Giant Forging Presses America’s Biggest Tools

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27669, 27 May 1955, Page 10

Giant Forging Presses America’s Biggest Tools

[U.S. Information Service}

k x , WASHINGTON. At the press of a button in the Wyman-Gordon Company’s plant at North Grafton, Massachusetts, recently, the jaws of a giant hydraulic forging press clamped shut with a bite of 35,000 tons of pressure. A few seconds later out popped the largest aluminum forging ever made in the United States, inaugurating the first production under the Air Force’s 279,000,000 dollar heavy press programme. A few weeks later, two more forging presses—one of 50,000 tons and another of 35,000 tons—started squeezing out parts at the Cleveland works of the Aluminum Company of America. Another 50,000-ton forging press is scheduled to start operating at the WymanGordon plant in Jtme. A fifth forging press, with 20,000-ton capacity, is going unassembled into storage. In addition, five smaller extruder presses are in production or will be before the year ends. They are Curtiss-Wright Aircraft’s 12,000-ton extruder at its Buffalo plant; Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical’s two 8000ton extrusion presses, which are scheduled to start producing in May and July at its Halethorpe, Maryland, works; and Harvey Machine Company’s 12,000-ton and 8000-ton extrusion presses, which are expected to begin operations in October at the company’s plant at Torrance, California.

The first aluminum forgings by the 35,000-ton forging press at North Grafton were 12ft long aluminum wing spars for the Air Force’s new Convair F-102. a delta wing, supersonic, all-weather interceptor plane. They heralded a wave of aircraft spars, bulkheads, wing sub-assemblies, and other airframe parts that will be larger,, stronger and cheaper than any before produced. Civilian Products Within a year or so, the first trickle of civilian products, such as lightweight train parts, bus and truck frames and flooring, and other civilian products will start coming from these new presses, which are America’s biggest tools. The huge machines are available to maintain or increase the Air Force’s striking powet. In the civilian economy, the presses are expected to produce aluminum forgings better and cheaper than is now possible. Although the Air Force’s big forging presses are more than twice as large as any closed-die forging presses operated in the United States previously, aluminum companies, such as the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), Wyman-Gordon Company, Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation and others, have had nearly a decade of experience with smaller forging presses. It was the Germans who pioneered development of big presses by building several, during World War 11. In 1946, the Soviet Union removed from Germany a 33,000-ton forging press and a 13.200-ton extrusion press, ajoug . with P lans and men to build a 55.000-ton forging press. The United States also confiscated as war reparations several German presses, including two 16,500-ton-capacity forging units.

In addition to the German-built presses, American companies have been using American-built presses, such as the 18,000-ton press that Wyman-Gordon has been operating since 1946. These presses have been used to turn out automobile, truck and bus wheels and similar civilian products. Typical of the aircraft parts to be turned, out on the new Air Force forging presses is a wing support bulkhead for one of the new Lockheed heavy bombets. The bulkhead is 25 inches wide and nine feet long, and formerly was made from two separate forgings that had to be bolted together, adding to weight and increasing costs. Within a few months, wing assemblies for one of America’s new fighterbomber planes, the Republic F-105, will be made on these new presses. The expense, time and effort wasted by forming this wing assembly from 18 separate pieces of machined aluminum will be avoided.

What does this mean in savings? Noone will really be sure, say the press operators, until the machines actually get into full production. But Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s Mr Charles Marschner, manager of production engineering at the firm’s Marietta, Georgia, plant estimates a dollar saving of from 5 to 10 per cent, on the heavy bomber part, along with a weight saving of from 5 to 8 per cent.

‘‘Within five years,” he says, “we should be able 1 to shave 35 per cent, from the costs of machining a part throughout, and 20 per cent, over the present costs of forging small parts and then joining them together.” One firm has 100 aft fuselage bulkheads and stabiliser parts ordered for jet bombers. The only way these parts could have been made in the past was by machining them out of solid pieces of aluminum at a total cost of 62,C00 dollars or 620 dollars each. On a L5,000-ton press, the price will oe cut to about 500 dpllars each, a 20 per cent, saving. The greater pressures in the new Air Force presses also cut machining costs. One typical part recently turned out on Alcoa’s 14,000-ton press weighed 3001 b after being forged, while its finished weight specification was 2001 b. It cost 1000 dollars to machine off the surplus 1001 b.

On the new higher precision and higher pressure presses, this same part will weigh 2251 b after being forged. Machining costs will be reduced to only 250 dollars, a 75-per cent, saving. Aircraft designers say they have been preparing for completion of the new presses for the last two years. For instance, Republic Aviation Corporation’s new F-'IOS fighter-bomber was designed around the big press programme. says Mr James S. Martin, chief of the firm’s structures research department. Other aircraft shortly to be equipped with big press-made parts are Republic s F-84 Thunder jet (air frames). North American’s F-86 Sabrejet and F-100 Super Sabrejet (air frames), Lockheed’s C-130 Tanker (spars and firewall assembly). Chance Vought’s X-F7U Cutlass (Wing fitting), Douglas’ SS'ZoJW 1 ? structure), and Boeing’s KC-135 jet tanker (wing structure).