Cold forming

Cold forming is the process of forming materials at near room temperature. Depending on the semi-finished product (sheet metal, bar or block) metal forming processes can be assigned to two major groups. Bulk forming processes and sheet metal forming processes:

• Bulk forming:  Bulk forming is a metal forming process where the deformation is three-dimensional in nature.
• Sheet metal forming (up to approx. 10 mm sheet thickness): The deformation stresses are usually in the plane of the sheet metal, whereas in bulk deformation, the deformation stresses possess components in all three coordinates directions. In sheet metal forming, the metal being processed will have high surface area to volume ratio.

One of the most important manufacturing processes in sheet metal forming is deep drawing. This method is used for mass production and for small series production, e.g. in packaging, automotive and aircraft industry. The Research Group of Lightweight and Forming Technologies (LFT) deals with research in the field of deep drawing of different materials. The deep drawing process is a forming process which occurs under a combination of tensile and compressive conditions. A flat sheet metal blank is formed into a hollow body by stretching and compressing. The deep drawing tool consists of three major components including punch, die and binder.