Do you ever find yourself asking the question, “I wonder what people are reading on FORGE’s website?” If the answer is “yes,” you’re in the right place.

Here’s a list of the 5 most viewed feature articles on www.forgemag.com in 2019. This list only includes articles published throughout 2019.

5. Extend Die Life with Flood Welding

One of the forging industry’s biggest challenges is finding ways to increase die life, a parameter that is fundamental to efficiency and profitability. One way to achieve this is through the process called flood welding, a high-speed, high-deposition weld-metal recovery of a worn forging-die cavity. This article from April 2019 highlights the process.

4. Solving Die Failure with Special Tool Steels

Using the metaphor of old, less-efficient cars compared with modern vehicles, the authors suggest that using age-old tool-steel grades may not measure up to the performance needed from modern forging die steels in certain applications. This article, also from April 2019, discusses what needs to change in the forging industry so that the correct die steel is selected to solve the most costly problems in the supply chain. 

3. A Study on the Forging of AM Parts

Researchers at Ohio University conducted a FIERF-funded inquiry to understand what cold deformation did to additive-manufactured (AM) shapes. This understanding is critical to harnessing the advantages of both processes and improving the mechanical properties of AM parts as AM technologies continue to emerge and mature. Published in February 2019, this article details the study.

2. Modern Ring-Rolling Simulations Aid Design, Identify Defects

Ring-rolling simulations have matured into a necessary tool for the efficient production of defect-free rings. Most defects encountered in production can now reliably be detected in a simulation, and solutions for the defects can be quickly implemented and verified. The optimized ring-rolling technology-chain simulation virtually ensures a defect-free product, and the information from the successful simulation can be used to set the operating parameters of your rolling mill. From August 2019.

1. The Use of Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) Additive Manufacturing on Forging Dies

Direct metal deposition (DMD) is a powder jet additive-manufacturing (AM) technique that can be used for low-cost build, repair, hardfacing and reconfiguration of forging dies. The technique has also been used to add features such as flanges and bosses to forged parts to improve their functionality. This article, published in February 2019, uses four case studies to examine this technique in detail and compares its merits and limitations to conventional and other AM/welding techniques.