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Metal spinning (flowforming) photos -- Click for larger views.
PMF pioneered the development and daily use of computer modeling
of flowform shapes and the analysis of the factors involved
in the flowform process. Utilizing this scientific approach
PMF has been able to push beyond the capabilities of metal spinning to reduce
development, setup and material
costs for its customers.
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Flowforming, also known as flowturning, is an advanced form
of metal spinning. It is based on a predetermined reduction of the
thickness of a starting blank or preform. The reduction
is closely controlled as the metal is spinning, which results in a very uniform
or
precisely varied wall thickness in the finished part.
Animated
demo of metal spinning (flowforming).
The metal spinning (flowforming) process starts with the creation of a preform,
which is engineered to ensure there is exactly the right amount
of metal to spin into the final shape. This takes into
account the varying wall thicknesses and conical tapering.
The metal preform is created using any number of processes including
deep drawing, stamping and press forming.
Once the preform is complete, the metal spinning (flowforming) process can
begin. The preform is spun and pressed against a mandrel to
give it the desired shape. In a manner similar to rolling
dough, the material is "pushed ahead" to allow a
larger finished product to be created from a smaller preform. In this way, flowforming
is an advanced form of metal spinning.
Since metal spinning cannot acomplish all of this, flowforming is an excellent
method for forming stainless
and heat-resistant steels because the ductility and tensile
strength of these materials are ideal for this cold extrusion
process. This process produces parts metal spinning cannot. These part are round
in cross
section, but may be straight-sided cones or cylinders, contoured
shapes, or combinations of the above.
The unique properties of Flowforming make it a better process than metal
spinning and allow for
creative, cost-effective engineering or re-engineering of
your product or part to:
- incorporate separate component parts into a single seamless
piece
- reduce assembly costs by reducing the number of components
- increase tensile strength so you can use less material
- provide design versatility
- 1" to 24" hollow cylindrical, conical or contoured
shapes with accurate, uniform profiles and wall thicknesses
of 0.015" to 0.100" with 0.010 or less tolerance
- thicker bottoms and thinner walls
- thick to thin walls without welding sections together
- wall thickness customized to stress requirements
- produce superior interior finishes without additional
manufacturing steps
- improve metallurgical strength and hardness.
FlowformingPlus
By skillfully
combining flowforming with its other Family
of Processes, PMF makes it possible for its customers
to achieve their design requirements with minimum compromise.
That's FlowformingPlus.
See the Benefits
of using flowforming for manufacturing parts or assemblies.
PMF Case
Studies also show real world examples of how flowforming
and PMF ingenuity provide manufacturing solutions.
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Processes 
