Cold working

In metallurgy, cold forming or cold working is any metalworking process in which metal is shaped below its recrystallization temperature, usually at the ambient temperature. Such processes are contrasted with hot working techniques like hot rolling, forging, welding, etc. The same or similar terms are used in glassmaking for the equivalents; for example cut glass is made by "cold work", cutting or grinding a formed object. Cold forming techniques are usually classified into four major groups: squeezing, bending, drawing, and shearing. They generally have the advantage of being simpler to carry out than hot working techniques. Unlike hot working, cold working causes the crystal grains and inclusions to distort following the flow of the metal; which may cause work hardening and anisotropic material properties. Work hardening makes the metal harder, stiffer, and stronger, but less plastic, and may cause cracks of the piece. The possible uses of cold forming are extremely varied, including large flat sheets, complex folded shapes, metal tubes, screw heads and threads, riveted joints, and much more. The following is a list of cold forming processes: Squeezing: Rolling Swaging Extrusion Forging Sizing Riveting Staking Coining Peening Burnishing Heading Hubbing Thread rolling Bending: Angle bending Roll bending Draw and compression Roll forming Seaming Flanging Straightening Shearing Sheet metal shear-cutting Slitting Blanking Piercing Lancing Perforating Notching Nibbling Shaving Trimming Cutoff Dinking Drawing Wire drawing Tube drawing Metal spinning Embossing Stretch forming Sheet metal drawing Ironing Superplastic forming Advantages of cold working over hot working include: No heating required Better surface finish Superior dimensional control Better reproducibility and interchangeability Directional properties can be imparted into the metal Contamination problems are minimized Depending on the material and extent of deformation, the increase in strength due to work hardening may be comparable to that of heat treating.

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