SHEET METAL

WORKING &
FORGING

Arranged by :
Rizqi Alamsyah
11001
STRETCHER-LEVELLING OF SHEET
Sheet is normally supplied flat, that
is to say in a stretched condition.
However, it can become dented or
bent in transit or in storage.

SOLUTION ?
Dents are removed by stretching the
material at the edge of the dent. This
done with hammer blows, working in
a spiral pattern round the dent from
the inside to the outside.
 FLAME STRAIGHTENING
Dents can also be removed by flame
straightening.
Flame straightening is a process technology
with which deformation in welded structures
can be eliminated quickly and without
impairing the material.
The following description focuses on the basic
principle of flame straightening, the
equipment and gases required, and flame
straightening techniques for different
materials.
Video 1
Warped sheet always rest on the shorter
diagonal. By stretching along this line
(hammer-blows) the material is elongated and
the sheet will lie flat again.
Wavy sheet edges can be straightened again
by stretching the material from the edge
towards the middle, if the change of shape is
not too great.
The blows should be light, and the hammer
itself should not be too heavy in order to avoid
renewed stretching.
Stretching sheet metal, particularly large
areas, calls for considerable experience.
On soft materials (brass, light metal), only
wooden mallets or rubberfaced hammers
should be used.
Distorted sheet metal can often be
straightened easily with the aid of stretching
hammers (Figure 9.16).
The hammer head is ground to a diamond
pattern.
The resulting slight points penetrate a small
distance into the metal, relieve stresses and
flatten the material.
Workpieces or materials can also be flattened
in the press, using rough levelling tools.
ROUGH-LEVELLING TOOL
Press machines are also the primary
machine tool used in metal extrusion and
sheet metal fabrication processes.

Hydraulic and mechanical presses are

employed during sheet metal forming to
the extent that sheet metal processes, in
general, are often referred to as press
working.
 REMOVING DENTS FROM VEHICLE BODY
PANELS

Frequently damaged body panels are usually

designed for easy replacement.

This applies particularly to mud guards (front

and rear side panels).

Slight damage can be rectified, although this

needs much experience.
The precautions applicable to the stretching
of sheet metal basically apply here too.

Steel bodies are produced from thin deep-

drawn sheet, which acquires additional
strength in the deepdrawing process.

Dents caused by impact can be pressed out

without difficulty if the sheet has stretched
only slightly.
If the change in shape is too great, however,
each blow applied to the dent will only
magnify it.

The area surrounding the dent should

therefore be stretched if possible.

The dent is often shrunk by flame

straightening.
In many cases the dented area is cut out, a
replacement section welded in and the
surface reworked until it is again acceptable.
Deformed areas can also be cut, straightened
and welded together again.
Video 3
By using dozers (Figure 9.17), body
realignment jigs and frames and hydraulic
compression and tension rams, bodyshells can
be straightened again quickly, easily and
extremely accurately
 FORGING
Materials suitable for forging can be formed,
mostly when hot, by applying heavy blows or
pressure.

The forming process causes a plastic change

to take place in the solid material.
In contrast to workpieces machined from
solid, forgings have a cohesive fibre flow
(Figure 9.18).

Their structure is dense and their strength

correspondingly high, which makes them
suitable for items such as crankshafts and
connecting rods.

Forging is often cheaper than machining.

FORGEABILITY OF
MATERIALS
Metals can only be forged if their plasticity
(elongation) increases when they are heated;
their strength decreases at the same time.
The most important forgeable metals are
steel, aluminium and its alloys, copper, brass
and bronze.
Cast iron cannot be forged, since it does not
become ductile when heated.
The lower the carbon content of steel, the
better it can be forged.
The sulphur content makes the steel brittle
when red-hot and leads to crack formation.
Too high a phosphorus content makes the
steel brittle when cold, so that workpieces
tend to fracture when coldformed.
Sulphur and phosphorus are therefore to be
regarded as harmful components in a forging
steel.
When forging unalloyed steels, comply with
the manufacturer's guidelines.
FORGING STEEL
There are initial and final forging temperature
limits which should always be complied with
(note the manufacturer's recommendations)

If forming takes place within the specified

temperature range, the structure becomes
dense and fine, and the strength is high.

The lower the steel's carbon content, the

higher the forging temperature must be.
If the workpiece is heated beyond the initial
temperature and held at this temperature for
some time, the steel will become overheated.

Overheated steel is coarse-grained and

brittle. The coarse grain can be eliminated by
normalising.

If steel is heated until sparks appear, it is

burnt and must be regarded as permanently
unusable.
Forged workpieces, particularly those of high-
alloy steel, should be allowed to cool as slowly
and uniformly as possible, to avoid internal
stresses.

Each glowing colour corresponds to a different

temperature range, so that the colour of the
workpiece is a good guide to the temperature
it has reached.
SMITHS HEARTH
A hearth is used to heat small workpieces.

A caking sulphur-free coal (smithy peas) or, in

special cases, charcoal which is completely
free from sulphur, should be used as fuel.

Video 4
To heat larger workpieces, closed
forging furnaces heated by gas or oil
are used.