UNIT-V

Classification
of metal forming operations

Cutting of sheet metal is accomplished by a

shearing action between two sharp cutting edges.

The shearing action is depicted in the four stopaction sketches of Figure , in which the upper
cutting edge (the punch) sweeps down past a
stationary lower cutting edge (the die).
As the punch begins to push into the work, plastic
deformation occurs in the surfaces of the sheet.
As the punch moves downward, penetration occurs
in which the punch compresses the sheet and cuts
into the metal.

CUTTING OPERATIONS

Fig: Shearing of sheet metal between two cutting edges:

(1) just before the punch contacts work;
(2) punch begins to push into work, causing plastic deformation;
(3) punch compresses and penetrates into work
causing a smooth cut surface;
(4) fracture is initiated at the opposing cutting edges that separate
the sheet.
Symbols v and F indicate motion and applied force, respectively,

BLANKING
Blanking involves cutting of the sheet metal

along a closed outline in a single step to

separate the piece from the surrounding
stock, as in Figure 20.4(a).
The part that is cut out is the desired product
in the operation and is called the blank.

PUNCHING
Punching is similar to blanking except that it

produces a hole, and the separated piece is

scrap, called the slug.

BENDING
Bending means deforming a flat sheet along a

straight line to form the required angle. Various

sections like angles, channels etc., are formed by
bending, which may then be used for fabrication
of steel structures.

Three common methods of bending are

illustrated in Fig.

Types of bending dies

The operation of bending is done with the help of a V-shaped punch,
a die and
press specially designed for such work.
The stroke of such presses can be controlled at operators will and
such presses
are called press brakes

In V-bending, a V-shaped punch forces the

metal sheet or a flat strip into a wedgeshaped die.

The bend angle will depend upon the distance
to which the punch depresses. Bends of 90 or
obtuse
as well at acute angle, may be
produced.
Wiper bending is used only for 90 bends.

Here the sheet is held firmly down on the die,

while the extended portion of sheet is bent by
the punch

DEEP DRAWING
In deep drawing process, we start with a flat

metal plate or sheet and convert it into cupshape by pressing the sheet in the centre with a
circular punch fitting into a cup shaped die.
If the depth of cup is more than half its diameter,
the process is termed as deep drawing
and
with a lesser depth to
diameter ratio, it is called shallow drawing.
Parts of various geometries and shape are made
by
drawing process

Deep drawing operation

During the drawing process, the sheet metal

part is subjected to a complicated pattern of

stress.
The portion of the blank between the die wall
and punch surface is subjected to pure tension,
whereas the portion lower down near the bottom
is subject both to tension and bending.
The portion of metal blank, which forms the
flange at the top of the cup is subjected to
circumferential compressive stress and buckling
and becomes thicker as a result thereof.
The flange has therefore to be held down by a
pressure pad, otherwise, its surface will become
buckled and uneven like an orange peel.

Deep drawing is a difficult operation and the

material used should be specially malleable and

ductile, otherwise it will crack under the induced
stresses.
The wall thickness of a deep drawn component
does not remain uniform.
The vertical walls become thinner due to tensile
stresses. But the thinnest portion is around the
bottom corner of the cup all around.
This thinning of sheet at these locations is called
necking.
After deep drawing, the component may be
subjected to certain finishing operations like
Ironing,

Ironing

Ironing to achieve a more uniform wall thickness in a

drawn cup:
(1) Start of process; (2) during process.
Note thinning and elongation of walls.
Symbols v and F indicate motion and applied force,

ENGINEERING ANALYSIS OF
DRAWING
Measures
of Drawing: One of the measures of

the severity of a deep drawing operation is the

drawing ratio DR. This is most easily defined for a
cylindrical shape as the ratio of blank diameter
Db
to punch diameter D p.
In equation for
DR =
The drawing ratio provides an indication, albeit a
crude one, of the severity of a given drawing
operation.
The greater the ratio, the more severe the
operation. An approximate upper limit on the
drawing ratio is a value of 2.0.

Another way to characterize a given drawing

operation is by the reduction r,

where

It is very closely related to drawing ratio.

Consistent with the previous limit on DR(DR

2.0), the value of reduction r should be less
than 0.50.
A third measure in deep drawing is the
thickness-to-diameter ratio t/Db (thickness of
the starting blank t divided by the blank
diameter Db).
Often expressed
as a percentage, it is desirable for the t/D b
ratio to be greater than 1 %.

Wrinkling in the
flange

SHEET-METAL OPERATIONS NOT

PERFORMED ON PRESSES
A number of sheet-metal operations are not

performed on conventional stamping presses.

In this section we examine several of these
processes:
Stretch Forming,
Spinning,
High-energy-rate Forming Processes.

STRETCH FORMING

Stretch forming is a sheet-metal deformation

process in which the sheet metal is intentionally

stretched and simultaneously bent in order to
achieve shape change.
The process is illustrated as shown in Figure for a
relatively simple and gradual bend.

Stretch forming: (1) start of process; (2) form die is pressed into the
work with force F die, causing it to be stretched and bent over the
form.
F =stretching force.

The work part is gripped by one or more jaws on each end and

then stretched and bent over a positive die containing the desired
form.
The metal is stressed in tension to a level above its yield point.
When the tension loading is released, the metal has been
plastically deformed.
The combination of stretching and bending results in relatively
little spring back in the part.
An estimate of the force required in stretch forming can be
obtained by multiplying the cross-sectional area of the sheet in
the direction of pulling by the flow stress of the metal
In equation form F=L t Yf
where F=stretching force, N., L = length of the sheet in the

direction perpendicular to stretching, mm.

t = instantaneous stock thickness, mm.
Yf = flow stress of the work metal, Mpa.
The die force Fdie shown in the figure can be determined by
balancing vertical force components

SPINNING
Spinning is a metal-forming process in which an

axially symmetric part is gradually shaped over a

mandrel or form by means of a rounded tool or roller.
The tool or roller applies a very localized pressure
(almost a point contact) to deform the work by axial
and radial motions over the surface of the part.
Basic geometric shapes typically produced by
spinning include cups, cones, hemispheres, and
tubes.
There are three types of spinning operations:
Conventional Spinning
Shear Spinning
Tube Spinning.

Conventional Spinning

Conventional spinning:
(1) setup at start of process;
(2) during spinning; and
(3) completion of process.

Conventional spinning is the basic spinning operation.

As illustrated in Figure, a sheet-metal disk is held

against the end of a rotating mandrel of the desired

inside shape of the final part, while the tool or roller
deforms the metal against the mandrel.
The process requires a series of steps, as indicated in
the figure, to complete the shaping of the part.
The tool position is controlled either by a human
operator, using a fixed fulcrum to achieve the required
leverage, or by an automatic method such as
numerical control.
These alternatives are manual spinning and power
spinning. Power spinning has the capability to apply
higher forces to the operation, resulting in faster cycle
times and greater work size capacity.

Shear Spinning

Shear spinning:
(1) setup (2) completion of process.

In shear spinning, the part is formed over the

mandrel by a shear deformation process in

which the outside diameter remains constant
and the wall thickness is therefore reduced, as
in Figure.
This shear straining (and consequent thinning
of the metal) distinguishes this process from
the bending action in conventional spinning.
Several other names have been used for
shear spinning, including flow turning,
shear forming, and spin forging.
The process has been applied in the
aerospace industry to form large parts such as
rocket nose cones.

For the simple conical shape in our figure, the

resulting thickness of the spun wall can be readily

determined by the sine law relationship:
tf =t sin
Where
tf = The final thickness of the wall after spinning.
t = The starting thickness of the disk.
= The mandrel angle (actually the half angle).

Thinning is sometimes quantified by the spinning

reduction r:
There are limits to the amount of thinning that the

metal will endure in a spinning operation before

fracture occurs.

Tube Spinning
Tube spinning is used to reduce the wall thickness and

increase the length of a tube by means of a roller

applied to the work over a cylindrical mandrel, as in
Figure
Tube spinning is similar to shear spinning except that
the starting work piece is a tube rather than a flat disk.
The operation can be performed by applying the roller
against the work externally (using a cylindrical mandrel
on the inside of the tube) or internally (using a die to
surround the tube).
It is also possible to form profiles in the walls of the
cylinder, as in Figure (c), by controlling the path of the
roller as it moves tangentially along the wall.

Tube spinning: (a) External; (b) Internal; and (c)

Profiling.

HIGH-ENERGY-RATE
FORMING(HERF)
Several processes have been developed to form

metals using large amounts of energy applied in

a very short time.
Owing to this feature, these operations are
called high-energy-rate forming (HERF)
processes.
They include
Explosive forming.
Electro-hydraulic forming.
Electromagnetic forming.

Explosive forming
Explosive forming involves the use of an

explosive charge to form sheet (or plate) metal

into a die cavity.
One method of implementing the process is
illustrated in Figure

Explosive forming: (1) setup, (2) explosive is detonated, and (3)

shock wave forms part and plume escapes water surface.

The work part is clamped and sealed over the die,

and a vacuum is created in the cavity beneath.

The apparatus is then placed in a large vessel of
water.
An explosive charge is placed in the water at a
certain distance above the work.
Detonation of the charge results in a shock wave
whose energy is transmitted by the water to cause
rapid forming of the part into the cavity.
The size of the explosive charge and the distance
at which it is placed above the part are largely a
matter of art and experience.
Explosive forming is reserved for large parts,
typical of the aerospace industry.

Electro-hydraulic Forming
Electro-hydraulic forming is a HERF process in

which a shockwave to deform the work into a

die cavity is generated by the discharge of
electrical energy between two electrodes
submerged in a transmission fluid (water).
Owing to its principle of operation, this process
is also called electric discharge forming.

Electro-hydraulic forming setup.

Electrical energy is accumulated in large

capacitors and then released to the

electrodes.
Electro hydraulic forming is similar to
explosive forming.
The difference is in the method of generating
the energy and the smaller amounts of energy
that are released.
This limits electro-hydraulic forming to much
smaller part sizes.

Electromagnetic
Forming
Electromagnetic forming, also called Magnetic

pulse forming, is a process in which sheet

metal is deformed by the mechanical force of an
electro-magnetic field induced in the work part
by an energized coil.
The coil, energized by a capacitor, produces a
magnetic field.
This generates eddy currents in the work that
produce their own magnetic field.
The induced field opposes the primary field,
producing a mechanical force that deforms the
part into the surrounding cavity

Fig: Electromagnetic forming: (1) setup in which coil is

inserted into tubular work part surrounded by die; (2) formed
part

Developed in the 1960s, electromagnetic forming

is the most widely used HERF process .

it is typically used to form tubular parts.
No Punch Needed --- Lower tooling costs.
No Static forces --- No Large, Costly press.

RUBBER PAD FORMING

PROCESSES
The two operations discussed in this article

are performed on conventional presses, but

the tooling is unusual in that it uses a flexible
element (made of rubber or similar material)
to effect the forming operation.
The operations are
The Guerin process.
Hydro forming.

Guerin
Process
The Guerin process uses a thick rubber pad (or

other flexible material) to form sheet metal

over a positive form block, as in Figure.

Guerin process: (1) before and (2) after.

Symbols v and F indicate motion and applied force, respectively.

The rubber pad is confined in a steel container.

As the ram descends, the rubber gradually surrounds the

sheet, applying pressure to deform it to the shape of the

form block.
It is limited to relatively shallow forms, because the
pressures developed by the rubberup to about 10 Mpa.
are not sufficient to prevent wrinkling in deeper formed
parts.
The advantage of the Guerin process is the relatively low
cost of the tooling.
The form block can be made of wood, plastic, or other
materials that are easy to shape, and the rubber pad can
be used with different form blocks.
These factors make rubber forming attractive in smallquantity production, such as the air craft industry, where
the process was developed.

Hydro-forming
Hydro-forming is similar to the Guerin process;

the difference is that it substitutes a rubber

diaphragm filled with hydraulic fluid in place of
the thick rubber pad.

Hydroform process: (1) start-up, no fluid in cavity; (2) press closed, cavity
pressurized
with hydraulic fluid; (3) punch pressed in to work to form part.

This allows the pressure that forms the work part

to be increasedto around 100 Mpa. thus

preventing wrinkling in deep formed parts.
In fact, deeper draws can be achieved with the
hydroform process than with conventional deep
drawing.
This is because the uniform pressure in hydroforming forces ,the work to contact the punch
throughout its length, thus increasing friction and
reducing the tensile stresses that cause tearing
at the base of the drawn cup.

ALTERNATIVE PRESSING AND

SINTERING TECHNIQUES
The conventional press and sinter sequence is

the most widely used shaping technology in

powder metallurgy.
Additional methods for processing PM parts
are discussed in this section.

ISOSTATIC PRESSING

A feature of conventional pressing is that pressure is

applied uniaxially.
This imposes limitations on part geometry, because
metallic powders do not readily flow in directions
perpendicular to the applied pressure.
Uniaxial pressing also leads to density variations in
the compact after pressing.
In Isostatic Pressing, pressure is applied from all
directions against the powders that are contained in
a flexible mold; hydraulic pressure is used to achieve
compaction.
Isostatic pressing takes two alternative forms:
Cold isostatic pressing (CIP).
Hot isostatic pressing (HIP).

Cold Isostatic Pressing(CIP)

Cold isostatic pressing:

(1) powders are placed in the flexible mold;
(2) hydrostatic pressure is applied against the mold to compact the
powders; and (3) pressure is reduced and the part is removed.

Cold Isostatic Pressing(CIP)

CIP involves compaction performed at room

temperature.
The mold, made of rubber or other elastomer
material, is oversized to compensate for
shrinkage.
Water or oil is used to provide the hydrostatic
pressure against the mold inside the chamber.
The processing sequence in cold isostatic
pressing as shown in fig.
Advantages of CIP include more uniform density,
less expensive tooling, and greater applicability
to shorter production runs.

Good dimensional accuracy is difficult to

achieve in isostatic pressing because of the

flexible mold.
Consequently, subsequent finish shaping
operations are often required to obtain the
required dimensions, either before or after
sintering.

Hot Isostatic
Pressing(HIP)
HIP is carried out at high temperatures and pressures,

using a gas such as argon or helium as the

compression medium.
The mold in which the powders are contained is made
of sheet metal to withstand the high temperatures.
HIP accomplishes pressing and sintering in one step.
Despite this apparent advantage, it is a relatively
expensive process and its applications seem to be
concentrated in the aerospace industry.
PM parts made by HIP are characterized by high
density (porosity near zero), thorough interparticle
bonding, and good mechanical strength.

Thank you