Generally speaking, the processing cost of forging is relatively higher, mainly for the following reasons:
Equipment and mold
Forging: Forging requires the use of large forging equipment, such as air hammers, friction presses, hydraulic presses and more. These equipment are expensive to purchase, and the daily maintenance and operation energy consumption are also high. At the same time, the forging mold is under great pressure, and the strength, toughness and wear resistance of the material are extremely high. The manufacturing process is complex, resulting in high manufacturing costs and relatively short service life of the mold. It needs to be replaced regularly, which increases long-term costs.
Casting: Casting equipment such as furnaces and sand boxes are relatively simple and low in price. The structure of the casting mold is relatively simple. For some castings with low precision requirements, even simple molds such as wooden molds can be used, which is more cost-effective. Moreover, the service life of the casting mold is usually longer and the replacement frequency is lower.
Material utilization
Forging: Forging is formed by plastic deformation of metal billets. A lot of waste will be generated in the process, and the material utilization rate is usually around 70% – 85%. Some forgings with complex shapes require a large processing allowance to ensure forging quality and performance, which further reduces the material utilization rate.
Casting: Casting is the process of pouring liquid metal into a mold to form it, which can accurately replicate the shape of the mold and theoretically achieve a material utilization rate close to 100%. In actual production, although there will be some waste such as gates and risers, the overall material utilization rate is high, generally reaching 80% – 95%.
Labor cost
Forging: The forging process requires skilled technical workers to operate the equipment and control parameters such as forging temperature, pressure, and forging ratio to ensure the quality of the forgings. Moreover, forging work is labor-intensive, the working environment is relatively harsh, and the workers’ skill level and physical fitness are required to be high, so the labor cost is high.
Casting: The casting production process is relatively complex, involving multiple links, such as molding, core making, smelting, pouring and more, but most of the links can be completed by mechanized or automated equipment, with relatively little reliance on labor and relatively low labor costs.
However, the above comparison is only a general situation. In actual production, the specific processing cost will also be affected by many factors such as the complexity of the parts, production batch, and material type. For example, for some high-precision, complex-shaped castings, precision casting technology may be required, and the mold cost and processing difficulty will increase significantly, and the cost may exceed that of simple-shaped forgings. Of course, professional foundries will tell you what kind of metal processing technology your custom metal parts require before making samples, so don’t worry about this. Different processing technologies need to match suitable metal processing parts. If you need large quantities of metal casting or forging. You can choose Mulan Metal. Mulan Metal has 12 years of experience in metal forming, serving customers in more than 30 countries, with complete certificates, and can meet the needs of customers in different countries.
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