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Steps in the finishing process : contouring, polishing and tribofinishing

There are numerous tasks to be carried out after forging, in order to obtain a finished part. These are the main steps :

Contouring

We use a trimming tool to remove any remaining flash on the rough forging. This is not required on the finished forgings.
We then carry out a contouring operation on the finish-forged parts to avoid creating any defects at the parting lines of the prostheses and to avoid any deformation.

This technique (unlike finishing in a press) enables us to guarantee full compliance of the design of your products. As titanium is a material that has a shape memory, straightening would only mask any defect temporarily.

This contouring makes the polishing operation easier as it leaves only a tiny portion of the parting line to be smoothed out to give a perfect finish to your parts.

Polishing

This is done in 2 steps: intermediate polishing and final polishing.

In the first, any machining marks are polished off.

In the second :

• The surface condition of the prostheses is perfected
• The final visual appearance is achieved

Tribofinishing

Chemical-mechanical polishing or tribofinishing is a process for deburring and refining the surface of metal parts. The parts are placed in a rotating abrasive mixture
in a closed tank.
This treatment gives the required smoothness depending upon the parameters such as polishing time and speed of rotation.
These criteria are precisely defined in the manufacturing process for your parts according to the appearance you want to obtain.

Finishing equipment

• 1 palletised machining centre with pneumatic fixtures
• 1 polishing robot
• 6 manual polishing positions
• 11 tribofinishing tanks and various finishing equipment

Finishing team

6 people.
Contouring is entrusted to the proven know-how of a polisher with many years’ experience.
This person has an excellent knowledge of the requirements of all the steps in the finishing process and works as part of the polishing team.

Polishing is one of the most critical parts of the finishing process. It requires considerable know-how and great precision of movement. Our finish polishers have at least 5 years’ experience.

FORGINAL’S  medical expertise

All forging operations are precisely regulated according to the manufacturing process defined by the process planning department. The recommended process and production tools are tailored specifically to your specifications.

Here is what takes place in a standard forging process :

• Drawing
• Rough forging
• Finish forging
• Hot trimming

Innovation and R&D

FORGINAL medical applies its know-how to innovation and research and development. This commitment has enabled it to develop very high quality results :

• It currently guarantees a thickness tolerance of +/- 0.1 mm.
• This is an initial technological step, which amongst other things enables our customers to substantially limit their machining and improve cost-effectiveness, as the price of the raw material is relatively high.
• What is more, the quality of finish of the parts is among the best on the market as they are inspected dimensionally and visually at every step in their manufacture to ensure an impeccable final product

Equipment

• 3 Montbard power hammers (825 kg, 1,000 kg and 1,250 kg)
• 1 pneumatic hammer and 1 press for drawing
• 3 fully mapped rotary furnaces with temperature traceability during production
• 3 presses, 2 of which are for trimming and 1 for bending
• 1 stainless steel shot-blasting machine and 1 sandblasting machine

Forging team

This is made up of 3 people and one forging manager. The average experience of the staff is 15 years in medical forging.

Tooling department : a company within the company

The tooling department receives CAE drawings from the design office. Based on these, it creates machining programmes for each part of the tools. In fact several tool assemblies are required to make your forged parts :

Tooling Department equipment and production facilities

• 2 HSM (high-speed machining) centres for maximum precision in the manufacture of tooling
• 1 3-axis centre (max. load 700 kg) for the in-house manufacture of custom forging tooling, particularly adapted to small production runs
• 1 FANUC wire erosion machine for all our trimming punches
• 1 3-axis centre for our punch bases, trimmer bases and various minor machining operations
• Various additional turning, milling, piercing and spark erosion machines

Tooling team

This is made up of 7 people. They all have machining qualifications and at least 10 years’ professional experience in this field.

organisation of the overall process and responsible for the individual processes

The process planning department checks the technical data and the feasibility of the parts for forging. It checks the following points in particular :

• The required dimensions and tolerances
• The type of raw material to be used
• The applicable standards (for forging, materials, testing, appearance, etc.)
• The customer’s specifications and requirements

Following this analysis, the department determines the most suitable manufacturing process for your requirements. It specifies the production facilities, the subcontracted operations and the tests to be carried out.

This department is at the very heart of the business so that it can work closely with the company’s operational teams. It is only once they have validated the manufacturing process and the tests on the parts that series production is started. The specialist experience of the process planners ensures that the production processes are optimised.

Process Planning team

The team is made up of 2 technically trained staff who have more than 20 years’ professional experience in metallurgy.

Design office – CAE

FORGINAL medical, your supplier for forgings

The task of the design office is to transform your drawings of finished parts into drawings of as-forged parts.

Each customer part is reproduced in 3D using Solidworks™ in order to incorporate the information needed to manufacture in the forging process. Various technical points are checked at this stage (draft, radii, parting lines, dimensional tolerances, form tolerances, etc.).

After validation by the customer of the forging drawing, the design office designs the various tools required at each stage of the production process. The machining path for the creation of each forging tool is simulated to ensure the best possible appearance after forging.

How is a tool prepared ?

The rules for designing a forging tool are not limited to a single forming cavity. An in-depth study is necessary in order to :

Project manager

The project manager is a member of the CAE team. He/she is responsible for your project from beginning to end, from the design of your part right through to its series production.

CAE team

There are 5 people in the design office.
They are all trained in the use of design and machining software.
They all have technical qualifications and have at least 5 years’ professional experience.

CAE equipment

• In-house data sheets :

These are FORGINAL medical’s in-house rules for designing tools. They are a mixture of traditional forging rules and FORGINAL medical‘s specialist skills, capitalising on knowledge gained from the company’s 35 years’ experience.

• SOLIDWORKS™ software
• MASTERCAM™ software
• FORGE 4™ software

Testing & dispatch | our primary concern : the optimum quality of your prostheses

A rigorous testing system adapated to the critcal nature of your parts

All product batches are tested during their manufacture and prior to dispatch. This testing programme is defined after a risk analysis: according to the end use of the part, the customer’s requirements and feedback from past manufacturing. The testing programme is formalised in a quality assurance plan that is submitted to the customer for validation. Any significant modification of the manufacturing and/or testing process is submitted to the customer for validation.

Testing Department

Numerous tests are carried out on your parts. We adapt them to your specifications. The main tests are listed below.

These are carried out at the various stages in the production process and at the end of the process, prior to delivery. Manual tools (callipers, gauges, profile projectors, etc.) or automatic tools (3D machine) are used for this.

FORGINAL medical has a comprehensive list of approved subcontractors for carrying out additional tests.

All our subcontractors are COFRAC (French accreditation body) accredited. They can carry out tensile testing in accordance with ASTM E8/E8M or ISO 6892-1.
Full traceability is assured, and control of the service provided is guaranteed by the use of precise specifications. Other tests can be carried out on request, according to our customers’ specific requirements (hydrogen content, alpha-case depth, grain flow, etc.)

Dispatch

Testing Department equipment and production facilities

• Mitutoyo Crysta-Apex 3D machine
• Universal hardness testing machine
• Microscope and preparation equipment (cutting sections, mounting, polishing)
• SREM sensitivity level S3 penetrant inspection line for medical products

Testing / Quality team

This is made up of 10 people, 2 of whom are COFREND (French confederation for non-destructive testing) level 2 qualified penetrant inspection and magnetic particle testers. The average experience of the team is over 15 years. The testing team is multi-skilled.