Cold-Headed Parts—a New Take on an Old Process
Posted by: Admin | Date: 29-12-2015
A common question we often come across is what is the difference between cold-headed parts and screw machining. Cold heading can offer significant savings, particularly when you are producing minimum quantities of 25,000 or more, so it's a good idea to understand the difference and evaluate whether cold-headed parts are a good option for your manufacturing needs.
Cold heading is also sometimes referred to as cold forming. It's certainly not new technology. In fact, it's been around for more than 150 years. Basically, the process involves cutting off a slug of wire and pushing it into a die. The protruding end of the wire is then positioned in an outward direction. This is known as heading. When a part comes off a cold header, it's typically either complete or at least almost finished, with very little scrap generated. Compared to screw machining, cold heading offers tremendous savings, simply due to the fact that it's possible to generate such massive raw material savings. In fact, it's not uncommon to achieve up to 70 percent material savings. That alone can be enough of a reason to consider cold heading over screw machining.
Thanks to the higher speed process involved in cold heading, even greater savings can be achieved due to the sheer amount of time that is shaved off the process. Speeds for this process typically range between 50 pieces and 300 pieces per minute.
It's also possible to improve product performance using this process. One of the problems with screw machining is that the grain flow is interrupted. Since the grain structure is rearranged with the cold heading process, strength performance is increased. Additionally, cold heading offers a higher quality more consistently. Many times, this can virtually eliminate the need for secondary finishing, resulting in even greater savings.
Practically any of the commercial metals can be used for cold-headed parts, including aluminum, copper, brass, alloy steels, carbon steels, and bronze. If you're looking for cold-headed parts, it's important to consider a number of factors, including the amount of yield-to-tensile strength ratio. The greater this ratio, the more you will be able to put in cold work prior to the part experiencing a fracture.
