The number of metal-fabricated appliances in our daily lives is massive, including tools, electronic devices, cars, phones, and more. Metal fabrication is a highly complex process with many variations, each suited to a specific goal.
Before exploring each of them, it is essential to explain the basics of metal fabrication and provide an overview of the different metals used in fabrication.
HARD AND SOFT METALS
Metals can be divided into two broad categories – hard and soft metals. Each category has its advantages and issues.
HARD METALS
Hard metals include stainless steel, chrome, steel, Inconel, and titanium. Each is created by adding small amounts of other elements during the smelting process. Molybdenum and chromium produce 4140 steel, which is ideal for aircraft construction. Carbon and manganese produce tough 1018 steel. Both weld easily but are prone to rust if not properly finished.
A combination of nickel and chromium creates 300-series stainless steel. This metal is tough to machine but is ideal for food equipment, medical instruments, and pressure vessels. Unlike carbon steel, it cannot be hardened. Another variation is 17-4 PH. It adds copper, chromium, and nickel to the alloy. This makes it technically stainless steel, with the machinability of a superalloy and the ability to achieve high tensile strength upon heat treatment. It is suitable for nuclear and aerospace industries or any industry that needs high corrosion resistance and strength.
Some materials are for use only in extreme circumstances, such as Inconel. Inconel’s alloy uses over 50% nickel. It is often used for jet engine combustion chambers, gas turbine blades, and nuclear reactors. These uses are due to its excellent performance at a wide range of operating temperatures. Another similar alloy is cobalt chrome. This uses cobalt to create a material with great wear resistance and, surprisingly, biocompatibility with humans. For this reason, cobalt-chrome is used in knee and hip replacements, dental implants, and arterial stents.
The last material on this list is titanium. Titanium is twice as strong as mild steel but weighs only half as much. It is made from aluminum and vanadium. This produces a corrosion-resistant, strong, and biocompatible material suitable for bone screws, plates, pins, and other uses. Its strength-to-weight ratio makes titanium appealing to high-performance vehicle manufacturers and the aerospace industry.
SOFT METALS
Another large category of metals is known as “soft metals.” Although most are not as strong as basic stainless steel, they are valuable in many specific applications. Common soft metals include brass, aluminum, copper, and magnesium.
Aluminum is extremely malleable and soft, making it basically unusable for mechanical purposes. However, it forms an alloy when combined with zinc, copper, magnesium, or silicon. When heat-treated, this material has a wide range of uses. These range from consumer products to airframes and automobiles.
6061 aluminum is combined with silicon and magnesium to create a corrosion-resistant material that welds easily. This is why it is used in many low-fatigue applications, including automotive parts, hydraulic valve bodies, machinery, and marine parts. 7075 aluminum is stronger and harder than 6061, but it is several times more expensive. It is made from copper, zinc, and magnesium. Its applications include wing spars for Boeing aircraft, connecting rods for top fuel dragsters, and components for American firearms.
Magnesium is one of the lightest structural metals, so it is used in laptop and smartphone chassis. It is also found in frames for power tools, seat frames, and automobile transmission cases. A common magnesium alloy combines magnesium with zinc and aluminum. This creates a machinable metal with good damping and easy moldability. It is also easy to manufacture but somewhat more expensive than most aluminum variants.
Brass is one of the most versatile materials here. It offers high resistance to corrosion and weather effects. A good example is C260 cartridge brass, a zinc-copper alloy. It is the most general-purpose material among brass alloys. It has a tensile strength similar to mild steel and can be used to make screws, rivets, and many components with simple modifications.
Copper is quite different from the other metals above, even though it is the main component in brass. Copper is highly conductive, enabling modern electricity. It is difficult to weld, but easy to braze, which is uncommon for metals. Copper is also used in glass-to-metal seals, semiconductor manufacturing, and sometimes as an antimicrobial surface.
Copper is a key ingredient in hundreds of metal alloys, including nickel-copper, tellurium-copper, aluminum alloys, gunmetal, bronze, and steel.
THE DEFINITION OF METAL FABRICATION AND TYPES OF FABRICATED PRODUCTS
As a process, metal fabrication involves creating various metal structures through a range of methods, including manual labor and automation. Facilities that specialize in one specific field of metal fabrication are often called fabrication shops, and the products of said facilities are also often called fabrication. It is also true that some other types of metalworking, such as forging, casting, and metal stamping, are not considered fabrication, even though they can be similar in shape.
The most common raw materials for metal fabrication include sectional metal, welding wire, plate metal, castings, flat metal, fittings, and more. Fabrication shops often employ experts from various fields. These may include blacksmiths, welders, boilermakers, and ironworkers, among others.
That’s not to say that the only people employed in fabrication shops are directly related to the process of metal fabrication – there are also managers, team assemblers, solderers, first-line supervisors, brazers, cutters, welders, etc.
There are three categories of products made using metal fabrication. Each has a different variety of fabrication processes or sometimes just a single process. Here are the three main categories of metal fabrication:
Structural. Mostly covers metal fabrication during construction, providing components for large-scale projects such as buildings, shops, and skyscrapers.
Commercial. As the name suggests, this mostly covers commercial products designed for customer use, such as appliances, cars, or other products.
Industrial. Specializes in creating products that are used as a part of other pieces of equipment – equipment that is used to generate consumer goods, for the most part. Examples of industrial fabrication include ironworking machines and bandsaws.
TYPES OF METAL FABRICATION PROCESSES
Metal fabrication involves many processes used depending on the task, material, and other factors. Here are some common process types:
Сutting
Bonding
Tooling
Folding
Extrusion
Punching
Stamping
Casting
Drawing
Forging
Machining
Shearing
Welding.
Now, let's examine each process, starting with cutting.
CUTTING
Metal fabrication has many processes, but cutting is the most common. The oldest cutting method is sawing. Newer methods use waterjets, lasers, and plasma arcs. Cutting methods also differ: some are manual, while others use power tools or computer control.
There are also some cutting types that are extremely specific in the way the cut is performed. For example, there’s cutting with a die, which cuts off the necessary part of the material. This includes three general types of die cutting: regular, rotary, and flatbed.
While the regular die cutting process has been explained already – it’s using a die to cut metal, simple as that – two of the other examples are not as obvious.
For example, a rotary die uses a cylindrical die that spins in one place to cut specific parts of a material. There is also a flatbed die for tougher, thicker materials. This one uses more force and a flat surface than the other types.
These are not the only ways to cut metal. Laser cutting is a preferred method because it is quick, precise, and does not deform the metal. However, it works best with sheet metal and may struggle with thicker types. For thick metal, plasma cutting is used. It is fast but leaves rougher edges. Sometimes, plasma cutting is the only option for certain thick metals.
Englau Group’s cut-off and grinding discs work excellent in both hard and soft metals. With over 20 years of experience, Englau Group is a leading manufacturer and distributor of abrasives and hardware tools. A good abrasive supplier like Englau Group will stock a range of cutting discs for mild and stainless steel, suitable for bench-mounted drop saws, angle grinders, and air tools. Their products are excellent for all kinds of metal fabrication, with cutting discs and flap discs being particularly well-suited for shaping, finishing, and preparing metal surfaces. Englau Group also offers zirconia flap discs for metal finishing, general-duty diamond blades for masonry cutting, and surface conditioning products for deburring and cleaning, making it a comprehensive abrasive solution provider for diverse industrial applications.
For professional abrasive solutions tailored to both hard and soft metals, contact Englau Group today:
Mr. Eric Lau
The President of Englau Group Co., Limited
Phone Number: 0086-1377-0345-768
E-mail: eric.twintrade@gmail.com.
