Drawing (manufacturing)

:This article is about the manufacturing technique. For the art form, see Drawing.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Drawing is a manufacturing process for producing a wire, bar or tube by pulling on a material until it increases in length. This is typically accompanied by a thinning out of the material, usually through a reduction in the girth.

Related Topics:
Manufacturing - Wire - Tube

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This techniqued has long been used to produce flexible metal wire by drawing the material through a series of dies (holes) of decreasing size. More recently drawing has been used with molten glass to produce high quality optical fibers.

Related Topics:
Metal - Wire - Dies - Glass - Optical fiber

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Drawing can also be used to pull metal over a die (male mold) to create a specific shape. For example, stainless steel kitchen sinks are formed by drawing the stainless steel sheet metal stock over a form (the die) in the shape of the sink. Beverage cans are formed by drawing aluminium stock over can-shaped dies. By comparison, hydroforming forces metal into a female mold using pressure.

Related Topics:
Die - Stainless steel - Kitchen sink - Sheet metal - Beverage can - Aluminium - Hydroforming

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~