Renewable energy: producing key components to fight climate change

The accelerated adoption of renewable energy plays a key role in the fight against climate change. As part of this effort, multiple clean, sustainable energy sources rely on essential forged turbine components to reduce emissions from burning fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.

Whether it is wind, hydro, tidal, wave, current, geothermal or biomass energy, the energy conversion process often requires the use of turbines.

According to Jeff Klein, director of sales at All Metals & Forge Group (AM&FG), turbines, in turn, use components such as shafts, gears and seamless rolled rings to capture, transmit and amplify the mechanical motion necessary to produce energy. ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100D manufacturer of custom and standard open die forged parts and seamless rolled rings.

“Each of these forged components plays a critical role in the overall efficiency and reliability of the energy conversion process,” Klein said.

Drop forged parts and seamless rolled rings are used because they have excellent properties and can withstand the harsh environmental conditions and stresses encountered in these conditions. Other factors may include exposure to high temperatures, salt water, and any abrasive materials found in the air or water, such as sand, dust, or dirt particles.

As the global community seeks to use more alternative energy, it will be necessary to increase the use of highly reliable and durable forged components. Until recently, many of these key forged components could take a year or longer to purchase due to shortages and supply chain bottlenecks that could threaten the viability of a renewable energy project.

Today, leading forged parts manufacturers have streamlined this process to less than two months for a wide range of durable, custom forged components, helping you speed up your project and reduce overall costs. The company produces a wide range of forged products that include rings, discs, hubs, blocks, shafts (including stepped or flanged shafts), bushings, gear blanks, cylinders, flats, hexagons, rounds, plates and custom shapes.

Materials used for forging include carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless steel, nickel, titanium and aluminum. These forgings meet stringent industry specifications such as ASTM, AMS, AISI, ASME, SAE, GE, DIN, ASME B 16.5, ASME B16.47 and API 6A.

Essential forged components for renewable energy

Converting energy into electricity often involves a similar grouping of forged parts. Turbines typically consist of several key components, including blades or blades that capture energy from moving wind or water, a forged rotor shaft to transmit the rotational motion, and forged gears that increase rotational speed when needed.

Other custom forged shapes such as drive shafts, step shafts, flanges and flange shafts for turbine parts, as well as structural components may also be required.

To withstand the harsh conditions in which they are used, die forgings and seamless rolled rings are known for their strength and durability and are less susceptible to cracking or warping, which is ideal for critical components requiring high tensile strength.

“Depending on the metal and alloy, forged parts and rings are also resistant to thermal and chemical damage, which further extends service life while reducing the need for maintenance, repairs and replacement,” Klein said.

Drop forging is ideal for producing large, custom parts. For example, AM&FG can produce seamless rolled or profile rolled rings up to 200 inches in outside diameter and custom forgings up to 40 feet in length or 80,000 pounds.

The company, which has been producing and selling open die forgings and seamless rolled rings for over 50 years, can also produce forgings for drive and guide ends and large cylinders with diameters corresponding to the sizes required in the energy industry.

Although open die forging is typically associated with larger, simpler parts such as bars or blanks, the process allows the creation of “custom” metal components.

Dieless forging facilitates the production of seamless rolled rings and other components to exact specifications, with optimized mechanical properties and structural integrity. Rings can be produced in a variety of alloys, sizes and shapes to suit your requirements.

Increasing renewable energy production

As demand for renewable energy grows around the world, there is an increasing demand for new power generation turbines constructed from forged components such as rings, shafts and gears, as well as replacement parts for turbines already in use.

While purchasing the required components often takes a long time, ranging from 20 weeks to up to a year, AM&FG has its own manufacturing facilities with strategic expansion capabilities to speed up the process.

This allows the company to deliver many custom forgings within 8 to 10 weeks. To minimize potential project delays or production downtime for the industry, the company also strives to provide quotes within 48 hours.

Additionally, to optimize performance and reduce costs, the company often supplies near-mesh forged parts with a more refined surface finish.

The surfaces are located 2 mm from the dimensions of the finished treatment. with a surface finish of 250 RMS. However, it can make holes 125 RMS or less in diameter and contour forgings if necessary. The company can also finish machine parts to within +/- 0.001 inch of drawing dimensions.

Some forges only offer raw, unmachined parts (RMS 500 or “as forged”). In contrast, AM&FG provides a better surface finish, saving shop time and equipment wear.

Additionally, the company performs ultrasonic testing at zero cost to the customer to ensure there are no internal cracks, pits and voids. According to Klein, this instills the highest confidence in the quality of the parts. “In many cases, All Metals & Forge Group can offer ultrasonically tested parts that are less expensive than raw forged rings or components,” he said.

As the world grapples with the challenges of global warming and the growing renewable energy sector, demand for forged components is expected to increase significantly.

To meet demand, industry professionals working with experienced forges will have easy access to the reliable and durable components they need to keep renewable energy projects and production on track and control climate change.