High Velocity Forming

The concept of high velocity forming of metal is one of the newest technological advantages in manufacturing. These processes have proved to be very useful in solving many fabrication processes where conventional processes are find more difficult and more costly. Increase in size of the work piece highly heat resistant materials, deep recessing, shallow recessing and bulging operations are the examples which led to the development of high velocity forming methods. A major advantage of high velocity forming is the ability to form one piece complex part shapes in single operation, where as conventional methods require several operations and result in a welded structure.

The variety of energy sources and techniques for applying the energy to accomplish deformation of work piece makes the scope of high velocity forming as broad  as the field of metal working operation like draw forming, cupping, bulging, swaying, flanging joining. The other application is die forming cutting, welding and surface hardening. The variety of materials that have been fabricated with velocity methods includes magnesium, aluminum, beryllium, titanium, zirconium, carbon and stainless steel, superalloy and the refractory metals and alloys.      

The process is based on the principle of deformation of metal by using very high velocities, provided on the movements of rams and dies. Since the kinetic energy is proportional to the square of the velocity, high energy is delivered to the metal with relatively small weight (ram or die). It reduces the cost and size of the machine. Since accelerations are high, high velocities are obtained by using short stroked of the ram. This increases the rate of production.

It is important to mention here the difference between high energy rate forming (HERE) and high velocity forming (HVF) processes. In the former the energy is stored in some medium is used directly to deform the metal. In HVF, high velocities are used for the forming the process

The behavior of a metal is important and the following points need to be considered before carrying out high velocity forming operations

1.      Effect of velocity on the ductility and strength of materials. The process is applicable on ductile material only.

2.      Effects of relative velocity on the blank.

3.      Effect of friction

4.      Geometrical stability of the components

5.      Wave effect: whenever a shock is transmitted through a medium denser than the blank part, it is partly transmitted and partly reflected back as compressive shock waves. This causes the metal deform towards the die.

There are several advantages of using these forming processes, like die costs are low, easy maintenance of tolerances, possibility of forming most metals, and material does not show spring-back effect. The production cost of components by such processes is low. The limitation of these processes is the need for skilled personnel.

         

 There are three main high energy rate forming processes:

1.      Explosive forming,

2.      Magnetic forming,

3.    Electro hydraulic forming.

Explosive Forming

Explosive forming, is distinguished from conventional forming in that the punch or diaphragm is replaced by an explosive charge. The explosives used are generally high – explosive chemicals, gaseous mixtures, or propellants. There are two techniques of high – explosive forming: stand – off technique and the contact technique.

Standoff Technique . The sheet metal work piece blank is clamped over a die and the assembly is lowered into a tank filled with water. The air in the die is pumped out. The explosive charge is placed at some predetermined distance from the work piece, see Fig 9.1. On detonation of the explosive, a pressure pulse of very high intensity is produced. A gas bubble is also produced which expands spherically and then collapses. When the pressure pulse impinges against the work piece, the metal is deformed into the die with as high velocity as 120 m/s.

Fig 9.1 Sequeuce of underwater explosive forming operations.(i) explosive charge is set in position (ii) pressure pulse and gas bubble are formed as the detonation of charge occurs, (iii) workpiece is deformed, and (iv) gas bubbles vent at the surface of water.

The use of water as the energy transfer medium ensures a uniform transmission of energy and muffles the sound of the explosive blast. The process is versatile – a large variety of shapes can be formed, there is virtually no limit to the size of the work piece, and it is suitable for low – quantity production as well.

The process has been successfully used to form steel plates 25 mm thick x 4 m diameter and to bulge steel tubes as thick as 25 mm.

Contact Technique. The explosive charge in the form of cartridge is held in direct contact with the work piece while the detonation is initiated. The detonation builds up extremely high pressures (upto 30,000MPa) on the surface of the work piece resulting in metal deformation, and possible fracture. The process is used often for bulging tubes, as shown in Fig 9.2.

Fig 9.2 Schematic illustration of contact technique of explosive forming. 
The process is generally used for bulging of tubes.

Applications. Explosive forming is mainly used in the aerospace industries but has also found successful applications in the production of automotive related components. The process has the greatest potential in limited – production prototype forming and for forming large size components for which conventional tooling costs are prohibitively high.

Electro Magnetic Forming

The process is also called magnetic pulse forming and is mainly used for swaging type operations, such as fastening fittings on the ends of tubes and crimping terminal ends of cables. Other applications are blanking, forming, embossing, and drawing. The work coils needed for different applications vary although the same power source may be used.

To illustrate the principle of electromagnetic forming, consider a tubular work piece. This work piece is placed in or near a coil, Fig 9.3. A high charging voltage is supplied for a short time to a bank of capacitors connected in parallel. (The amount of electrical energy stored in the bank can be increased either by adding capacitors to the bank or by increasing the voltage). When the charging is complete, which takes very little time, a high voltage switch triggers the stored electrical energy through the coil. A high – intensity magnetic field is established which induces eddy currents into the conductive work piece, resulting in the establishment of another magnetic field. The forces produced by the two magnetic fields oppose each other with the consequence that there is a repelling force between the coil and the tubular work piece that causes permanent deformation of the work piece.

Fig 9.3 Various applications of magnetic forming process. (i) Swaging, (ii) Expanding, and (iii) Embossing or blanking.

Either permanent or expandable coils may be used. Since the repelling force acts on the coil as well the work, the coil itself and the insulation on it must be capable of withstanding the force, or else they will be destroyed. The expandable coils are less costly and are also preferred when high energy level is needed.

Magnetic forming can be accomplished in any of the following three ways, depending upon the requirements.

·         Coil surrounding work piece. When a tube – like part x is to fit over another part y (shown as insert in Fig 9.3(i)), coil is designed to surround x so that when energized, would force the material of x tightly around y to obtain necessary fit.

·         Coil inside work piece. Consider fixing of a collar on a tube – like part, as shown in Fig 9.3(ii). The magnetic coil is placed inside the tube – like part, so that when energized would expand the material of the part into the collar.

·         Coil on flat surface. Flat coil having spiral shaped winding can also be designed to be placed either above or below a flat work piece, see Fig 9.3(iii).These coils are used in conjunction with a die to form, emboss, blank, or dimple the work piece.

In electromagnetic forming, the initial gap between the work piece and the die surface, called the fly distance , must be sufficient to permit the material to deform plastically. From energy considerations, the ideal pressure pulse should be of just enough magnitude that accelerates the part material to some maximum velocity and then let the part come to zero velocity by the time it covers the full fly distance. All forming coils fail, expendable coils fail sooner than durable coils, and because extremely high voltages and currents are involved, it is essential that proper safety precautions are observed by the production and maintenance personnel.

Applications

Electromagnetic forming process is capable of a wide variety of forming and assembly operations. It has found extensive applications in the fabrication of hollow, non – circular, or asymmetrical shapes from tubular stock. The compression applications involve swaging to produce compression, tensile, and torque joints or sealed pressure joints, and swaging to apply compression bands or shrink rings for fastening components together. Flat coils have been used on flat sheets to produce stretch (internal) and shrink (external) flanges on ring and disc – shaped work pieces.

Electromagnetic forming has also been used to perform shearing, piercing, and rivettting.

Electro Hydraulic Forming

Electro hydraulic forming (EHF), also known as electro spark forming, is a process in which electrical energy is converted into mechanical energy for the forming of metallic parts. A bank of capacitors is first charged to a high voltage and then discharged across a gap between two electrodes, causing explosions inside the hollow work piece, which is filled with some suitable medium, generally water. These explosions produce shock waves that travel radially in all directions at high velocity until they meet some obstruction. If the discharge energy is sufficiently high, the hollow work piece is deformed. The deformation can be controlled by applying external restraints in the form of die or by varying the amount of energy released, Fig 9.4.

Fig 9.4 Unrestrained and restrained electro-hydraulic forming process.

Advantages

1.      EHF can form hollow shapes with much ease and at less cost compared to other forming techniques.

2.      EHF is more adaptable to automatic production compared to other high energy rate forming techniques.

3.      EHF can produce small – to intermediate sized parts that don't have excessive energy requirements.

Accuracy of parts produced

Accuracy of electro hydraulically formed parts depends on the control of both the magnitude and location of energy discharges and on the dimensional accuracy of the dies used. With the modern equipment, it is now possible to precisely control the energy within specified limits, therefore the primary factor is the dimensional accuracy of the die. External dimensions on tubular parts are possible to achieve within ± 0.05 mm with the current state of technology.

Materials formed

Materials having low ductility or having critical impact velocity less than 30 m/s are generally not considered to be good candidate for EHF. All materials that can be formed by conventional forming processes can be formed by EHF also. These materials are aluminum alloys, nickel alloys, stainless steels, titanium, and Inconel 718.