| Abstract Scope |
Forging is one of the major manufacturing processes which makes a critical contribution to transportation, aerospace, energy, medical, and countless other sectors. There are different types of forging equipment and processes available and materials such as steel, aluminum can be easily forged. In high productivity, most forging operations use starting blocks and metal-forming dies. A preform is a piece of stock that resembles the final required shape of the forged part and is manufactured in conjunction with the forging process. Robotic wire-fed additive manufacturing has the potential to improve the forging process by fabricating the preform and dies. A case study was performed to analyze the differences between machining and Robotic wire-fed additive manufacturing of forging dies in terms of energy and cost parameters. In addition, a preform was also designed and fabricated using Robootic DED. A medium carbon low alloy steel was selected for this study. The results show significant cost savings can be considered if the wire-fed Robotic deposition technology is implemented. |