Differences Between Forging and Casting: Their Applications, Advantages, and Disadvantages

I. Differences Between Forging and Casting:  

1. Definition:  

   - Forging: A processing method in which metal materials in a plastic state are hammered or pressed to form workpieces of certain shapes and dimensions, thereby altering their physical properties.  

   - Casting: A method of processing molten metal into liquid, pouring it into a mold, and allowing it to cool and solidify to obtain cast parts of the desired shape. It is suitable for producing objects with complex shapes.  

2. Manufacturing Process:  

- Forging: A method that uses forging machinery to apply pressure to metal billets, causing plastic deformation to obtain forgings with specific mechanical properties, shapes, and dimensions. It is one of the two major components of forging and stamping.  

 - Casting: A method of pouring molten metal into a mold cavity matching the shape of the part and allowing it to cool and solidify to obtain the part or rough casting.  

II. Applications of Forging and Casting:

- Forging is generally used for processing parts with specific shapes and dimensions.  

- Casting is an economical method for forming rough castings and is typically used for parts with complex shapes.

III. Advantages and Disadvantages of Forging and Casting:

Advantages of Forging:

- Forging eliminates defects such as porosity formed during the smelting process, refines the microstructure, and preserves the complete metal grain flow. As a result, forgings generally exhibit superior mechanical properties compared to castings of the same material. Critical components in machinery that endure high loads and harsh working conditions are often forgings, except for simpler shapes that can be made from rolled plates, profiles, or welded parts. 

Advantages of Casting:

1. Capable of producing parts with complex shapes, especially those with intricate internal cavities.  

2. Wide applicability, as commonly used industrial metals can be cast, ranging from a few grams to hundreds of tons.  

3. Raw materials are widely available and inexpensive, such as scrap steel, discarded parts, and chips.  

4. The shape and dimensions of castings are very close to those of the final part, reducing the need for machining and enabling near-net-shape processing.  

5. Widely used; castings account for 40%–70% of agricultural machinery and 70%–80% of machine tools by weight.

Disadvantages of Forging:  

- Forging production is prone to accidental injuries.  

Disadvantages of Casting:  

1. Mechanical properties are inferior to forgings, with issues such as coarse microstructure and numerous defects.  

2. In sand casting, small-scale or single-piece production involves high labor intensity.  

3. Casting quality is unstable due to multiple processes and complex influencing factors, leading to various defects.  

Yuanpeng maintain deep, long-term partnerships with the factory around 20 years. The factory has strong mechanical and automated production capabilities which ensure stable quality and performance of the forgings/casting and good consistency.