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Forming of Light Weight Materials

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2015) | Viewed by 37769

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Dr. Nooman Ben Khalifa

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Guest Editor

Institute of Forming Technology and Lightweight Construction (IUL) Technische Universität Dortmund Baroper Straße 301, 44227 Dortmund, Germany

Prof. Dr. Erman Tekkaya

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Co-Guest Editor

Institut für Umformtechnik und Leichtbau Technische Universität Dortmund, D-44221 Dortmund, Germany
Interests: metal forming technology; lightweight manufacturing; modelling manufacturing processes; material characterization; plasticity; numerical methods; telemetric testing and manufacturing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Any material that provides better specific properties than conventional steel alloys is considered to be a light weight material. Specific properties are strength and stiffness, normalized by the density. Typical light weight metals include aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and third generation high strength steels. However, forming light weight materials is a big challenge. This difficulty is especially due to limited formability or high forming forces. Consequently, the continuous development of innovations concerning forming processes is strongly needed to achieve the goals of saving weight and of being energy efficient.

The objective of this Special Issue is to collect papers concerning significant and innovative technological developments within forming technology. for the manufacture of light weight components. The focus will be on the following topics:

- State of the art of process technologies in forming,

- Joining by forming,

- Forming of hybrid components,

- Increased insight into the forming process, and

- Prospective / future applications of new forming processes and formed components

Dr. Nooman Ben Khalifa
Prof. Dr. A. Erman Tekkaya
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

forming
joining by forming
light weight parts
multi-material (hybrid) parts

Published Papers (5 papers)

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7211 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Setting Mechanical Properties of High Strength Steels for Rapid Hot Forming Processes

by Christian Löbbe, Oliver Hering, Lars Hiegemann and A. Erman Tekkaya

Materials 2016, 9(4), 229; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9040229 - 25 Mar 2016

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 8361

Abstract

Hot stamping of sheet metal is an established method for the manufacturing of light weight products with tailored properties. However, the generally-applied continuous roller furnace manifests two crucial disadvantages: the overall process time is long and a local setting of mechanical properties is only feasible through special cooling techniques. Hot forming with rapid heating directly before shaping is a new approach, which not only reduces the thermal intervention in the zones of critical formability and requested properties, but also allows the processing of an advantageous microstructure characterized by less grain growth, additional fractions (e.g., retained austenite), and undissolved carbides. Since the austenitization and homogenization process is strongly dependent on the microstructure constitution, the general applicability for the process relevant parameters is unknown. Thus, different austenitization parameters are analyzed for the conventional high strength steels 22MnB5, Docol 1400M, and DP1000 in respect of the mechanical properties. In order to characterize the resulting microstructure, the light optical and scanning electron microscopy, micro and macro hardness measurements, and the X-ray diffraction are conducted subsequent to tensile tests. The investigation proves not only the feasibility to adjust the strength and ductility flexibly, unique microstructures are also observed and the governing mechanisms are clarified. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forming of Light Weight Materials)

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5025 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Residual Ductility and Microstructural Evolution in Continuous-Bending-under-Tension of AA-6022-T4

by Milovan Zecevic, Timothy J. Roemer, Marko Knezevic, Yannis P. Korkolis and Brad L. Kinsey

Materials 2016, 9(3), 130; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9030130 - 26 Feb 2016

Cited by 48 | Viewed by 6889

Abstract

A ubiquitous experiment to characterize the formability of sheet metal is the simple tension test. Past research has shown that if the material is repeatedly bent and unbent during this test (i.e., Continuous-Bending-under-Tension, CBT), the percent elongation at failure can significantly increase. In this paper, this phenomenon is evaluated in detail for AA-6022-T4 sheets using a custom-built CBT device. In particular, the residual ductility of specimens that are subjected to CBT processing is investigated. This is achieved by subjecting a specimen to CBT processing and then creating subsize tensile test and microstructural samples from the specimens after varying numbers of CBT cycles. Interestingly, the engineering stress initially increases after CBT processing to a certain number of cycles, but then decreases with less elongation achieved for increasing numbers of CBT cycles. Additionally, a detailed microstructure and texture characterization are performed using standard scanning electron microscopy and electron backscattered diffraction imaging. The results show that the material under CBT preserves high integrity to large plastic strains due to a uniform distribution of damage formation and evolution in the material. The ability to delay ductile fracture during the CBT process to large plastic strains, results in formation of a strong <111> fiber texture throughout the material. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forming of Light Weight Materials)

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9595 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Deep Drawing of High-Strength Tailored Blanks by Using Tailored Tools

by Thomas Mennecart, Hamad Ul Hassan, Alper Güner, Noomane Ben Khalifa and Mohamad Hosseini

Materials 2016, 9(2), 77; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9020077 - 27 Jan 2016

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 7054

Abstract

In most forming processes based on tailored blanks, the tool material remains the same as that of sheet metal blanks without tailored properties. A novel concept of lightweight construction for deep drawing tools is presented in this work to improve the forming behavior of tailored blanks. The investigations presented here deal with the forming of tailored blanks of dissimilar strengths using tailored dies made of two different materials. In the area of the steel blank with higher strength, typical tool steel is used. In the area of the low-strength steel, a hybrid tool made out of a polymer and a fiber-reinforced surface replaces the steel half. Cylindrical cups of DP600/HX300LAD are formed and analyzed regarding their formability. The use of two different halves of tool materials shows improved blank thickness distribution, weld-line movement and pressure distribution compared to the use of two steel halves. An improvement in strain distribution is also observed by the inclusion of springs in the polymer side of tools, which is implemented to control the material flow in the die. Furthermore, a reduction in tool weight of approximately 75% can be achieved by using this technique. An accurate finite element modeling strategy is developed to analyze the problem numerically and is verified experimentally for the cylindrical cup. This strategy is then applied to investigate the thickness distribution and weld-line movement for a complex geometry, and its transferability is validated. The inclusion of springs in the hybrid tool leads to better material flow, which results in reduction of weld-line movement by around 60%, leading to more uniform thickness distribution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forming of Light Weight Materials)

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7771 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Preliminary Investigation of the Process Capabilities of Hydroforging

by Bandar Alzahrani and Gracious Ngaile

Materials 2016, 9(1), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9010040 - 12 Jan 2016

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5941

Abstract

Hydroforging is a hybrid forming operation whereby a thick tube is formed to a desired geometry by combining forging and hydroforming principles. Through this process hollow structures with high strength-to-weight ratio can be produced for applications in power transmission systems and other structural components that demands high strength-to-weight ratio. In this process, a thick tube is deformed by pressurized fluid contained within the tube using a multi-purpose punch assembly, which is also used to feed tube material into the die cavity. Fluid pressure inside the thick tube is developed by volume change governed by the movement of the punch assembly. In contrast to the conventional tube hydroforming (THF), the hydroforging process presented in this study does not require external supply of pressurized fluid to the deforming tube. To investigate the capability of hydroforging process, an experimental setup was developed and used to hydroforge various geometries. These geometries included hollow flanged vessels, hexagonal flanged parts, and hollow bevel and spur gears. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forming of Light Weight Materials)

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5276 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Process Design of Aluminum Tailor Heat Treated Blanks

by Alexander Kahrimanidis, Michael Lechner, Julia Degner, Daniel Wortberg and Marion Merklein

Materials 2015, 8(12), 8524-8538; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma8125476 - 09 Dec 2015

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 8318

Abstract

In many industrials field, especially in the automotive sector, there is a trend toward lightweight constructions in order to reduce the weight and thereby the CO₂ and NO_x emissions of the products. An auspicious approach within this context is the substitution of conventional deep drawing steel by precipitation hardenable aluminum alloys. However, based on the low formability, the application for complex stamping parts is challenging. Therefore, at the Institute of Manufacturing Technology, an innovative technology to enhance the forming limit of these lightweight materials was invented. The key idea of the so-called Tailor Heat Treated Blanks (THTB) is optimization of the mechanical properties by local heat treatment before the forming operation. An accurate description of material properties is crucial to predict the forming behavior of tailor heat treated blanks by simulation. Therefore, within in this research project, a holistic approach for the design of the THTB process in dependency of the main influencing parameters is presented and discussed in detail. The capability of the approach for the process development of complex forming operations is demonstrated by a comparison of local blank thickness of a tailgate with the corresponding results from simulation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forming of Light Weight Materials)

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