PAST DEVELOPMENTS, CURRENT APPLICATIONS AND TRENDS IN THE CROSS WEDGEROLLING PROCESS

Cross wedge rolling is a manufacturing process that has been used indu strially in only relatively recent times although research and develop ment has been ongoing for many years. The process enables axisymmetric al parts such as stepped shafts, ball studs and pins to be produced in a single operation. In this paper, a historical perspective tracing d evelopments in machines and techniques is given. Five types of machine and tooling configuration are discussed together with areas in which the cross wedge rolling process is being applied. Lastly, current rese arch and trends for future applications are described.