What are the advantages of cold heading processing?

Cold heading process is one of the new technologies for pressure machining of metal without cutting. It is a processing method that utilizes the plastic deformation generated by metal under external forces, and uses molds to redistribute and transfer the metal volume, thereby forming the required parts or blanks. The cold heading process is most suitable for producing standard fasteners such as bolts, screws, nuts, rivets, and pins. The commonly used equipment for cold heading process is a dedicated cold heading machine. If the production volume is not too large, a crank press or friction press can also be used instead. Below, we will provide a detailed introduction to the main advantages of cold heading processing technology.
1. Cold heading is carried out under normal temperature conditions. Cold heading can improve the mechanical properties of metal parts. The following table compares the mechanical strength of cold heading bolts and cutting bolts: From the table, it can be seen that regardless of the specification of bolts, the tensile strength after cold heading processing is about 10% higher than that of cutting processing, and some can even increase by 20%. This is because the metal fibers of cold heading products are not cut off, the internal structure of the metal is compacted, and the presence of work hardening phenomenon is accompanied, thus improving the mechanical properties of the metal.
2. Cold heading technology can improve material utilization. Taking cold heading bolts as an example, the new process of “concave hole” hexagonal head bolts can achieve a material utilization rate of over 99%. In addition to the loss of material head and tail, it has achieved completely no cutting processing. If cutting is used, the material utilization rate is only 40%. The material utilization rate of cold heading nuts can also reach around 80%, while the material utilization rate of cutting nuts is only 54%.
3. The cold heading process can greatly improve productivity. Compared with the original cutting process, the productivity of cold heading nuts is about 25-30 times higher.
4. Due to the use of a multi-station cold heading machine, various processes can be processed simultaneously on a single machine tool, thereby reducing equipment investment, occupying less production space, and reducing the transportation of semi-finished products between different processes. In particular, it reduces the labor intensity of workers and improves labor conditions.
5. Cold heading process can improve the surface smoothness of products and ensure product accuracy. The general smoothness can reach V5, and special requirements can reach V6. For mass production of bolts, nuts, etc., its accuracy can be fully guaranteed.
Due to its high productivity, good product quality, and significant reduction in material consumption, production costs, and improved labor conditions, cold heading technology is increasingly widely used in mechanical manufacturing, especially in the production of standard fasteners. Among them, the most representative products produced by multi-station cold heading machines are bolts, screws, and screws