Open Die Forging & Closed Die Forging

High Performance and Resilience

Aluminum forged products can be found on numerous high-end and race-certified vehicles, whether its 2-wheeled or 4-wheeled. MotoGP, WSBK, Formula 1, WRC, IndyCar Series, nearly every single international motorsport racing has implemented forged aluminum alloy on their vehicles. Therefore, these examples show how crucial and necessary forged aluminum parts are in reducing weight while still keeping integrity.

Why So Great in Quality?

Forged aluminum parts are robust, light- weight, and own great aesthetics, but what made it so magnificent?

Forging metal provides a unified form of the structure, since it’s hammered and/ or pressed into a mass smaller than its original form, Once forged, the metal forms an equally distributed and tightened grain structure, thus increasing hardness, reduces wear, free of porosity, eliminates shrinkage, and handles impact way better than casting.

Thanks to the natural lighter mass aluminum, it has only one- third the weight of steel, therefore parts can be made thicker yet still reducing a considerable amount of weight.

Aluminum Forging 101

Open Die Forging

As the name suggests, an open die forging process does not enclose the aluminum workpiece (a billet). While shaping it, heated, amongst a top die installed to the upper ram of the forging machine, and a bottom die on the lower part of the machine. The billet is worked at around 300~500℃, and progressively shaped into the desired build through precise hammering or pressing of the billet.

Closed Die Forging

Closed die forging is whenever the upper ram descends on the lower hammer, the top and bottom die meets, and they fully “close up” the metal while being forged.

Difference Between Open Die Forging and Closed Die Forging

While closed die forging encloses the workpiece in the dies, open die forging is identified by the fact that the workpiece is never fully covered during the forging process.

Both open die forging and closed die forging have their own pros and cons, open die forging is more suitable for larger, more simple pieces of product, while closed die forging is more adequate for products that are more refined and smaller in size.