Types of Metal Manufacturing Processes

From Start to Finish

 October 31, 2016

 McHone Industries, Inc.

 Comments Off

You want your supply chain to be as short and sweet as possible. That means you need
to know exactly which metal manufacturing processes to plan for.

Here are the basics of each process and their approximate location in the supply chain.

Types of Metal
Manufacturing
Processes: Production
1. CASTING
Depending on the metal and its purpose, the metal may simply be melted down and
molded to shape. This process is known as casting.
Casting is best for small or intricate parts. Casting SHOULD NOT be used for
products that require high strength, high ductility, or tight tolerances.
Dies, jewelry, plaques, and machine components all benefit from this simple production
process.

2. POWDER PROCESSING
Powder processing treats powdered metals with pressure (pressing) and heat
(sintering) to form different shapes. Powdered metallurgy is known for its precision and
output quality -- it keeps tight tolerances and often requires no secondary fabrications.

However, it's incredibly costly and generally only used for small, complex parts. Powder
processing is NOT appropriate for high-strength applications.

3. FORMING
Metal forming takes a raw metal (usually in sheet metal form) and mechanically
manipulates it into a desired shape. Unlike casting, metal forming allows for higher
strength, ductility, and workability for additional fabrications.
This video shows metal tube forming in action:

Metal Manufacturing
Processes: Fabrication
1. DEFORMATION
Deformation includes bending, rolling, forging, and drawing.
Related: Design Tips for Tube Bending
2. MACHINING
Machining refers to any fabrication method that removes a section of the metal.
Machining is also known as material removal processing. Cutting, shearing,
punching, and stamping are all common types of machining fabrication.
When planning for machining in your supply chain, hardening processes should happen
AFTER machining processes. Hardened metals have a high shear strength and are
more difficult to cut.

Related: How to Reduce Metal Stamping Costs

3. JOINING
Joining, or assembly, is one of the last steps of the metal manufacturing process. This
category includes welding, brazing, bolting, and adhesives. Assembly can be done by
machine or by hand.

Related: Best Types of Steel for Welding

4. FINISHING
Depending on your material and application, you may also need finishing
services. Finishing includes everything from galvanization to powder coating, and can
take place throughout the manufacturing process.
 Metal Manufacturing Processes
Casting Processes: Metal casting processes involve pouring molten metal into a mold cavity
where, once solid, the metal take on the shape of the cavity. They can be divided into two
categories based on the type of mold:

Expendable Mold Casting: where the mold must be destroyed in order to

remove the part
Permanent Mold Casting: for which the mold is fabricated out of a ductile
material and can be used repeatedly.
Powder Metallurgy: In powder metallurgy a metal powder is compacted into
the desired shape and heated to cause the particles to bond into a rigid mass.

Deformation Processes: Deformation processes include metal forming and sheet

metalworking processes. These processes use plastic deformation resulting from the
use of a tool that applies stresses to the piece which exceed the yield stress of the
metal. There are two types of deformation processes:

Bulk Processes: Bulk deformation processes are characterized by large

deformations and shape changes and by the fact that the surface area to volume
ratio is relatively small. Bulk processes include rolling, forging, extrusion and
wire and bar drawing.
Sheet Metalworking: Sheet metalworking processes are performed on metal
sheets, strips and coils having a high surface area to volume ratio. These
operations use a punch and die to form the workpiece. Bending, drawing and
shearing are types of sheet metalworking processes.

Material Removal Processes: These processes remove extra material from the
workpiece in order to achieve the desired shape and include:

Machining Operations: These are cutting operations using cutting tools that
are harder than the metal of the product. They include turning, drilling, milling,
shaping, planing, broaching and sawing.
Abrasive Machining: In these methods material is removed by abrasive
particles that normally form a bonded wheel. Grinding, honing and lapping are
included in this category.
Nontraditional Processes: These methods use lasers, electron beams, chemical
 erosion, electric discharge and electrochemical energy instead of traditional
cutting and grinding tools.

Joining and Assembly Processes: In these operations multiple parts are connected
either permanently or semipermanently to form a new entity.