What is the Difference Between Casting and Forging?

Casting is the process where metal is heated until molten. While in the molten or liquid state it is poured into a mold or vessel to create a desired shape.

Forging is the application of thermal and mechanical energy to steel billets or ingots to cause the material to change shape while in a solid state.

Why use castings?
We use castings for a wide range of machinery parts and components that are complicated, intricate or otherwise unsuitable for the forging process.
We currently cast wear parts to 1000 kg. We have found that by carefully choosing material and applying proven methods of heat treatment, we can produce castings of high quality, strength and wear ability. The casting process better lends itself to making parts where internal cavities are required.

The advantages of casting include:

A. No real upper size limit in casting weight
B.Large range of material choices
C.As forgings remain solid, custom material are far more difficult to get into production
D. Tooling is often less expensive than forge dies
E. Smaller production “runs” required
F.Complicated/complex parts are no problem
G.For general GET as well as large and complex components – casting is a fantastic method of manufacture.

Why use forgings?
Forging offers uniformity of composition and structure. Forging results in metallurgical recapitalization and grain refinement as a result of the thermal cycle and deformation process. This strengthens the resulting steel product particularly in terms of impact and shear strength.
Forged steel is generally stronger and more reliable than castings and plate steel due to the fact that the grain flows of the steel are altered, conforming to the shape of the part.

The advantages of forging include:

A. Generally tougher than alternatives
B.Will handle impact better than castings
C.The nature of forging excludes the occurence of porosity, shrinkage, cavities and cold pour issues.
D. The tight grain structure of forgings making it mechanically strong.
The tight grain structure offers great wear resistance without the need to make products “superhard”.