From our flange production plant equipment show

The main equipment used to produce flanges varies according to different production processes (e.g. casting, forging, cutting, etc.) and processing needs. The following is a categorization and description of the main equipment:

I. Raw material handling equipment**
1. Sawing/cutting machines**
– Used to cut metal materials (e.g. billets, rounds, plates, etc.) into blanks of the required size.
– Common types: band sawing machine, circular sawing machine, flame cutting machine, etc.

II. Molding Equipment
1. Casting flange equipment
– **Melting furnace** (e.g. intermediate frequency electric furnace, electric arc furnace): used for melting metal (e.g. carbon steel, stainless steel, etc.).
– **Molds** (sand molds, metal molds): used to form the geometry of the flange.
– **Casting machine** (sand casting machine, centrifugal casting machine): to pour molten metal into the mold to form.
– **Shot blasting machine**: to clean the sand and oxidized skin on the surface of castings.

2. Forging flange equipment
– **Heating Furnace** (Gas Furnace, Induction Heating Furnace): Heat the billet to forging temperature (about 1200°C).
– **Forging press** (hydraulic press, air hammer, friction press): plasticize the metal by forging or extruding to form the flange blank.
– **Punching machine**: for punching or preforming.
3. Cutting and forming flange equipment**
– ** CNC plasma/flame cutting machine**: cuts flange blanks directly from thick steel plates.
– **Laser cutting machine** (for thin plates): cut complex shapes with high precision

III. Machining equipment
1. **Lathe** (CNC lathe, ordinary lathe)
– For flange end face turning, internal and external round machining, sealing surface (such as convex, concave) molding.
2. **Drilling machine/ CNC drilling machine**
– For processing bolt holes of flanges, need to ensure the accuracy of hole distance (e.g. using indexing dial or CNC system).
3. **Boring machine**
– Machining the bore or sealing surface of large flanges.
4. **Milling machine/machining center**
– Machines complex contours or grooves in flanges (e.g. tongue and groove flanges).
5. **Grinding machine**
– Precision grinding of flange sealing surfaces to ensure flatness and roughness requirements.

– IV. Heat treatment equipment
1. **Annealing furnace/normalizing furnace**
– Eliminate internal stress after casting or forging, improve material organization.
2. **Quenching furnace + tempering furnace**
– Improve the hardness and strength of flanges (for alloy steel or stainless steel).
3. **Temperature control system**
– Ensure the stability of heat treatment process.

V. Surface treatment equipments
1. **Sand blasting machine**
– Clean the surface oxidized layer and enhance the subsequent coating adhesion.
2. **Electroplating/spraying equipment**
– Anti-corrosion treatment for flange (e.g. galvanizing, spraying epoxy resin).
3. **Acid washing tank**
– Remove the oxides on the surface of stainless steel flange (matching environmental protection equipment is required).

VI. Quality testing equipment
1. **Coordinate measuring machine (CMM)**
– Detect the dimensional accuracy of the flange (hole diameter, hole distance, thickness, etc.).
2. **Ultrasonic flaw detector/X-ray flaw detector**
– Check the internal defects of castings or forgings (porosity, cracks, etc.).
3. **Hardness Tester**
– Test the hardness of the flange to see if it meets the standard.
4. **Pressure tester**
– Simulate the sealing performance of flanges under high pressure environment (e.g. for pipe flanges).

VII. Auxiliary Equipment
1. **Lifting equipment** (traveling crane, forklift)
– Used for handling heavy flange blanks or finished products.
2. **Working fixture**
– To fix the flange to ensure machining precision.
3. **Coolant Circulation System**
– Cools tools and workpieces during machining.
4. **Environmental protection equipment**
– Dust collector, exhaust gas treatment system (for casting, cutting, sand blasting, etc.).

VIII. Typical equipment combinations for different processes
– **Forging flange**: melting furnace → casting machine → shot blasting machine → lathe → drilling machine → heat treatment furnace → testing equipment.
– **Forging Flange**: Heating Furnace → Forging Machine → Punching Machine → Lathe → Heat Treatment Furnace → Surface Treatment Equipment.
– **Cutting Flanges**: plasma cutting machine → lathe → drilling machine → grinding machine → testing equipment.

**Summary**
The selection of equipment for producing flanges needs to be configured according to the type of material (carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steel), the process route (casting/forging/cutting) and the product precision requirements (ordinary flanges vs. high-pressure flanges). Modern production often utilizes CNC equipment to improve efficiency and consistency, as well as quality testing and environmental facilities to meet industry standards (e.g. ASME, DIN, GB, etc.).