Shear Spinning
Shear spinning is a form of flow forming that produces conic or contoured, hollow metal products that have a uniform or purposely varied wall thickness. It is a cold working process, meaning the metal retains its ductility and tensile strength because it is not heated during forming. The finished products are round in cross section, lightweight, and have a very smooth exterior and interior surface finish.
Quick links to Shear Spinning Information
Applications of Shear Spinning
Like flow formed parts, shear spun products never require welding and are formed out of one preformed part called a blank, which is a flat piece of metal. The metal can either be punched with a hole in its middle, or it can be left completely solid. In the former case, this would result in a spun metal product with two openings: one above and one below. In the latter case, the spun product would feature only one opening.
Many different metals can be shear spun, including:
Common shear spun products include:
- Rocket Hose Cones
- Gas Turbine Engines
- Dish Aerials
Industries that use the cone-shaped metal products formed by shear spinning, include:
- Heating and Cooling
- Architecture
- Food and Beverage
- Agriculture
- Chemical
- Lighting
Process of Shear Spinning
The shear spinning process starts with manufacturing the blank, which is a preformed part made by deep drawing, stamping, or press forming. It is a flat piece of metal engineered to ensure there is exactly enough material to form the final shape鈥檚 dimensions. The blank is then sheared by rollers over a rotating mandrel. Higher force is needed from the spinning machine during this process in comparison to standard metal spinners. While the diameter of the blank doesn鈥檛 change, the thickness decreases depending on the angle of the mandrel and the gap between the rollers and the mandrel. This differs from standard metal spinning, where the thickness of the blank does not change. The wall thickness of the part is customized to certain stress requirements. The finished product has smooth interior and exterior surfaces without any secondary manufacturing processes, including additional buffing, shining, or polishing. No welding is needed during shear spinning and very little scrap metal is produced since the part is formed from a single blank. Different metals have varying degrees of spinnability, or the ability to undergo shear spinning without reaching maximum tensile strength.