November 2021 Volume 3

Official Publication of the Forging Industry Association

November 2021 forging.org

FORGETOOLING &VALUE-ADDED MACHINING

YourMachineShop as aPath toVertical Integration pg. 16

Requirements for aRapid ForgedPartDesignSoftware System pg. 8 The IncredibleVanishing Workforce?Automation to theRescue pg. 30 Strategies for Successwith HigherHardnessDies pg. 34 MaximizingYour Value Proposition pg. 44

Women of Steel: How the Ladies of Universal Stainless Got Their Start in the Industry pg. 40

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PRESIDENT'S NOTE

Cheers to a Successful Forge Fair 2021! President's Note

Association News &UpcomingMajor Events At the FIA and FIERF board meetings preceding Forge Fair in Detroit, both boards worked on their combined strategic plan, and made some important decisions: • FIA’s board voted to invest more in government relations by approving a full-time Government Relations position. The new staff person (Cleveland-based or remote) will work closely with FIA’s Public Policy Committee and FIA’s Lobby Firm. Goals include an improved consistent relationship with lawmakers and trade agencies, a contact program for state governments, and better utilization of the lobby firm’s talent. The search for this person is just underway, and you’re welcome to contact me with suggested candidates: jwarren@forging.org • The Forging Foundation (FIERF) voted to establish a new annual scholarship & internship program: the Metal Forging Engineering &Materials Sciences Scholarship. This is FIERF’s first scholarship program where a high school senior can apply and is contingent on the applicant accepting a summer internship position with a member company. The 25K annual funding plan will provide ten (10) scholarships at $2,500 each. Member companies will have access to these scholarship winners and will fund a minimum $2,500 summer internship directly with the student. Awards will be available for the Fall 2022 term on the same schedule as FIERF’s Finkl and Women in Forging scholarship programs. • Two major events coming soon! Our first annual Forging Lightweight Alloys Conference will take place February 14- 16 in Raleigh, NC – inclusive of a plant tour of Bharat Forge Aluminum USA, Inc. – a brand new plant based in Sanford, NC. And soon you will be seeing more information in IFC 2022 scheduled for June 11-13 in Downtown Chicago. We missed our turn to run IFC 2020 due to the pandemic, and we are excited at the prospect of seeing our international friends back in the United States for this important event. We hope to see you at one of these upcoming FIA events! For the full event calendar, see page 66. ■ Best regards, James R. Warren

A big ‘THANK YOU’ to all exhibitors and attendees who stuck with us and showed up for Forge Fair. Feedback has been resoundingly positive. Remarkably just slightly off our record attendance in 2019 (compared to other industry

shows), we more than made up for it with forgers who attended looking for technology, OEMS looking for forgers and some just looking for some good old-fashioned networking. Our sessions were well attended and included more offerings of basic training and information (new extended sessions on maintenance and lightweight forging) plus excellent exhibitor presentations. Our first ‘Women in Forging’ panel was a hit, along with Career Day on Thursday. Was it perfect? Nah. Detroit is a more expensive venue and not every bar and restaurant has recovered from the pandemic. But we really checked a lot of the boxes for a great show! The FIA staff was outstanding and so appreciative to see you all once again! Thanks to all who could make it. Mark your calendar for Forge Fair 2023 (May 23-25) when we return to Cleveland. What’s New with FIAMagazine? We are grateful for our partnerships with both FORGE and FORGING publications. We lean on them to help get the word out on Forge Fair and other member news. For magazine coverage of the forging industry, it’s remarkable to have three publishers in this space. FIA Magazine remains the only printed magazine in the forging industry (4 issues a year), with copies mailed to eachmember company, and a digital version to all the rest of the members’ company contacts and the industry at large. In a testament to our close partnership with FORGE magazine, we are able to share a great resource in veteran journalist and metallurgist Dean Peters. Dean has covered metal markets and forging for decades, and will now appear in each issue with a feature article highlighting our theme. I hope you enjoy his very first FIAMagazine article featuring member interviews highlighting value added services as a growth strategy, such as rough and final machining. Dean has been, and is, a great friend to FIA, andmany past issues of FORGE have run FIA research projects and lobby firm articles prior to FIAMagazine’s existence.

PUBLISHER James R. Warren jwarren@forging.org EDITOR Angela Gibian angela@forging.org Editorial Staff

Board of Directors

Perry Bennett Peter Campbell Mark Candy John Coward Robert Dimitrieff

Marcelo T. Garza JimKravec Chelsea Lantto James Romeo

DESIGN Lorean Crowder lorean@forging.org AD SALES Keri Kichurchak keri@forging.org

CHAIRMAN Douglas McIntyre VICE CHAIRMAN Dan Ulven

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 1

CONTENTS

NOVEMBER 2021 | VOLUME 3

PRESIDENT'S NOTE 1 President's Note WASHINGTON UPDATE 4 Not Always Black or White: A Look at The Economics of Section 232 Tariffs and Its Effects on the Forging Industry EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY 8 Requirements for a Rapid Forged Part Design Software System 11 Cold Water, Winter Weather and Your Power Supply 14 Tooling Selection for Forging Hammers 16 Your Machine Shop as a Path to Vertical Integration 22 Advantages of Graphite-Free Die Lubricants MAINTENANCE 24 Maintenance Tips and Troubleshooting Forging Hammers AUTOMATION 28 Flood Welding in the Forging Industry 30 The Incredible Vanishing Workforce? MATERIALS 34 Strategies for Success with Higher Hardness Dies 36 What’s Up With Steel These Days? OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT 38 When Was the Last Time You Looked at Your Employee Handbook?

40 Women of Steel: How the Ladies of Universal Stainless Got Their Start in The Industry 44 Maximizing Your Value Proposition 46 What Runaway Natural Gas and Electricity Prices Mean for the Forging Industry 48 Innovating Leader 101 – The Five Requirements to Becoming an Innovating Leader 50 Getting a Handle on Sustainability INDUSTRY NEWS 52 Weldaloy Specialty Forgings Promotes World-Renowned Metallurgical Engineer 53 Welcome New Members 56 Asahi Forge & COVID-19 Response and Recovery 58 Manufacturing Month 60 Remembering Peter Ian Georgeson 60 Somers Steel Announces Closure 62 Forge Fair 2021: Recap of This Year’s Show 66 FIA Upcoming Events FORGING RESEARCH 69 FIERF Donor Spotlight: Campbell Press Repair 70 Utilization of Metal Additive Manufacturing in Forging Industry MEMBERS SPEAK 75 A Story… AD INDEX 76 November Advertiser Index

p. 40

DEPARTMENTS 1 President's Note 4 Washington Update 8 Equipment & Technology 24 Maintenance 28 Automation 34 Materials 38 Operations & Management 52 Industry News

69 Forging Research 75 Members Speak 76 Ad Index

Official Publication of the Forging Industry Association

November 2021 forging.org

FORGETOOLING &VALUE-ADDED MACHINING

YourMachineShop as aPath toVertical Integration pg. 16

Requirements for aRapid ForgedPartDesignSoftware System pg. 8 The IncredibleVanishing Workforce?Automation to theRescue pg. 30 Strategies for Successwith HigherHardnessDies pg. 34 MaximizingYour Value Proposition pg. 44

Women of Steel: How the Ladies of Universal Stainless Got Their Start in the Industry pg. 40

For advertising contact info@forging.org

FIA Magazine (ISSN 2643-1254 (print) and ISSN 2643-1262 (online)) is published 4 times annually, May, August, November and February by the Forging Industry Association, 1111 Superior Ave., Suite 615, Cleveland, OH 44114. Telephone: (216) 781-6260, Fax: (216) 781-0102. Only (1) copy of the print version distributed at no charge only to members of the Forging Industry Association. Digital version distributed at no charge to qualified individuals. Subscription requests available at www.forging.org. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid in Cleveland, OH and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Forging Industry Association, 1111 Superior Ave., Suite 615, Cleveland, OH 44114. Copyright © 2021 by the Forging Industry Association in both printed and electronic formats. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations or for any statement made or opinion expressed herein. Data and information presented by the authors of specific articles are for informational purposes only and are not intended for use without independent, substantiating investigation on the part of potential users.

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FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021

WASHINGTON UPDATE

Not Always Black or White: A Look at The Economics of Section 232 Tariffs and Its Effects on the Forging Industry - An Interview with Trenton Forging By Steve Haro

Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 gives the President of the United States the ability to impose tariffs on certain imports should a Commerce Department investigation determine that a product “is being imported into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security.” While there is no specific definition of “national security” in the law, it states that “the investigation must consider certain factors, such as domestic production needed for projected national defense requirements; domestic capacity; the availability of human resources and supplies essential to the national defense; and potential unemployment, loss of skills or investment, or decline in government revenues resulting from displacement of any domestic products by excessive imports.” Citing national security concerns and using Section 232 authority, then-President Trump in March 2018 applied 25 percent and 10 percent tariffs on certain steel and aluminum imports respectively. It was the first time a president has levied tariffs using Section 232 since 1986 and was arguably only the 11th time a president has done so in the statute’s 60-year history. In this case, Commerce used a broad interpretation of “national security,” defining it to include “the general security and welfare of certain industries, beyond those necessary to satisfy national defense requirements, which are critical for minimum operations of the economy and government.” These tariffs have been controversial and their practical effects debatable across myriad industries, including ours. For this issue’s version of the Washington Update, we decided to shift away from our conventional format on reporting on the latest and greatest happenings in our nation’s capital to explore how policies coming from Washington have a practical effect on one of the critical companies in our industry. Trenton Forging Company is a 90-employee, second generation- owned, third-generated operated business based in Trenton, Michigan. It produces custom closed impression die forgings for a variety of industries, with its largest customer industry by volume being automotive. Chelsea Lantto is Trenton’s president and Eugenio Calle is the company’s director of business development. FIA Magazine recently sat down with Lantto and Calle over Zoom to discuss Section 230 tariffs to see what effect, if any, they have

had on Trenton’s business. It turned out to be an intellectually fascinating conversation that spoke more to the effects of global economics driving industry complications as opposed to tariffs. But the clear conclusion from the discussion is that this issue is definitely not black or white. What follows is that discussion. It has been edited for clarity.

Eugenio Calle Chelsea Lantto FIA Magazine: We have had a Section 232 tariff regime on steel and aluminum in place now since March of 2018. The rationale for levying these tariffs is national security based on a 1962 law. So we're using a 60-year-old law that was forged (see what I did there?) in the Cold War. Please walk us through the practical effects of what has happened since March of 2018 and what pivots you've had to make since those tariffs were put in place. Calle: I understand the motives for the tariffs. Personally, I agree that steel production is a matter of national security. But the tariffs as they've been implemented do not cover every scenario and do not cover every industry affected by those tariffs in a positive or negative way. Personally, we've seen no change before the tariffs and after the tariffs because the tariffs were on steel. Special Bar Quality, which is the type of steel that most forging companies utilize, only accounted for about 10 percent of SBQ consumption in North America. So imports of steel for our industry were very low to begin with. What's really affecting our business is the importing of finished components from low-cost countries with subsidized programs.

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FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021

WASHINGTON UPDATE

Lantto: I agree. We really haven't felt the effects of requests for quotes, orders or changes coming in, because we've always been competing with offshore companies, primarily China. And that's mostly due to the fact that they can create a final component for what we have to pay in raw material alone. That’s not true for other companies though – many are affected by the tariffs. Part of the challenge is that the forging industry has had a lot of different experiences with the tariffs. The problem right now and what it has been over the past year or so has really been the long-term impact of steelmaking capacity moving offshore. FIAMagazine: So it's not an order issue, it is a supply issue? Lantto: Correct. I think a lot of orders are going offshore that could be staying onshore, but we have not seen that direct effect from the tariffs specifically. FIA Magazine: Is this offshoring of production a tariff issue or is it a capacity issue for American steel manufacturers who are supposed to benefit from these tariffs not being able to keep up with demand? Calle: I would not frame it that way. Before the tariffs were put in place, our threat came from the importing of already forged components, not of raw steel for our forging processes. The effect of the tariffs has been mostly on the sheet metal steel mills because SBQ imports of raw material only accounted for around 10 percent of consumption of SBQ in North America. Sheet metal (we're talking coils of sheet metal) accounted for a much greater percentage of imports. The tariffs protected the sheet metal steel mills. It did nothing for SBQ. The SBQmills were never really under threat. FIA Magazine: As I then understand it, Section 232 may not have a direct effect on Trenton Forging because your products aren't getting tariffed, but it is having a direct effect on your ability to get the raw material to produce your products and fulfill your orders because the companies are slow on producing SBQ as they're trying to focus on increasing capacity of sheet metal. Is that a fair assessment? Calle: It is. I would add that we are under threat by not having a tariff on the finished goods. Let’s say tomorrow tariffs are imposed on imported forgings driving our customers to sourcing locally; the immediate effect would be that there's not sufficient SBQproduction capacity to support the additional volume of forging orders. FIA Magazine: Steel prices are through the roof and it is taking a long time to fulfill orders. Do you think the current situation on prices is being driven by tariffs or would we have this demand and this supply chain problem absent these tariffs? Lantto: I think we would still have these problems absent these tariffs. We have been doing a lot of meetings with steel mills that we source from trying to piece together what the heck is going on in the market. The best hunch we have is that there was a demand after the COVID lockdowns that ended up being a lot steeper than what mills originally thought. In addition to that, we think that the microchips shortage is masking some of the SBQ shortage issues. Though everybody's talking about chips right now, they may not be really noticing the supply chain issues when it comes to SBQ. I think that regardless of the tariff situation, the demand was so steep and steeper than they expected that the capacity couldn't keep up.

It's a supply and demand issue. We work with six or seven mills and a handful of distributors. If you think about all the forging production that uses SBQ bars, we're sourcing it from all the same people. We just don't have options to bring in that rawmaterial. Calle: We must look at this holistically. What's been killing the forging industry is cheap, forged products. Not cheap steel. There are no tariffs on the imported product. Our customers look at the landed costs of a Chinese forging versus sourcing locally and they see it's cheaper. They've not been supporting the North American forging companies. What's happened over the last five to 10 years is so much forging activity has moved offshore creating a mismatch between supply from the SBQ mills and demand for North American SBQ. Over the last three years, about 1.8 million tons of SBQ capacity has been shut down. So, even if tariffs were levied on finished forgings, we would have an immediate shortage of SBQ capacity. There is virtually no SBQ mill in North America that can fulfill orders for a big new program for 2022 as they’re already booked. That is a huge concern, not only for forging companies, but for our customers as well. FIA Magazine: Let’s delve into this a little bit deeper as it relates to China. Listening to what you both were saying initially, I thought the policy solution to the problem would be simply levying tariffs on finished forging products coming in from non-North American suppliers. But then you said that if tariffs are put on those products, there would not be enough SBQmaterial to keep up with the demand for your orders. Am I accurate in that assessment? Calle: 100 percent. FIA Magazine: Then if the dumping of finished forging products, particularly by China, is the problem, what is the solution? Because you can't build a mill in six months. Calle: The solution needs to look at the entire supply chain. If you put tariffs on the finished goods, it's going to lead to more forging activity and greater demand for SBQ. That should lead to more capacity investment, but that investment will only be done if there is long-term regulatory certainty. If tariffs are going to be imposed on finished forgings, they will need to be in place for the next five to 10 years. Those tariffs can't last forever, I understand that. But we need to take into account the payback period for these huge investments. We spoke with a steel mill yesterday – they made an investment of $230 million for a capacity of 250,000 tons. So that means it takes a billion dollars to add a million tons. Mills must have time to recoup that investment. FIA Magazine: The beginning premise of our conversation was to get to the bottom of how 232 was affecting the industry. But given our discussion thus far, this is clearly not a black or white issue. Take Trenton individually out of the picture. What are the practical implications of 232 tariffs as they currently stand? Should they go away completely? Would that be good, bad, mixed? Why? Lantto: The membership of FIA is so diverse. Take American Axle who has plants all over the world. They’re going to feel the tariffs in a way that we just won’t. I don't know that we could really speak for the industry as a whole because we are so diverse. But I think

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 5

WASHINGTON UPDATE

what Eugenio was saying about putting a tariff on a finished forging coming into the U.S. would probably be a blanket solution that most companies could get behind. FIA Magazine: If you had a magic wand, based on your experience over the last few years and the economics of the moment, what would you both like to see happen? For Trenton Forging and the industry. Lantto: I mean, pie in the sky is that the U.S. would become the preferred forging supplier globally because we're competitive, our quality is the best, and our delivery times are the best. But obviously, all that supply chain infrastructure needs to be stateside as well. We don't want to be competing with China or India or Turkey. We want to be competing domestically. Calle: China is effectively dumping forgings in North America, and they have been for the last 10 to 12 years. The playing fields are not level. All we're asking for is that the playing fields be leveled, that we have a fair chance at competing for the business of the forging components that are ultimately consumed in North America and purchased by U.S. citizens. So that would mean the size of government action, in terms of protecting the local manufacturing industries and the entire supply chains, needs to be decisive, and it needs to be clearly communicated to everybody involved in that supply chain to allow us to make long term investment plans. The forging industry in theU.S. has been shrinking over the last 30 years. And if we continue this trend, pretty soon we're going to be in the same situation as microchips. We used to manufacture 80 percent of the world's microchips. Today, we're down to 12 percent. If we in the forging industry one day soon wake up and we're at 12 percent, it's going to be too late. Because forging is not a fashionable industry. But it's a vital industry. And to build it back from 12 percent is going to be nearly impossible. Lantto: Can I add one thing that I think is really important? We need the rest of the industry to feel the same urgency that we're feeling. We can't do this alone. Trenton is 90 people. We are a tiny player in the grand scheme, and we need to get the entire supply chain on board. And that starts with greater industry involvement with the FIA. What Happens Now? The Section 232 tariffs have created tension with key U.S. allies, especially the European Union. Last spring, the U.S. and the EU announced that they would attempt to negotiate a resolution of the tariffs. Recently, the U.S. proposed a tariff rate quota (TRQ), under which agreed upon volumes of steel and aluminum could enter the U.S. market duty free. Once that threshold was met, the 10 percent and 25 percent Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum would kick back in. While the EU initially balked at the idea of a TRQ, both sides appear to be negotiating in good faith and the intensity of the talks has increased of late, suggesting that a deal is in reach. Unless the issue is resolved, retaliatory EU tariffs on a range of U.S. products from bourbon to boats to motorcycles will double on December 5th. This action forcing event, coupled with the desire to

get past this trade friction and focus on the bigger concern – China – is driving the talks toward resolution. We will be watching these negotiations closely and scrutinizing any agreement that is reached. Key issues will include whether the TRQ for different types of steel and aluminum is sufficiently large and flexible to address U.S. demand and whether the TRQ will create the certainty and predictability that steel and aluminum users need. Relatedly, it will be interesting to see if the U.S. uses a similar model to resolve the Section 232 tariffs on Japanese and Korean steel and aluminum imports, two other close allies key to containing Chinese ascendancy. From our vantage point, the road ahead can take three paths: one, the administration can rescind the current tariffs (unlikely right now); two, it can leave the tariffs in place as they currently stand (most likely scenario); or three, it can look to adjust the tariffs into a regime that gives greater balance to the economic realities of the moment (better odds than full recission, but still hard to see this happening any time soon). But if President Biden decides on that third way, it remains to be seen whether tariffs on finished forgings are on the table. SAVE THEDATE: LOBBY DAY 2022 The Forging Industry Association’s 2022 Lobby Day is set for February 2nd and 3rd next year in Washington, D.C. This would be a key opportunity for members to impress upon their elected officials how critical forgers are to the North American economy and how dealing with the dumping of cheap, finished forgings is causing problems for our industry. ■ Steve Haro is Principal at Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen &Thomas and can be reached at sharo@mc-dc.com

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FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021

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EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

Requirements for a Rapid Forged Part Design Software System By John Watton

Back in the early 1990s when I was a young engineer at a forging company, we were asked to respond to an urgent request from Boeing. They were evaluating the implementation of a full-length double-deck for the 747 in response to the then-new Airbus A380. As you might expect, many parts (and their corresponding forgings) needed to be redesigned, and quickly. But they had a surprise for all of us working with the Quoting, Design, and Die departments. It was a computer program built on top of Catia V4 that would automatically define forging envelopes for the newly designed parts. This was a huge time saver since it eliminated the need for a CAD operator to build a forging envelope just for quoting and review purposes. Well, as quickly as we spun up and puzzled over the impression die forging designs being automatically generated by the new software tool, the full-length double-deck project was cancelled, and the software disappeared. That software wasn’t as turnkey as it was intended to be, but it planted the idea with me, and in the many years since I haven’t found any commercially available software to fill this niche. What features should such a domain-specific CAD system have to be of maximum use to forgers and forging consumers, like an airframe company? To begin with it should: • Have a graphical user interface. This might be either standalone or integrated with a general commercial CAD system.

• Work in a choice of units, such as millimeters or inches. • Work from the customer’s machined part geometry as the primary starting input. The CAD system will build the forging envelope around the part shape. • Have the ability to manipulate the input geometry, (i.e., scale, translate, and rotate) since the customer’s as-machined final part geometry is unlikely to be oriented for the best die stroke direction. • Have the ability to nest multiple parts into one forging. This is useful for combining small part families and for combining a RH and a LH version of a part together in a single forging. • Have the ability to automatically orient the part for the best forging stroke direction, such as minimum stroke and/or minimum plan view area. • Have the ability to adjust the forging design for: • the alloy family (aluminum, steel, titanium, nickel) • and the overall part size from a very large aerospace part down to a small fitting or fixture. • Be easy to use, computationally fast, and mostly automated. • Have the ability to design either closed-die (impression) forgings or open-die (hand) forgings.

Figure 1: Common forging design terminology.

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FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

ImpressionDie ForgingDesign SystemRequirements In this article, we limit ourselves to the further requirements to design two-piece impression die forgings, which is a very important forging subset. As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, further features should include: • The ability to detect and construct planar parting lines or lock-die parting lines. Automated lock-die construction should include those that vary in one (i.e., in the longitudinal direction), or in multiple plan view dimensions.

• The ability to generate a forging design envelope using default, but customizable, design parameters including web thickness, draft wall cover, draft wall angle, non-draft cover, plan view radius, fillet radius, and corner radius. • The ability to match the draft on the periphery with either an optional shelf style or an adjusted wall style. • The ability to construct a convex periphery, with a shelf, to provide realistic forging designs.

Figure 2: Desired forging design outputs: superimposed graphical displays with transparency, statistical information on as-machined part and finished forging, cross sections of forging (gold), part (gray) and maximum heat treatment thickness (orange).

As illustrated in Figure 2, the following outputs are invaluable to support the quoting process for the forger and the planning and costing activities for OEMs: • Realistic graphical renderings of the 3D geometry of the forging envelope along with the as-machined customer part geometry. • Forging statistics and properties, including volume, plan view area, periphery length, and other dimensional information. • A calculation and display of the maximum heat treatment section thickness. This can be seen as an orange sphere positioned in the forging design of Figure 2. • Cross-sectional displays of the as-machined part and the forging envelope. Advanced Features Once a software system is capable of generating a forging design, we can think about extending it to include other automated design features with:

• A design module for die cavities and flash gutters. Die cavities (top and bottom) along with gutters to contain flash during the forging process are often required for manufacture. • A design module for blockers and preforms. Usually, the forging process requires prior operations before the final forging using blockers (from closed-die forgings) and/ or preforms (from open die operations). Designing these shapes and tooling can be very time-consuming using a general CAD system and one can think about how to automate the process. • A design module for cold-work stress relief die sets. Aluminum forgings are often cold-worked with another special die set used to relieve the residual stress that develops during the heat treatment process. • A design module for hand-forgings. We’ve mentioned hand forgings earlier and hope to follow up with our thoughts on a design system for hand forgings in a future write-up.

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 9

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

Figure 3: Example forging designs including advanced features, like matching parting lines with a shelf (b), shelf construction (d, e), optimized die stroke direction, and lock-dies (a, f, g).

There are a number of specific commercial CAD systems or add-on modules for them in specific domain areas – plant piping, injection molding, casting feeders, and electronics, to name a few.The forging industry is past due for its own CAD system and, in this article, we have outlined the basic features and requirements we would like to see. Hill Engineering provides solutions in the forging CAD space – a space that Boeing entered and then quietly disappeared from over 30 years ago. ■

John Watton is a Senior Engineer with Hill Engineering and the principal creator of the commercial Rapid Forge Design™ software system – https://hill-engineering. com/rfd. Hill Engineering is a global leader in improving the performance of materials and a trusted partner to engineers seeking solutions in design, manufacturing, operations, and sustainment; delivering expertise in residual stress measurement, modeling, mechanical design, material testing, structural integrity, and service life extension. Phone: 916-635-5706 Email: jdwatton@hill-engineering.com

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 10

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

Cold Water, Winter Weather and Your Power Supply By Josh Carney

With the change of seasons and the cold weather expected by those in the Northeastern and Midwestern states, a little preparation is needed if one desires to do well in the coming winter months. Is the home heating source operational? Check. Mud and snow rated tires? Check. De-icer? Check. Snow scraper? Check. Hot beverage? Double-check. Likewise, our water-cooled induction power supplies need specific preparations for the coming cold season as well. Indeed, we need to inspect items like cooling tower controls, heaters, glycol/anti-freeze content, and water leaks. All this ideally before the freezing weather arrives. Cooling Towers Generally, cooling tower operation is governed by automatic controls. The fans, open-loop spray water pumps, make-up water, chemical addition, and tower heaters- if so designed, should operate automatically. If this is not the case, special procedures and precautions ought to be in place governing the operation of these controls in the event of freezing weather. Cooling tower freeze-up can cause significant damage to the tower coils and pump systems. Operating the spray pump during freezing temperatures without a heat source, either the process waste heat or tower heaters, can cause damage to the pump, spray nozzles, exchanger tubes, tower fill, and cooling fans. Automatic controls which operate tower fans and spray pumps based on the process cooling water temperature (water that cools the power supply and other equipment) can prevent unnecessary operation of these motors. This practice not only extends the life of the equipment but also saves money by minimizing utility costs.

Heaters Cooling tower heaters are often installed to prevent the open-loop water from freezing when the process waste heat or environmental heat is unavailable. Cooling tower heaters, power supply enclosure heaters, water line trace-type heaters should be checked before they are needed. Power supply enclosure heaters are uncommon; however, some customers use these when locating the power supply in a building without climate control. The advantage of heating the enclosure is that it raises the dew point, thus reducing the ability for condensation to form on the non-water cooled components. One disadvantage of enclosure heating during cold weather is that if an internal water leak is present, the warm air can become saturated with water vapor. Moisture may then condense on water- cooled components leading to corrosion. Enclosure heaters should: circulate the air, not be adjacent to any energized components, and not cause excessive heating of control circuit boards or temperature- sensitive components. Anti-freeze Solutions Solutions of propylene glycol or ethylene glycol can be used to lower the freezing point of cooling water and prevent caused by ice. When considering the use of anti-freeze chemicals, always refer to the manufacturer’s recommendations. We recommend a concentration of no more than 40% uninhibited ethylene glycol to 60% distilled water. When blended with water, the glycol/water solution should have a basic pH of between 7 and 9.

Ice and debris can damage circulation pumps like the one pictured. Photo source: Integral Power Technologies

Pocket sized refractometer for measuring the glycol content in cooling systems. Photo source: Integral Power Technologies

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 11

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

Automotive-type anti-freeze solutions should never be used. They have corrosion inhibitors and pH buffers that are electrically conductive and not suitable for induction power supply equipment. A common misconception is that a cooling system that is not adequately protected against freezing can be safeguarded against ice damage by operating the circulating pump when the temperature is below the freezing point of the water/glycol solution. The idea is that moving water is not as likely to freeze, but this is a major fallacy. While it is true that the circulating water will not immediately freeze into one single mass because of movement and heat generated during pumping, an icy slurry can form and damage the pumping system and components. Having ice suspended in the cooling water is the near equivalent to having an abrasive suspended in the cooling water. This condition can lead to accelerated wear on the pump impeller, volute, and damage to components.

A 40°F temperature swing caused this hose to leak. Photo source: Integral Power Technologies

Too Cold for Comfort Cold circulating water can cause condensation to form on power components and conductors and leads to short circuiting of creepage paths (electrical spacing between conductors), reducing insulator resistance, increased leakage currents, and tracking1. The best practice is to avoid circulating the process cooling water through the cooling tower when the outside air temperature is below the dew point of the air inside the building or power supply enclosure.

Testing water/ethylene glycol solution: view through refractometer shows between 44% and 48% ethylene glycol. Photo source: Integral Power Technologies Water Leaks As temperatures drop, the rubber hoses in a cooling circuit may become hard and not effectively seal on hose barbs. It is often observed that leaks develop seemingly overnight. A recommended practice is to tighten all hose clamps every three months (quarterly preventative maintenance).

Arcing and corrosion on the ceramic insulator of these free-wheel diodes- caused by leaks and condensation. Photo source: Integral Power Technologies The freeze-up of a cooling system should be avoided at all costs. Cooling tower damage from freezing is estimated at several hundred thousand dollars. Power converter components such as capacitors and inductors (coils) are easily damaged and often scrapped after freezing. The cost of maintaining a glycol system is very minimal when compared to the cost of parts and labor associated with freeze damage.

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 12

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

References: 1 "Condensation in Switchgear and Anti-Condensation Heaters" Jim Bowen, Technical Director, Powell Industries, Inc. April, 25,2003, 01.4TB.091

If you would like to know more about adopting a pro-active cooling system maintenance program, please feel free to contact us. Josh Carney Integral Power Technologies Email: jcarney@integralpowertechnologies.com

Expensive power components like this DC choke can be damaged internally by frozen water. Encapsulated magnetics (i.e.transformers and inductors) may not leak externally but the burst tube may cause windings to short circuit and alter the inductor characteristics. Photo source: Integral Power Technologies BottomLine Manufacturing facilities located in cold weather climates will benefit from the maintenance of their equipment. Cold weather preventative maintenance is more easily accomplished before the air temperature goes below freezing. ■

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FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 13

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

Tooling Selection for Forging Hammers By Terry McInerney and David Mills

It’s important to understand your hammer tooling options and the costs associated with each when choosing. This can be a daunting task. It’s no surprise many forgers choose what they know and what they’re comfortable with rather than what may be a more efficient and effective option that extends die life. We want take the guesswork out of tool design and refurbishment choices. GPMI is all about extending die life and making your

decisions a bit easier. The flowchart below will help you determine what type of tooling is best for your next forging project, and the text that follows will expand on the answer you come to. Our hope is that you will use this as a thought starter, an idea generator, a valuable tool to help your company eliminate wasted time, money and other precious resources on your journey to be the best forging company on the planet.

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EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

Insert Tooling for PartsThat Require a Bender When a forged part is C or U shaped, the preform die requires a bender to shape the part. The bender is located on the left wing of the die block and sticks out above the face of the die (either top or bottom). With this positioning, die refurbishment options that include resinking the die block require the bender to be resunk to its original position from the die face, adding extra time and cost to your process. Using die inserts eliminates the need to resink the bender for several impression restorations. The finisher and blocker are manufactured as inserts while the bender and roller remain on the outer wings of the die block. It’s unnecessary to use a die insert for the bender and roller as the die life is over three times that of a finisher and blocker. The die inserts, which are loaded on a dowel and locked into place in the die block, are easy to swap out which significantly reduces downtime. Benders and rollers are normally resunk at a rate of one If your die is expected to last longer than 30,000 hits, you most likely spend a lot of time repairing or refurbishing the die cavities. The downtime associated with these repairs costs your forging shop unnecessary time and money. Switching to an inserted die approach significantly decreases downtime. Inserts can be made with a material of 38 Rockwell hardness (Rc) to 50 Rc and easily coated for more efficiency. The full die block can be made with a material of 36 Rc to 42 Rc, enabling the use of industry standard tool steels at a more cost-effective price. Using a higher alloyed material for the die inserts helps to increase the die life, thus reducing time spent on changeovers and repairs. Additionally, backup die inserts become less expensive to have on hand, enabling worn dies to be replaced quickly and safely. Processing die inserts requires smaller machines and are easier and safer to handle. The cost for heat treating and coating are also reduced as the prices for each are determined by total weight. Insert Tooling for Shallow Impressions Shallow die impressions of 1.25” or less are great candidates for an inserted die approach. Shallow impression inserts can be made of a harder alloyed material with a Rockwell hardness (Rc) of 46 Rc to 50 Rc to further extend die life. Refurbishment becomes inexpensive, as coating, resinking, and heat treating are all priced based on weight. Switching to or starting with an insert die approach will save your operations time and money. Machining the die block to become a die insert holder gives forgers the freedom to manufacture the full die block in a more cost-effective industry standard tool steel. Additionally, the time it takes to refurbish a worn die block is two times as long as it would to create a new die insert. The machines needed to create die inserts are also smaller with lower burden rates than what would be needed to machine a full die block. to four compared to the finisher and blocker. Insert Tooling for High-Volume Runs

FloodWelding for Deep Impressions When your production run is less than 30,000 pieces, without a bender, and deeper than 1.25” flood welding is a great refurbishment option. Flood welding is a solution to repair and refurbish existing die blocks by scarfing out the impression, filling the space with a welded material, and then resinking the die block. A main advantage of flood welding is that you can use a higher alloyed filler material. Repairing worn forging dies with flood welding has been around since the 1950’s. Advances in technology and in the process have made it a cheaper, quicker and more effective way to extend the life of die blocks. However, the process can still be time consuming in some cases. Therefore, it is recommended to use this approach for medium and low volume runs, meaning you won’t need to do it as often. High volume runs most likely would need a second set for rotation to save process time. Also, it is highly recommended not to flood weld in the same position more than three times. After the third weld and resink, remove a half inch off the die face, scarf the remaining cavities and resink as new. This will keep the original die block from carbon depletion and maintain total block hardness.

This information is fromour whitepaper Tooling Selection for Forging Hammers . Download your free copy at https://geminigroup.net/ tooling-selection-for-forging-hammers/. ■

Terry McInerney Account Manager, Gemini Precision Machining, Inc. Phone: 812-374-2105 Email: tmcinerney@geminigroup.net

David Mills Senior Account Manager, Gemini Group, Inc. Phone: 248-804-4929 Email: dmills@geminigroup.net

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 15

EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

Your Machine Shop as a Path to Vertical Integration By Dean M. Peters

Many forges operate machine shops to accommodate their tooling needs. For some companies, it has become a lucrative growth strategy to take their machining operations beyond their tool rooms, and into rough- or finish-machining, adding value to the products they produce. Some have accepted independent customers for their machining capacity, adding new revenue streams to their operations.

tooling needs, also captively machine product from their production floors, turning intermediate products into finished forgings. Still others, having met all their internal machining needs, have turned their machining capacity into an independent revenue stream. The Vertically Integrated Factory Michael Porter, in his classic 1985 book, "Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance," was the first to describe the concept of a value chain. This concept describes the set of activities performed by a specific factory or other business unit to bring goods and services to market. It is typically applied at the business unit level, not at corporate or divisional levels, and it includes value-added functions such as raw material and finished goods logistics, manufacturing operations, management functions, marketing and sales, and service functions. It reasonably follows that the more investment a business makes in its value chain, the more control it has over its manufacturing destiny. Every factory is part of a value chain, which takes its place in the value-added continuum between a completely raw material and a fully finished product. In support of value chain development is the strategy of vertical integration, which deals more precisely with manufacturing operations. Vertical integration occurs when a company takes control of its operations beyond its core manufacturing competencies. In a challenging and competitive environment, some forges have opted toward a more vertically integrated operation as a long-term growth strategy. Every manufacturer has its core competencies. Any time the manufacturer takes control of downstream (forward integration) and upstream (backward integration) products or services, it becomes more vertically integrated. If it looks upstream, the operation becomes closer to its suppliers; downstream brings it closer to its customers. According to forging consultant Terry Chilson, whose decades- long career in forging has given him considerable insight on this subject, “Forges find value in vertical integration to do as much of their process through to the finished product as possible. When companies control more of their manufacturing process, they not only gain a cost-saving benefit, but also gain more control over the design aspects of their finished product.”

A forged hook is chucked up on a lathe. Image courtesy of The Ulven Companies. The forging industry, like other metalworking sectors, is highly competitive and continually seeks ways to improve its competitiveness and versatility. If metal feedstock can be metaphorically considered the lifeblood of a commercial forge, then the tooling and forming dies used by the industry in its presses and mills, from which billets and preformed workpieces are forged, can be considered the heart of the operation. This article looks at the machining operations characteristic of forge shops. Many forges operate their own machine shops to produce their tooling. If a forge’s product requires coarse or finishmachining, many outsource these services to a commercial machine shop. For some operations, market conditions are such that this is a viable and competitive option. Other shops, in addition to supporting their

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2021 16