The advantages and disadvantages of forged flanges are listed below as follows:
Advantages:
Superior mechanical properties: the mechanical properties of forged flanges are the best among all flange products. Through the forging process, the metal is better streamlined and the organisation is denser, which improves the strength and toughness of the flange.
Excellent material: forged flanges generally use pipe billet as raw material, and after forging, its carbon content is lower and not easy to rust.
Good pressure and temperature resistance: due to the superior mechanical properties of forged flanges, it is especially suitable for high pressure and high temperature working environment.
Uniform internal organisation: there are no harmful defects such as porosity, cracks, inclusions and so on inside the forged flange, which ensures its reliability and stability in the process of use.
Disadvantages:
Higher cost: due to the complexity of the production process of forged flange and the high requirements on raw materials and forging process, its cost is relatively high.
Difficulty of forging process: If the forging process is not proper, there may be phenomena such as large or uneven grain size, hardened cracks, etc., which will affect the quality and performance of the flanges.
Long production cycle: compared with other types of flanges such as casting flanges, the production cycle of forged flanges may be longer, because it needs to go through many procedures of fine processing.
In summary, forged flanges have significant advantages in specific application scenarios due to their superior mechanical properties and good pressure and temperature resistance, but they also face the challenges of high cost and long production cycle. When choosing whether or not to use forged flanges, it is necessary to comprehensively consider their advantages and disadvantages as well as specific application requirements.