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ALCOA 50,000-ton Hydraulic Forging Press

Location: Cleveland, OH, USA
Date: 1954
Category:
Creator(s): Mesta Machine Company

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.

Tags: Era: 1950-1959
Innovation designated by:
ALCOA 50,000-ton Hydraulic Forging Press
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).
Address:
Aluminum Company of America
1600 Harvard Avenue
Cleveland, OH, USA

Aluminum Company of America

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