What Is a Forging Machine?

A forging machine refers to a machine that uses a hammer or the like to make a metal material in a plastic state into a workpiece having a certain shape and size, and changes its physical properties. The forging hammer forged in a forging machine is very similar to press machinery (especially a forging press) in terms of workability, but as the former forging hammer, the reaction force generated by the processing is not borne by the bed, but by the foundation of the machine command This is fundamentally different from the latter press.

Radial forging machine is a machine that forges shaft parts in the diameter direction. It is a special equipment dedicated to radial forging process and belongs to one of the advanced forging equipments with little and no cutting processing. Since the appearance of the radial forging machine in the 1950s, due to its forging efficiency, high degree of automation, saving forging materials, good forging quality, simple tooling and strong applicability, it has been recognized and vigorously developed by production enterprises. At present, the forging force of radial forging machines that can be produced in China is 1000 ~ 2000kN, the diameter of forgeable bar is 80 ~ 160mm, and the maximum length of forgeable billet is 2500mm.

The figure below shows a two-head rotary forging machine (also known as a crank rocker radial forging machine). The motor drives the eccentric shaft 7 of the double-crank to rotate, forcing the levers 1 on both sides to reciprocate and push the rocker 3 to swing, so that the hammer head 5 fixed on the rocker makes radial forging motion.

Forging machine anti-vibration method, from the point of view of process operation, die forging and free forging are different. During die forging, even if a considerable bed displacement occurs (usually, the forging flatness is about 30mm and the elongation edge is about 15mm), the anvil's hammer ratio is large, and it does not affect the forging ability and operating performance. Therefore, for the lower natural frequency spring system, due to the large displacement of the bed, a good anti-vibration effect can be obtained even without the inertia base.

In free forging, the anvil separate type is compared with the anvil integral type. The anvil hammer is usually smaller. At this time, in order to increase the performance of the anvil hammer head ratio and reduce the displacement of the bed, inertia base is generally used.

In addition, during free forging, the workpiece may be repeatedly hammered at the end of the anvil. At this time, for a spring system with a small anvil weight and low natural frequency, the anvil itself will tilt, and the parallelism between the anvil and the end of the satin hammer will also be lost. This will reduce the performance of the forging ability, so sometimes it is necessary to install a large inertia base and the forging hammer itself on the inertia base. There are many types of practical anti-vibration devices, one of which is called a floating foundation anti-vibration device. As shown in the figure below, it uses the buoyancy of water and the elasticity of air to support the machine.

Floating base

Therefore, the forging machine is installed on a platform with a cavity in the lower part, and the cavity is opened downward. The entire bed floats in a water tank, and the water tank is set on the floor. Therefore, the water pressure caused by the difference in water head inside and outside the cavity passes through the air layer in the cavity and acts on the bottom of the stand. As a result, the platform will be subjected to a buoyant force equal to its displacement. When an inertial base is formed and an exciting force acts, the platform can move freely up and down. The guide roller can control the tilt and rotation, and the leaf spring acts as an auxiliary part for buoyancy. ^[3]