advancement of technology and process, powder metallurgy technology has been developed by leaps and bounds. Now you can do amazing things with powdered metals-see what the manufacturers of high temperature sintering are doing. In some cases, simply increasing the sintering temperature by 100° to 300°F can produce significantly better results in the following areas: strength, impact energy, and other factors.

In some areas, forging is a good solution. In this regard, no one will soon produce steel I-beams from powder metal or crowbars. But when it comes to smaller parts with complex designs, powder metallurgy has eclipsed forging. As we enter the future of parts production (such as electric engines in the evolving car design), powder metallurgy will play an increasingly important role. When factors such as affordability, high production, and metal mix come into play, PM is clearly the future. Although forging can provide excellent mechanical properties, it has to pay considerable cost loss compared with traditional powder metal. Using today's materials and processes, traditional powdered metals can provide the performance required by your application at a greatly reduced cost.