Advantages of Impact Extrusion

Impact Extrusion is Fast

The exact speed depends upon the size of the parts and the nature of the equipment producing them. Production rates of up to 4000 pieces per hour have been achieved with automatic feeding equipment. However, when the parts are large and complicated, low production rates may be economically justified.

Impact Extrusion is Economical

Labor and metal savings alone are tremendous when compared to casting and machining. The aluminum slug from which the impact is formed may be so accurately sized that no metal need be trimmed from the competed impact.  in may cases the cost of a finished impact is less than the cost of the bar stock from which it might have been machined.

Impact Extrusions Are Tough

The impacted part is a fully wrought, dense, and porous-free structure. Grain alignment is highly uniform, imparting maximum strength and toughness. This metallurgical condition cannot be secured by casting or by machining a wrought bar.

Impact Extrusion Eliminates Machining

Impacts can replace  machined components directly in many designs. In many others impacts are used to reduce machining costs. When stress calls for a wrought aluminum part, excess metal and machine time may be reduced by providing the machinist with an impacted blank.

Impact Extrusions are Clean

There is no flash to be machined and no sand to be removed. There is no scale and there are no parting lines. Finishing is usually unnecessary. Typically, impact extrusions are made of alloy 1100 come out of the press with interior surfaces ranging from 16 to 32 micro inch and exterior surfaces ranging from 32 to 63 micro inch. Impacts have zero draft angles.

Impacts Simplify Assembly

They may be used to replace riveted and welded assemblies with may attending benefits such as increased strength, increased fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance, reduced weight, and eliminated finishing costs. They also provide greater piece to piece uniformity and the elimination or reduction of final assembly costs

Impact Tolerances Are Tight

Walls of parts made from alloy 1100 and with less than .250 inch thickness can be held to better than +/- 10% of the wall thickness. Thicker walls, ranging upward to 1 inch can be held to better than +/- 7 % of the thickness.  Ovality for straight walls in F-temper can be held to within .001 inch per inch of diameter when the outside diameter to wall ratio is less than 15.

Impacts are everywhere

Impacts may be found in hydraulics systems, internal combustion engines, electric motors, pneumatic tools, heat exchangers, textile machinery, atomic reactors, mechanical power transmissions, firearms, computers, submarines, satellites, planes automobiles, jet engines ...wherever strong and precision lightweight aluminum parts are needed.

Impact Extrusions Are Versatile

Removed from the press, the impact may be treated exactly like any other piece of material. It may be machined, ground, soldered, welded, brazed, bent, plated or anodized.

Impact Extrusions Are Strong

The non- heat treatable alloys are work hardened by impacting. The heat treatable alloys can  be heat treated in normal fashion after impacting. Some of the heat treatable alloys, including a number in the 6 and 7 thousand series, are brought to 60% of their maximum heat treated and aged properties by impacting alone.