Definition
A metalworking process in which a metal part is shaped while heated to a temperature above its recrystallization point. At this temperature the metal becomes more malleable, allowing it to be bent, drawn, or pressed into complex shapes without cracking or excessive springback, and without significantly work-hardening the material.
Plain English
Shaping metal while it is hot enough to be soft and easy to bend or press into a new form.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft maintenance and manufacturing discussions involving sheet metal parts, structural repairs, and formed metal components.
Derivation
From 'hot' (heated) and 'forming' (shaping). The word 'form' comes from the Latin forma, meaning shape or mold. The term simply tells you the metal is being given its shape while hot rather than cold.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots and maintenance personnel encounter this term when reading about how aircraft skins, fittings, and structural parts are manufactured or repaired. Knowing whether a part was hot formed or cold formed affects how it behaves under stress and how it can be reworked.
Intuition Check
Hot forming does not mean casually heating a part with any available heat source. It means heating the material in a controlled way to the proper temperature before shaping it.
Example Sentence 1
The titanium engine cowling was hot formed to achieve its compound curves without cracking.
Example Sentence 2
Hot forming produced the complex curves on the wing leading edge without introducing stress cracks in the aluminum.