November 2023 Volume 5

INDUSTRY NEWS

Introducing the FIA Forging Failure Analysis Course By FIA Staff

In the words of Gene Kranz, NASA Flight Director during Apollo 13 mission, “Failure is not an Option”. However, in the Forging Industry Association (FIA) training series, we learn that failure is an option. Failure analysis that is, and the FIA has now supplemented its very popular “Failure Analysis of Metal Problems” with a new course taking a step back in the life cycle of a forging. The new course is titled “Failure Analysis of Forging Problems.” In the fall of 2022, FIA offered an approximately one hour session on the basics of failure analyses, which includes a great overview of the tools used in getting to the root cause of failures. Now in summer of 2023, FIA has added a course to their eLearning platform, Forging University, focused on failures that can occur before the forging is shipped to the end user. As the name implies, the Forging Industry Association in its role to promote and support its members, recognized that the original course (Failure Analysis of Metal Problems) was excellent, but could be supplemented with a forging specific failure analysis course. The goal of this new course was to create a program explaining the issues that can occur with specific examples stemming from the main forging processes: open die forging, closed die forging, and seamless rolled ring forging. The course format takes the enrolled Forging University student through an introduction to forgings. This includes an explanation of the forging process and why the forging process is used. The course transitions toward the failure analysis process and examples with a description of potential issues and whether they are pre-existing (i.e., ingot porosity) or occur during the forging process (i.e., cracking/ tearing).

FIA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2023 52