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Cold Working Of Metals; Advantages And Disadvantages

Metal forming is a very important aspect of metal part manufacturing in the industry. There are various kinds of metal forming processes available in modern manufacturing. Temperature is also a very important parameter in metal forming operations. In terms of temperature, metal forming operations are accomplished both in elevated temperatures and in-room temperature. 

Here you can find information about the cold working of metals and the advantages and disadvantages of cold working of metals. 

Why Cold Working?

Cold worked sheet metal parts(Image Source: www.americanmachinist.com/webinars/webinar/21133107/sheet-metal-forming-quickly-produce-tools-inhouse-with-3d-printing).

As we stated above, cold working of metal parts is accomplished at room temperature. Metals are deformed to obtain required shapes in cold environments. The cold working of metals has very important advantages. 

The most important advantage of cold working is no requirement of heating equipment and heat energy to increase the temperature of the metal. This is a very profitable side of the cold working of metals over hot working techniques. 

Because there is no change in the dimensions with the increasing temperature, better surface characteristics, and better dimensional tolerances can be achieved.

When the metal parts are deformed at high temperatures, intended mechanical properties can be obtained in intended directions because of the grain flow. 

Higher-strength is obtained because of the strain-hardening phenomena over the cold deformation of metal parts. 

As you understand that, no additional machining operations are generally required after the cold working of metals. This is another cost-effective advantage of the cold working of metals. 

Because of these advantages, cold working of certain metals and certain products are very common in the industry.

Disadvantages Of The Cold Working Processes

Like other manufacturing processes, cold working of metals has also important disadvantages compared with hot working or warm working. So, these disadvantages must be considered. 

The main disadvantage of the cold working processes is the ductility of the metal is limited because of the strain-hardening. After a limit, plastic deformation is unambiguous. This fact limits the shaping of the metal with cold working processes.

Because of the decreased ductility and increased strain hardening effects compared with the warm and hot working, much more forces and pressures are required to obtain the required shape, which is the downside of cold working processes in terms of the process cost. 

Special care must be taken to ensure the cleanliness of the surfaces of the cold-worked metals. This is additional labor to cleanse the starting metal before the cold working process.

Because of these disadvantages of the cold working of metals, hot working or warm working alternatives can be considered. 

Conclusion

These are the general expression of the cold working of metal parts. 

Do not forget to leave your comments and questions below about the cold working of metal parts in manufacturing.

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