20th International Forgemasters Meeting - IFM 2017

The biggest challenges for forgemasters are currently the general economic situation and the increasing demands arising from the environmental protection. Thus an efficient process flow with the use of process heat is increasingly indispensable for the economic continuity. One possibility is the combination of forging and quenching, the so-called quenching from forging heat. For more than ten years, this process has been established at BGH for the quenched and tempered steel grades. This method cannot be used for all steel grades as the forging temperature is below the quenching temperature, so it cannot be used for duplex and austenitic stainless steels due to the high solution annealing temperatures. In order to use this procedure for these grades as well, the process has been extended with the possibility of inductive reheating. After forging, it is possible to raise the temperature to a required value to quench the material. This process is significantly faster and more effective than in a standard furnace or batch furnace. This procedure results in several advantages regarding the cost, the environment and the product: e.g. mechanical properties and residual stress. The paper gives an overview of industrial installation of the new plant. Production results of duplex and austenitic grades will be presented as well.