Skip to main content
ALCOA 50,000-ton Hydraulic Forging Press
Society
Main Category
Sub Category
Era
Date Created
Location Country
us
Coordinates
41.448002, -81.675825
Address1
Aluminum Company of America
Address2
1600 Harvard Avenue
City
Cleveland
State
Country
Zip

This 50,000-ton die-forging press is among the largest fabrication tools in the world. It was designed and built for the U.S. Air Force by the Mesta Machine Company of Pittsburgh, following the discovery of a 30,000-ton press used by the Germans in World War II (later acquired by the Soviet Union). By 1950, a Heavy Press Program was organized to establish a self-sustaining industrial base for a press capable of producing large forgings and extrusions for the United States. The 50,000-ton Mesta press was one of the first built under this program between 1952 and 1955. It has been dominant in commercial aircraft development as well as advanced military aircraft and aerospace programs. (See also NL 66.) The Aluminum Company of America is the operating contractor. The principle of force multiplication that underlies the action of hydraulic presses was demonstrated in 1646 by Blaise Pascal of France. It was first incorporated into a useful industrial press by Joseph Bramah of England in 1796.

Image Caption
The true enormity of the ALCOA 50,000-ton Hydraulic Forging Press can be fully appreciated when put into comparison of the average-sized person (lower right and on the platform).

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support America's only magazine of the history of engineering and innovation, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to Invention & Technology.

Donate

Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.
The subscriber's email address.