Semisolid forging of steels: Readiness from an industrial point of view

Today's globalization is threating the competitiveness of the classical manufacturing processes of European companies. This together with the low emission and zero environmental liability trend asks for a technological step forward in those processes or even in the development of new ones. It is precisely in this field where the Semisolid forging (SSF) of steels exhibits great potential. Since the last years, several contributions have shown the real capacity of this process to become an industrial reality opening new market niches and even enhancing the competitiveness of some other products. It is the aim of this work to summarize the main developments carried out in recent years making a difference regarding technology readiness from an industrial point of view.