PMF Blog

What makes a component ideal for flow forming?

Ken — Tuesday, 2 February 2010 09:01 AM

Have you ever wondered why you would choose flow forming over some other metal forming process? The Farnborough 2008 Special edition of Aircraft Technology featured PMF and flow forming in an article written by Jack Romig that explained the many benefits of flow forming.

The article included a summary of items that answered the question, "What makes a component ideal for flow forming?"

Symmetry around a centreline - cones and cylinders (or a combination).
Final part wall thicknesses between .020 and .200in.
Diameters between 1 and 24in.
Length-to-diameter ratios greater than 2.5 to 1.
Controlled variations in wall thickness, especially where there are heavy bottoms and thinner side walls.
Difficult-to-form materials, including stainless steel, Hastelloy, Inconel, and other heat-resisting alloys.
Requirements for various additional manufacturing processes, including machining, welding, or finishing.
Parts that can benefit from the effects of coldworking on the material- increased strength and wear resistance, harder surfaces.
Tolerances that exceed the capabilities of deep drawing or spinning requiring precision that approaches machined parts.
Parts that can benefit from design changes to optimise the effectiveness of flowforming - without adversely affecting function.
Parts capable of carrying a higher overhead than is incurred with simple stamping, sheet-metal bending, or other basic forming operations.

Read the rest of the article, here (PDF).

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PMF Flow Forms APU for Military Helicopter

Ken — Monday, 1 February 2010 12:24 PM

PMF is currently in the manufacturing phase for a new design of an auxiliary power unit (APU) for a military helicopter. The APU is a small turbine engine that provides the power necessary to start the aircraft's main engines. The APU consists of many sections that are manufactured at the PMF facility, including the combuster case, diffuser and fittings, and final internal brazing and machining to complete the assembly.

To manufacture the APU components, PMF uses a process known as flowforming. Flowforming is a cold metal forming process used to manufacture cylinders, cones, and hollow parts from a plate or forged bar of metal. Over the next eight years, PMF expects to manufacture approximately 500 of these specific APUs using its flowforming processes.

Flowforming provides several benefits over other manufacturing methods. Compared to traditional manufacturing methods, a flowformed part yields less waste and better product performance due to the grain flow of the material. Less waste inherently implies to both material and labor and therefore results in reduced manufacturing cost.

PMF leverages nearly 50 years of industry experience to help you remove preconceived design boundaries and create a project design that meets the form, fit, and function you intended.

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Flow Forming Demo

Ken — Monday, 18 January 2010 11:04 AM

Have you ever wondered how flowforming turns a single preformed metal piece into the final cyclinder or conical shape? Well, wonder no more. Watch our recently updated flowforming simulation now at pmfind.com.

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PMF Wins Oro Award

Ken — Monday, 18 January 2010 11:03 AM

PMF Industries, Inc., recently received the 2009 Oro Award from Sandia National Laboratories. PMF was one of 15 suppliers to receive the award, which recognizes 100% quality and delivery performance.

PMF received the gold level award at the annual Sandia Labs Production Supplier Conference. Sandia Laboratories develops science-based technologies in support of the national security objectives of the United States. The laboratory is operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company.

“This award recognizes our dedicated personnel who share a commitment to quality and customer satisfaction,” said Robert Coppola, Manufacturing Operations Manager at PMF.

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PMF Racing Team Runs into Hard Luck at Susquehanna 500

Ken — Wednesday, 13 January 2010 03:26 PM

Hard Luck was the theme for the PMF team this year. They completed the time trials in a fairly good time even with some carburetor problems, but during the races things really started to go wrong.

During Saturday’s race the carburetor and gas tank came loose and the team could not finish the race. Fred worked on the car Saturday night to prevent carburetor problems from re-occurring.

On Sunday during the Hardship Race, the car stalled and when they tried to restart it the pull cord broke. Although they did not complete a race they tried their best. Congratulations’ on a good effort.

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