Here at Grob, we use our Grob Cold Rolling Process to create cold-formed aerospace products. Our Grob Cold Rolling Process is a type of cold forming that shapes unheated metal by forcing it between sets of rollers. Through this process, manufacturers can transform the metal into different profiles and shapes. Our products can range from many profiled shapes, common applications include splines, gears, and pulleys.
Because the metal doesn’t undergo heating, it has more strength, durability, toughness, and hardness compared to other processes. It also has a smoother surface finish, and the finished parts have a much more reliable dimensional accuracy. These characteristics make cold-formed products especially valuable in the aerospace industry, which necessitates components that comply with strict measurement, weight, and strength requirements. Learn more about common uses of cold-formed products throughout aerospace assemblies and why this manufacturing method is preferred across the industry.
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Aerospace Cold-Formed Products
Cold-formed metal products offer a high degree of dimensional accuracy and internal strength, making them the ideal choice for producing parts like the following:
- Spline Shafts used in aircraft interiors and mechanical assemblies like pumps and landing gears, which require an excellent strength-to-weight ratio
- Gears for engine components, aircraft loading gears and unloading devices
- Profiled Shapes for engine components, which need to be built within precise measurements and stay rigid in extreme operating conditions
Types of Materials Used in Aerospace Cold Forming
The aerospace industry relies on a wide range of different metals and alloys to form different components. Some of the most popular materials used in cold forming are:
- Aluminum Alloys: Manufacturers often use aluminum alloys for producing wings and fuselage components due to their fatigue resistance and strength.
- Stainless Steel Alloys: Stainless steel is an incredibly versatile material. Manufacturers use it for components throughout aerospace assemblies.
- Inconel: This metal is resistant to corrosion and offers a very high strength-to-density ratio. Manufacturers often use it for spacecraft assemblies.
Benefits of Cold Forming Aerospace Parts
Cold forming imbues metal with specific characteristics that make it more useful in precision applications. Some of the most valuable benefits of cold-rolled metals include the following:
Improved Strength and Durability
When metal is cold rolled, it becomes increasingly hard and tough. This makes the material more durable and capable of withstanding adverse environmental conditions and allows for parts to be designed smaller and lighter.
Enhanced Dimensional Accuracy
Aerospace components are becoming increasingly complex. As a result, they need to fall within increasingly strict size and dimensionality requirements—ideally without expensive machining, finishing, and reshaping processes. Cold forming processes allow manufacturers to control the size, shape, and thickness of metal parts more easily, reducing the risk of error or imprecise parts.
Cost and Time Efficiency
Cutting processes require additional operations or heat treatment to the final part. By comparison, our Grob Cold Rolling Process is much faster and less complex. It can also make production more cost-effective due to the following factors:
- Production takes less time, making them more efficient.
- The process uses less material.
- There is no material waste.
- Parts can be designed smaller due to the added strength.
- The production process doesn’t need to include extra grinding, machining, or polishing stages.
Material Savings and Waste Reduction
Cold forming produces parts with less material and no waste. There is no need to remove large amounts of material because there is exactly the shape that is required. Cold forming presses the material into the shape that is required rather than cutting or grinding it away. That allows for less material to be used saving on raw material costs.
Design Flexibility
Cold forming allows for more versatile designs and smaller components . As a result, manufacturers and product designers can build more specialized and innovative components that push forward more developments in the industry. Cold forming also increases the positive mechanical characteristics of metal, allowing them to accommodate more experimental engineering processes.
Cold-Formed Aerospace Products by Grob Inc.
Grob Inc. specializes in high-quality metalworking processes, including cold forming and cold forging. Our team of engineering and manufacturing experts produces a wide range of cold-forming products for the aerospace industry and other markets. Contact us today to learn more about our capabilities for producing standard or custom parts, or request a quote to start your next order.