Forging technology has a wide range of applications in the aeronautical industry, mainly used to manufacture key components bearing alternating and concentrated loads in aircraft. for example, it is used to manufacture main bearing parts such as airframe structure, engine rotating parts, and landing gear. The quality of parts made of forgings accounts for about 20%~35% of the total mass of airframe structure and 30%~45% of the total mass of engine structure. It is one of the important factors that determine the performance, reliability, life, and economy of airplanes and engines.
Application of Forgings in Aircraft Body Structure
Forgings are widely used in aircraft bodies, such as engine frames, door frames, body load-bearing frame beams, wing frame beams, joints, and other parts. The specific distribution is shown in Figure 1. Among them, the body load-bearing frame beam, wing frame beam, joint, and other parts are mainly die forgings manufactured by die forging, and the materials are mainly titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, and structural steel. At present, the forgings of aircraft body structure are characterized by a complex structure, large projection area, and difficult forming. In recent years, more and more new materials have been used, and the requirements for their structure, fracture toughness, and fatigue strength have been raised.
Application of Forgings in Landing Gear
The landing gear is a vital part of both military and civil aircraft. During frequent takeoffs and landings, the aircraft landing gear is subjected to large impact loads. Therefore, the structure and performance of forgings are required to be higher, and the metallurgical process and forging process of structural materials need to be strictly controlled.
The aircraft landing gear is mainly produced by die forging, which has the characteristics of large size, complex structure, and large projection area. The material is mainly made of high-strength structural steel and high-strength and high-toughness titanium alloy, which has high deformation resistance during processing. There are high requirements on the structure uniformity, impact resistance, and fatigue resistance of forgings.
Application of Forgings in Key Engine Parts
The key parts of compressor disc, turbine disc, spacer, sealing ring, integral blade disc, dual-performance disc, turbine shaft, and fan shaft on aircraft engine are all prepared by forging technology.
The forgings for aero-engine are mainly made of superalloys (powder superalloys), titanium alloys, and steel, and their comprehensive properties (high temperature and normal temperature mechanical properties) and microstructure homogeneity are required. The main features of these forgings machining processes are high resistance to material deformation and difficult process control.
