system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Is bent metal stronger than metal cast at an angle?

Why is it that metal gets bent into rounded arcs or right angles instead of cast that way?  Is it a strength issue or a money issue or what?

When I say cast i mean molten metal poured in a mold.  (sorry f that is not the correct word)
gpt
Cold forging introduces new dislocations in the crystal structure of the metal which increase both hardness and strength. So a bent/cold forged bracket will be 'stronger' (it will deform plastically at a higher stress) than the unbent form of the same initial crystal structure. Cast metal and hot forged metal should have similar strength to the unbent version given the same cooling times. 

However, after production, most metals are heat-treated to certain specifications. This means the initial production of if it does not matter very much since you plan on controlling the final crystal structure through heat treatment.

The cost element is higher for casting because molds are incredible expensive and you would need a different mold for each unique piece. This is why most companies just cold forge blanks and then heat treat. Cold forging means many different products can be made without incurring added mold costs.


tl;dr cheaper to cold forge the metal and heat treat it rather than cast it since they will have same strength in the end due to heat treatment.