SHEET METAL FORMING

Sheet metal forming consists of three basic processes;

Shearing (cutting) to form a shape (blank) Forming by bending and stretching Finishing

SHEARING
Needed to cut blanks from the large sheets A blank is the term for the rough shape needed to form the final part

SHEARING PROCESS

Clearance

 Like cutting paper with scissors but using a machine

Shearing starts with cracks developed on top and bottom of sheet by exceptionally high shear stresses Top and bottom cracks join to shear slug/blank Formability of sheared part influenced by the quality of the edges

Punched Hole

Rough fracture surface due to cracks Smooth and shiny burnished surface due to rubbing of sheared edge against wall of punch and die

SLUG

Sheared edges of the sheet and the slug are not smooth, nor are they perpendicular to the plane of the sheet

 Ratio of the burnished to rough areas

with ductility of the sheet metal with material thickness and clearance

Burr height increases with

clearance ductility Dull-edged tools

Burrs can lead to cracks in subsequent operations

CLEARANCE

(a) As clearance, the sheet tends to be pulled into the die rather than be sheared. Sheared edges become rougher. Zone of deformation becomes larger (b) shows microhardness profile.

 Clearance control is important Smaller the clearance better is the quality of the edge Ranges between 2 to 8% of sheets thickness Thicker the sheet, larger the clearance

SHEARING FORCE F = 0.7 T L (UTS)

where F force T workpiece thickness L total sheared length (e.g. hole perimeter) UTS Ultimate tensile strength of workpiece material

Force required to punch a 25 mm diameter hole through a 3.2 mm thick annealed Ti6Al-V sheet at RT 0.17 MN

Process Parameters
Shape and materials for the punch and the die
Bevel punch (like paper punch) and die surface for shearing thicker blanks

Speed of punching Lubrication Clearance between punch and die

SHEARING OPERATIONS
Simple shearing Punching Blanking

Case Study: Outer Side Panel of Cars

Side Panel: Including 2 doors/windows

Process Blanking different parts Joined by laser welding (why?)

Advantages Parts with different materials and thickness can be joined Kalpakjian p. 348

BENDING
Bend Allowance (Length of Neutral axis)

Band angle

Outer surface: Tension; Inner Surface: Compression Neutral axis is located where e = 0

BEND ALLOWANCE
Determine blank length Bend allowance is the length of neutral axis in the bend area

L = (R + kT)
where is bend angle in radians R is bend radius T is thickness k is constant (ranges from 0.33 { R<2T} to 0.5 {R>2T})and is determined by the location of the neutral axis If neutral axis is at the center of the sheet, k = 1/2

MINIMUM BEND RADIUS

As material is bent, the tensile strain at the outer skin or fiber increases until it cracks The Minimum Bend Radius (MBR) is the radius when a crack appears MBR described in terms of the thickness of the material

MINIMUM BEND RADII FOR MATERIALS

Material Aluminum alloys Beryllium copper Low Lead brass Magnesium Stainless steels Low carbon ,etc. Titanium Titanium alloys Soft 0 0 0 0 0.5T 0.5T 0.6T 2.6T Condition Hard 6T 4T 2T 13T 6T 6T 3T 4T

FFT: Relation between MBR and ductility?

MAXIMUM BENDING FORCE

P = k Y L T2 / W , excluding friction
where P is the bending force Y is the yield strength of the material L is the length of the bend T is the material thickness W is the width of the die opening k is a constant that depends on the die shape (0.3 0.7)

SPRINGBACK

 Caused by the elastic behavior of workpiece material Ri / Rf = 4(Ri Y / E T)3 - 3(Ri Y / E T) + 1 where Ri is the required bend radius Rf is the actual bend radius Y is the yield stress E is elastic modulus T is the thickness

 Compensate springback by Overbending Applying compressive stress to bend zone Stretch bending/forming (part in tension during bending) Raising temperature
Springback decreases as yield stresses

See Kalpakjian

BENDING OPERATIONS

Tube Bending?