Heavy Press Program Explained

The Heavy Press Program was a Cold War-era program of the United States Air Force to build the largest forging presses and extrusion presses in the world. These machines greatly enhanced the US defense industry's capacity to forge large complex components out of light alloys, such as magnesium and aluminum. The program began in 1944[1] and concluded in 1957 after construction of four forging presses and six extruders, at an overall cost of $279 million. Six of them are still in operation today, manufacturing structural parts for military and commercial aircraft. They still hold the records for size in North America, though they have since been surpassed by presses in Japan, France, Russia and China.[2] [3]

The program produced ten machines, listed below.

Background

The Heavy Press Program was motivated by experiences from World War II. Nazi Germany held the largest heavy die forging presses during the war, and translated this advantage into high performance jet fighters. Because of the shortage of aluminum, German aircraft manufacturers used forged magnesium structural components, formed to shape in closed-die hydraulic presses. After finding this, in 1944, the Federal Government asked Wyman-Gordon for assistance, and this program evolved into the Heavy Press Program. Work was started on an 18,000 ton press, built by Mesta Machinery, which was completed in 1946 at the Wyman-Gordon Grafton Plant. Post-war, the Soviet Union captured the largest German press to survive the war, with a capacity of 33,000 ton, and were suspected to have seized the designs for an even larger 55,000 ton press. The next two largest units were captured by the United States and brought across the Atlantic Ocean, but they were half the size at 16,500 ton. As Cold War fears developed, American strategists worried that this would give the Soviet Air Force a crucial advantage and designed the Heavy Press Program to help win the arms race.[4] [5] [6]

Seventeen presses were originally planned with an expected cost of $389 million, but the project was scaled back to 10 presses in 1953.[7]

Air Force Lieutenant General Kenneth B. Wolfe was the primary advocate for the Heavy Press Program. Alexander Zeitlin was another prominent figure of the program.

Presses

[8] [9]

Capacity
(short tons)
Type of press Built by Operated by Location Began Operation
13,200 extrusion Schloemann 1953[10]
forging Air Force Plant 47, 1600 Harvard Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio May 5, 1955
35,000 forging Air Force Plant 47, 1600 Harvard Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 1955
8,000 extrusion 1955 (Scrapped 2021 following facility closure by Arconic)
8,000 extrusion 1955 (Scrapped 2021 following facility closure by Arconic)
8,000 extrusion May 1946(Scrapped 1992[11])
12,000 extrusion August 1957[12]
(Scrapped 1990s.)
forging October 1955
35,000 forging February 1955
12,000 extrusion Buffalo, New York Relocated to Houston, Texas

Landmark designation

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers designated the 50,000-ton Alcoa and Wyman-Gordon presses as Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks. The Alcoa press weighs 8,000 tons and is 87abbr=offNaNabbr=off tall. The die table is 26by, and the maximum stroke is 6abbr=offNaNabbr=off.[13]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: McClary Tymeson, Mildred . The Wyman-Gordon Way . 1959 . Commonwealth Press . 1959 . Worcester, Massachusetts.
  2. News: Heffernan. Tim. Iron Giant. 12 February 2012. The Atlantic. 8 February 2012.
  3. News: China Building World's Largest Press Forge. China Tech Gadget. 27 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20150210155349/http://www.chinatechgadget.com/china-building-worlds-largest-press-forge.html. 2015-02-10. 2020-05-18. dead.
  4. Web site: The Wyman-Gordon 50,000-ton Forging Press. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 20 May 2013. 20 October 1983. https://web.archive.org/web/20150201213858/http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5662.pdf. 1 February 2015.
  5. Book: American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 50,000 Ton Closed Die Forging Press. 1981. 2012-02-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20120227025023/http://files.asme.org/asmeorg/communities/history/landmarks/5488.pdf. 2012-02-27. dead. History of the Mesta Press at Alcoa
  6. News: Edson. Peter. Revolutionary Metal Press Cuts Cost of Planes and Guns. 12 February 2012. Sarasota Journal. 18 April 1952.
  7. News: Pearson. Drew. Aircraft Presses Cut Back Here as Soviet Forges Ahead. 12 February 2012. The Free Lance-Star. 11 September 1953.
  8. Book: Blue, D.D. . Kurtz . H.F. . Aluminum . Minerals yearbook metals and minerals (except fuels) 1953 . I . Bureau of Mines, United States Government Printing Office . 1956 . 143–163, see p. 145 . http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/EcoNatRes/EcoNatRes-idx?type=turn&id=EcoNatRes.MinYB1953v1&entity=EcoNatRes.MinYB1953v1.p0153&q1=heavy%20press . 0076-8952.
  9. Book: Kurtz, H.F. . Heindl . R.A. . Wampler . C.I. . Aluminum . Minerals yearbook metals and minerals (except fuels) 1954 . I . Bureau of Mines, United States Government Printing Office . 1958 . 133–157, see p. 135 . http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/EcoNatRes/EcoNatRes-idx?type=turn&id=EcoNatRes.MinYB1954v1&entity=EcoNatRes.MinYB1954v1.p0143&q1=heavy%20press . 0076-8952.
  10. News: Alcoa Gets Big Extrusion Press. 12 February 2012. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 31 January 1952.
  11. Web site: Sam . Gnerre . Harvey Aluminum in Harbor Gateway had a long, sometimes turbulent history . Dailybreeze.com . Daily Breeze.
  12. Web site: The machines that made the Jet Age . Tim Heffernan . Boing Boing. February 22, 2012.
  13. Book: Buorgloner, Robert. Historic American Engineering Record, Alcoa Forging Division: Mesta 50,000-Ton Closed Die Forging Press, Written Historical and Descriptive Data. 1988. National Park Services.