Calibrating Component Areas through Electromagnetic Forming

As the required energies and thus the stress on machines and tools increase with the surface area to be formed during electromagnetic forming, this process is particularly suitable for smaller to medium-sized components. However, the process advantages can also be utilized for larger components by combining electromagnetic forming (EMF) with conventional manufacturing processes or integrating it into them. Deep drawing or stretch forming are particularly suitable here. Combinations with extrusion, roll forming, incremental sheet forming (IHF), or other established processes for sheet or profile forming are also conceivable. In general, the global component geometry is produced by conventional forming, while EMF is used to rework a critical area where conventional forming alone cannot achieve the desired result. This allows for the realization of locally complex secondary shapes or design elements and small component radii, even down to sharp edges. At the same time, the formation of necking or cracks is avoided or significantly reduced. A so-called inductor is used as the tool for EMF, which, when integrated into a deep drawing process, can be incorporated into the punch or die depending on the desired direction of EMF to perform the electromagnetic forming at the bottom dead center of the deep drawing process, i.e., under full deep drawing load. Due to the short forming duration of EMF compared to deep drawing, similar process times as in conventional deep drawing can be expected with suitable process management and parallelization of capacitor charging times and automated handling processes.