In this study, a hydroforming system was designed, built, and experimentally validated to perform lab-scale warm hydromechanical deep drawing (WHDD) tests and small-scale industrial production with all necessary heating, cooling, control and sealing systems. This manuscript describes the detailed design and fabrication stages of a warm hydroforming test and production system for the first time. In addition, performance of each subsystem is validated through repeated production and/or test runs as well as through part quality measurements. The sealing at high temperatures, the proper insulation and isolation of the press frame from the tooling and synchronized control had to be overcome. Furthermore, in the designed system, the flange area can be heated up to 400 °C using induction heaters in the die and blank holders (BH), whereas the punch can be cooled down to temperatures of around 10 °C. Validation and performance tests were performed to characterize the capacity and limits of the system. As a result of these tests, the fluid pressure, the blank holder force (BHF), the punch position and speed were fine-tuned independent of each other and the desired temperature distribution on the sheet metal was obtained by the heating and cooling systems. Thus, an expanded optimal process window was obtained to enable all or either of increased production/test speed, reduced energy usage and time. Consequently, this study is expected to provide other researchers and manufacturers with a set of design and process guidelines to develop similar systems.

The warm sheet hydroforming process was investigated to determine the optimal process conditions of temperature, pressure, and pressurization rate for maximum formability of AA5754-O using an experimental stretch forming die shape. The optimal process conditions were evaluated to determine the robustness and process capability based on physical measurement of formed parts including thickness strain, cavity fill ratio, and radius of curvature. For the simple die shape investigated, a temperature of 268 ° C , a pressure of 25 MPa, and a pressurization rate of 0.22 MPa/s provided the most balanced combination of uniform thickness strain with the greatest cavity fill ratio and sharpest radius. Temperature had a greater effect on measured properties than either pressure or pressurization rate, although the effect of pressure increased as temperature decreased. The procedures demonstrated in this experimental study could be used to optimize process parameters for robust operation of production applications for more complex automotive body panels fabricated by the warm hydroforming process.

Emerging applications, such as fuel cell, fuel processor, heat exchanger, microreactors, etc., require joining of thin metallic plates in confined places with small dimensions and minimal damage to the surrounding areas. In this study, the feasibility and modeling of pressure welding (solid state bonding) process are investigated, specifically for bonding of thin sheet metals. The effects of material type (e.g., copper, nickel, and stainless steel) and initial plate thickness ( 51 – 254 μ m ) as well as process conditions (e.g., welding pressure and temperature, 25 – 300 ° C ) on the minimum welding pressure and the final bond strength are experimentally studied. A pressure welding apparatus was developed for testing of different materials and process conditions. Based on the experimental results, the effects of material and process conditions on the final bond quality are characterized. At room temperature, copper and nickel blanks were successfully bonded, while stainless steel blanks could only be joined at elevated temperature levels ( 150 ° C and 300 ° C ). The material type (i.e., strength) and thickness were shown to have significant impact on the welding pressure; in that more pressure is required to bond the blanks with higher strength or thinner. To reduce the required welding pressure, the process can be carried out at elevated temperature levels. In this study, the bond strength of the welded blanks was characterized with uniaxial testing. The tensile test results showed that the bond strength could be increased by increasing the welding pressure or temperature. However, the increase in bond strength by increasing the welding pressure was shown to have an optimal point, after which the bond strength would decrease with further increase in pressure. This critical pressure value was found to be dependent on the material and process conditions. In addition, bond formation mechanisms for different materials were studied through microscopic analyses. The microscopy images of the weld spots showed that for a successful bonding to take place, the contaminant layers at the surfaces must be removed or broken to allow the virgin metal underneath to be extruded through. The metallic bonds only form at these locations where both surfaces are free of contaminant layers. Finally, a model for bond strength prediction in pressure welding was developed and validated. This model includes the sheet thickness parameter, which is shown to be a critical factor in bonding thin sheet metals with the sheet thickness in the range of a few hundred micrometers.

Increasing demands for miniature metallic parts have driven the application of microforming in various industries. Only a limited amount of research is, however, available on the forming of miniature features in high strength materials. This study investigated the forming of microfeatures in Type 304 stainless steel by using the coining process. Experimental work was performed to study the effects of workpiece thickness, preform shape, grain size, and feature size on the formation of features ranging from 320 μ m to 800 μ m . It was found that certain preform shapes enhance feature formation by allowing a favorable flow of the bulk material. In addition, a flow stress model for Type 304 stainless steel that took into consideration the effects of the grain and feature sizes was developed to accurately model and better understand the coining process. Weakening of the material, as the grain size increased at the miniature scale, was explained by the Hall–Petch relationship and the feature size effect.

The use of high strength steels (HSSs) in automotive body structures is a prominent method of reducing vehicle weight as an alternative to use of aluminum and magnesium alloys. However, parts made of HSSs demonstrate more springback than parts made of mild steels do. Moreover, variations in the incoming material, friction, and other process conditions cause variations in the springback characteristics, which prevent the practical applicability of the springback prediction and compensation techniques. Consequently, it leads to amplified variations and quality issues during assembly of the stamped components. The objective of this study is to investigate and gain an understanding of the variation of springback in the forming of HSSs. Two sets of experiments were conducted to analyze the influence of the material property (dual-phase steels from different suppliers), lubrication, and blank holder pressure on the springback variation. The experimental results showed that the variation in the incoming blank material is the most important factor. In summary, the thicker the blank is, the less the springback variation. On the other hand, blanks without a coating show less springback variation. The application of lubricant helps us to reduce springback variation, although it actually increases the springback itself. The more uniform the friction condition, the less the springback variation. The influence of blank holder pressure on the springback variation is not distinguishable from the system-level noise in our experiment.

Hydroforming of lightweight materials at elevated temperature is a relatively new process with promises of increased formability at low internal pressure levels. In this study, the mechanism of warm hydroforming processes is presented in terms of its formability by comparison with warm forming, and cold hydroforming processes. Additionally, a strategy is proposed to control process parameters, such as temperature, hydraulic pressure, blank holder force, and forming speed. As a part of this strategy, the proper temperature condition is determined by adaptive-isothermal finite element analysis (FEA) and a design of experiment (DOE) approach. The adaptive-isothermal FEA determines the temperature levels of the blank material, which is selectively heated, by checking position of the blank material and adopting temperature level of the neighboring tooling. The proposed adaptive-isothermal FEA/DOE approach leads to the optimal temperature condition in a warm hydroforming system accurately and rapidly as opposed to costly and lengthy experimental trial and errors and/or fully coupled thermo-mechanical simulations. Other process parameters are also optimized in a continued study ( Choi et al., 2007, “Determination of Optimal Loading Profiles in Warm Hydroforming of Lightweight Materials,” J. Mater. Process. Techn., 190(1–3), pp. 230–242. ).