This article begins with a discussion on the fundamentals of cutting. It focuses on blanking and piercing operations in a press tool to form and shape the final part geometry. The types of piercing operations include conventional piercing, piercing with a pointed punch, piece-and-extrude operations, slotting, countersinking, and cutting and lancing of tabs. The article provides information on the punch assembly, the die assembly, and the stripper and discusses the factors considered during piercing operations. It reviews the applications of the four types of blanks used in sheet-forming operations, namely, rectangular blank, rough blank, partially developed blank, and fully developed blank. It concludes with a discussion on the process capabilities, applications, and limitations of fine-edge blanking and piercing.

Multiple-slide forming is a process in which the workpiece is progressively formed in a combination of units that can be used in various ways for the automated fabrication of a large variety of simple and intricately shaped parts from coil stock or wire. This article discusses the components of multiple-slide rotary forming machines involved in the blanking and forming of strip stock. It describes a complicated application of the two-level forming, with an example.

This article discusses the production of blanks from low-carbon steel sheet and strip in dies in a mechanical or hydraulic press. It describes the cutting operations that are done by dies in presses to produce blanks. The applications of blanking methods are described with examples. The article reviews the characteristics of blanked edges and explains how to calculate the forces and the work involved in blanking. Factors affecting the processing of blanks are discussed. The article provides information on the selection of work metal form, the effect of work metal thickness on the selection of material for dies and related components, as well as the selection of die type and design. The article illustrates the construction and use of short-run dies and conventional dies. It concludes with information on the shaving and deburring methods for blanking.

This article provides an overview of the incremental sheet forming (ISF) process and discusses the process variations of ISF. These variations include single-point incremental forming, two-point incremental forming, and kinematic incremental sheet forming. The article discusses the machines and equipment used in the process and describes the process parameters, process mechanics, and process limits. It illustrates multistage forming strategies and summarizes difficulties that exist with regard to the finite-element process simulation of ISF process. The article also describes hybrid process variations, such as stretch forming and laser-assisted ISF.

This article describes the effect of temperature, composition, strain rate, and fabrication history on the results obtained in the forming of beryllium as well as the safety measures required. It provides information on the equipment, tooling, dies, and workpieces used for forming beryllium. The article discusses the role of lubrication, blank development, tool designs, and strain rates, in deep drawing. It also provides information on the tooling and applications of three-roll bending, stretch forming, and spinning.

In terms of forming, magnesium alloys are much more workable at elevated temperatures due to their hexagonal crystal structures. This article describes the deformation mechanisms of magnesium and provides information on the hot and cold forming processes of magnesium alloys and the lubricants used in the processes. It discusses the various forming processes of magnesium alloys. These include press-brake forming, deep drawing, manual and power spinning, rubber-pad forming, stretch forming, drop hammer forming, and precision forging.

This article discusses the selection of types of stainless steel for various methods of forming based on the formability and on the power required for forming. It reviews the requirements of lubrication, blanking, and piercing. The article describes various forming methods, namely, press-brake forming, press forming, multiple-slide forming, deep drawing, spinning, rubber-pad forming, drop hammer forming¸ three-roll forming, contour roll forming, stretch forming, and bending of tubing.

An important activity in metalworking facilities is the testing of raw materials for characteristics that ensure the integrity and quality of the products made. This article reviews the common material parameters that can have a direct or indirect influence on workability and product quality. These include strength, ductility, hardness, strain-hardening exponent, strain-rate effects, temperature effects, and hydrostatic pressure effects. The article also reviews the material behavior characteristics typically determined by mechanical testing methods. It discusses various mechanical testing methods, including the tension test, plane-strain tension test, compression test, plane-strain compression test, partial-width indentation test, and torsion test. Aspects of testing particularly relevant to workability and quality control for metalworking processes are also described. Finally, the article details the various factors influencing workability in bulk deformation processes and formability in sheet-metal forming.

This article introduces process factors that influence die wear and lubrication for metal forming operations such as bending, spinning, stretching, deep drawing, and ironing. It discusses the effects of part shape, sheet thickness, tolerance requirements, sheet metal, and lubrication on shallow forming dies. The article describes the wear of material for dies to draw round and square cup-shaped metal parts in a press. It also discusses the effect of process conditions on the shallow forming dies.

Ring rolling is a process for creating seamless ring shaped components using specialized equipment and forming processes. This article provides information on the applications of ring rolling. It discusses the types of machines used for ring rolling, namely, vertical rolling machines, radial-axial horizontal rolling machines, four-mandrel mechanical table mills, three-mandrel table mills, and automatic radial-axial multiple-mandrel ring mills. The article provides a discussion on the process control technology and ancillary operations of ring rolling. It describes the methods of producing ring blanks and the various types of blanking and rolling tools used in ring rolling process. The article concludes with a discussion on rolled ring tolerances and machining allowances.

This article focuses on the sample preparation methods for titanium honeycomb composites, boron fiber composites, and titanium/polymeric composite hybrids. These include mounting, sectioning, grinding, and polishing. The article also provides information on the sample preparation of unstaged and staged prepreg materials for optical analysis.

Aluminum and its alloys are among the more formable materials of commonly fabricated metals. This article discusses the formability, bendability, and springback of aluminum and its alloys. It describes the forming limit diagrams that illustrate the biaxial combinations of strain that can occur without splitting. The article reviews various bending methods, such as draw, compression, ram and press, roll, and stretch or tension bending. It describes the process variations of incremental sheet forming (ISF), such as single-point incremental forming, two-point incremental forming, and kinematic incremental sheet forming. The article concludes with a discussion on spinning, warm forming, and superplastic forming.

This article discusses different factors for selecting progressive dies: costs, production volume, and press availability. It describes the purposes of strip development for a ring shaped part and presents the principles for the development of progressive dies. The article provides discussions on the general design features of progressive dies and the choice of proper auxiliary equipment such as coil feeders and scrap handling equipment. It concludes with information on different presses for progressive die work: open-back inclinable presses, four-column presses, and automatic underdrive presses.

Open-die forging can be distinguished from most other types of deformation processes in that it provides discontinuous material flow as opposed to continuous flow. This article describes the equipment and auxiliary tools used in open-die forging. It discusses the production and practice of open-die forging, with some practical examples. The article illustrates macrosegregation in a large steel ingot and lists the forgeable alloys. It reviews the physical and mathematical models used in deformation modeling. The article explains the contour forging and roll planishing process. It inform that to ensure that forgings can be machined to correct final measurements, it is necessary to establish allowances, tolerances, and specifications for flatness and concentricity. The article also tabulates the allowances and tolerances for as-forged shafts and bars.

Coining is a closed-die forging operation in which all surfaces of the workpiece are confined or restrained, resulting in a well-defined imprint of the die on the workpiece. This article focuses on the coining equipment (hammers and presses), lubricants, and general and special die materials used in the coining process. It discusses the coinability of metals such as steels, copper, and composite metals. The article describes the control of dimensions, surface finishes, and weight of coined items. It concludes with a discussion on processing problems and solutions.

Cold heading is typically a high-speed process where a blank is progressively moved through a multi-station machine. This article discusses various cold heading process parameters, such as upset length ratio, upset diameter ratio, upset strain, and process sequence design. It describes the various components of a cold-heading machine and the tools used in the cold heading process. These include headers, transfer headers, bolt makers, nut formers, and parts formers. The article explains the operations required for preparing stock for cold heading, including heat treating, drawing to size, machining, descaling, cutting to length, and lubricating. It lists the advantages of the cold heading over machining. Materials selection criteria for dies and punches in cold heading are also described. The article provides examples that demonstrate tolerance capabilities and show dimensional variations obtained in production runs of specific cold-headed products. It concludes with a discussion on the applications of warm heading.

Statistics are extremely important tools in the operation of press shops, providing numerical process analysis capabilities. The most common use of statistics in the press shop is statistical process control (SPC) that uses statistical techniques such as control charts to analyze a process or its output to enable appropriate actions to be taken to achieve and maintain a state of statistical control. This article discusses the role of statistics in sheet metal forming operations, both in terms of SPC techniques, such as control charting, statistical deformation control, and experimental design, including single-variable studies, multivariable studies, and Taguchi experiments.

Mechanical joining by forming includes all processes where parts being joined are formed locally and sometimes fully. This article focuses on the types, advantages, disadvantages, and applications of the various mechanical joining methods, namely, riveting, crimping, clinching, and self-pierce riveting.

This article focuses on the three basic groups of flexible-die forming methods: rubber pad, fluid cell, and fluid forming. It provides information on the Guerin process, the Verson-Wheelon process, the trapped-rubber process, the Marform process, the Hydroform process, the SAAB process, and the Demarest process. The article provides a discussion on the procedures of these processes, as well as the presses and tools used. It describes the methods of hydraulic forming of thin metal parts, namely, hydraulic forming with diaphragm, hydraulic forming with gasket and pressure control, and hydrobuckling.