History should never be ignored when solutions are needed in the forging industry.

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.

Germany’s SMS group won the German Design Award in the “Industry” category for an additively manufactured spray head used to cool dies in the forging industry. The award recognizes innovative products and projects and the companies or individuals who have fabricated and designed them. In this case, it was not only the spray-head component that was noteworthy, but also that additive-manufacturing (AM) techniques were used to produce the part.

As forgers are pressured to remain competitive, they must act on opportunities to reduce costs, eliminate scrap and improve operational efficiency.

Of all hardfacing applications, tool-and-die repairs are one of the most metallurgically challenging. What makes it so challenging is the metallurgy of the base materials and their compatibility with the hardfacing products, as well as the post-weld heat treatments required.

As an advanced manufacturing industry, forging can benefit from the development of advanced alloys used in its products and in the dies it uses to forge them.

The repair of worn forging dies by flood-welding techniques has been around for many decades. Advances in the evolution of the process have made it a cheaper, quicker and more effective way to extend the life of die blocks and reduce tool-steel inventory costs. Today, many forging companies consider flood welding an integral part of their routine die maintenance programs.

New alloy wires for the welding of metal-working forging dies, hammers and other metal-forming applications have been introduced.

A new design technique in forging dies has been proposed in which a tessellating field of stacking or interlocking steel shapes comprises the working faces of a forging die.