Stretch forming is the forming of sheet, bars, and rolled or extruded sections over a die or form block of the required shape while the workpiece is held in tension. This article discusses the applicability, advantages, and machines and accessories of stretch forming. It provides a detailed discussion on four methods of stretch forming, namely, stretch draw forming, stretch wrapping, compression forming, and radial draw forming.

This article describes grade designations of the various sheet steels used for draw forming. It discusses the specifications associated with most sheet draw forming materials. The article examines the behavior of stress- and strain-based forming limit curve (FLC). It provides a discussion on three separate frictional conditions acting in a draw die. The frictional conditions include the metal passing through a draw bead, the metal clamped in the binder, and the metal sliding across a die radius. The article also explains the basic steps in the vehicle development process. The steps involved in the thought process of direct engineering for formability are also explained. The article places considerable emphasis on the need for the designer to clearly define the die/tooling faces in the computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) system before the data are passed on to the construction functions.

This article discusses the general formability considerations of aluminum alloys. To conduct a complete analysis of a formed part, the required mechanical properties, as determined by several standard tests, must be considered. The article describes tension testing and other tests designed to simulate various production forming processes, including cup tests and bend tests, which help in determining these properties. It provides information on the equipment and tools, which are used in the forming of aluminum alloys. The article presents a list of lubricants that are most widely used in the forming. It also analyzes the various forming processes of aluminum alloys. The processes include blanking and piercing, bending, press-brake forming, contour roll forming, deep drawing, spinning, stretch forming, rubber-pad forming, warm forming, superplastic forming, explosive forming, electrohydraulic forming, electromagnetic forming, hydraulic forming, shot peening, and drop hammer forming.

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.

This article describes different types of titanium alloys, including alloy Ti-6Al-4V, alpha and near-alpha alloys, and alpha-beta alloys. It explains the formability of titanium alloys with an emphasis on the Bauschinger effect. The article provides information on the tool materials and lubricants used in the forming process. It provides information on the cold and hot forming, superplastic forming, and combination of superplastic forming/diffusion bonding. The article discusses the various forming processes of these titanium alloys, including press-brake forming, power (shear) spinning, rubber-pad forming, stretch forming, contour roll forming, creep forming, vacuum forming, drop hammer forming, joggling, and explosive forming.

The earliest commercial use of carbon fibers is often attributed to Thomas Edison's carbonization of cotton and bamboo fibers for incandescent lamp filaments. This article describes the manufacture of PAN-based carbon fibers and pitch-based carbon fibers. It discusses the properties and characteristics of carbon fibers in terms of axial structure, transverse structure, and interfacial bonding. The article discusses the typical applications of carbon fibers, including aerospace and sporting goods. It concludes with a discussion on anticipated developments in carbon fibers.

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.

Steel automotive exhaust systems suffer from various forms of corrosion. This article illustrates exhaust system components with typical upper metal skin temperatures and alloys of construction. It discusses high-temperature corrosion of automotive exhaust systems, including oxidation, hot salt attack, and thermal fatigue. The article describes the various forms of corrosion which occur at the cold end of an exhaust system. The forms of cold end exhaust corrosion, including condensate pitting corrosion, exterior salt pitting, crevice corrosion, intergranular corrosion, and galvanic corrosion.

This article begins with a discussion on the factors considered in the selection of bending methods. It presents a detailed description of the types of bending method, machines and tools used in the bending and forming of tubing. The article provides an overview of bending tubing with and without a mandrel and hot bending. It concludes with a discussion on the bending of thin-wall tubes and lubrication for tube bending.

This article discusses the mechanics, surface preparation and principles of metal forming operations such as drawing, bending (draw bending, compression bending, roll bending, and stretch bending), spinning, and straightening of bars, tubes, wires, rods and structural shapes. The article also discusses the machines and tools, including dies and mandrels, and lubricants used for these metal forming operations.

This article reviews the general characteristics of copper and copper alloys and explains how these characteristics affect the behavior of strip in different types of forming operations. These forming operations include blanking, piercing, bending, drawing and stretch forming, spinning, rubber-pad forming, and contour roll forming. Specialized forming operations such as hydraulic forming, embossing and swaging, and high-velocity metal forming are also reviewed. The article discusses the forming of smaller and larger parts from copper and copper alloy strips, as well as their property requirements and applications.

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 describes the coating materials, surface-preparation requirements, and application techniques used to protect underground pipelines. It provides a valuable insight into the types of polymer-based coatings that are both cost-effective and widely accepted in the pipeline industry.

Metal production mills produce flat metal sheet and strip products into coil forms that are subjected to further fabrication for shape correction. This article provides a discussion on the principle of shape correction and describes the role of various fabrication processes in shape correction. These processes include flattening, leveling, slitting, and cut-to-length.

This article describes the presses that are mechanically or hydraulically powered and used for producing sheet, strip, and plate from sheet metal. It also presents the JIC standards for presses, compares the presses based on power source, details the selection criteria and provides information on the various drive systems and the auxiliary equipment. It describes the selection of die materials and lubricants for sheet metal forming and provides information on the lubrication mechanisms and selection with a list of lubricant types for forming of specific sheet materials of ferrous or nonferrous metals. The article reviews the various types of forming processes such as blanking, piercing, fine-edge blanking, press bending, press forming, forming by multiple-slide machines, deep drawing, stretch forming, spinning, rubber-pad forming, three-roll forming, contour roll forming, drop hammer forming, explosive forming, electromagnetic forming, and superplastic forming.

This article focuses on the mechanisms and common causes of failure of metal components in lifting equipment in the following three categories: cranes and bridges, particularly those for outdoor and other low-temperature service; attachments used for direct lifting, such as hooks, chains, wire rope, slings, beams, bales, and trunnions; and built-in members such as shafts, gears, and drums.

Simulation programs are becoming more effective tools in reducing the need for physical testing and the avoidance of costly downstream problems by solving the problems upfront in the early development stage. This article provides a brief review of the history and applied analysis of simple forming operations. It focuses on metal stamping simulation based on the finite-element methods or model (FEM) with emphasis on software tools using the three-dimensional FEM technology. The article discusses two aspects of particular importance in finite-element analysis of sheet forming and springback analysis: the type of solution algorithm/governing equation and the type of element. The article provides information on various models for material yield criteria.

This article provides a detailed account on forming operations (blanking, piercing, press-brake forming, contour rolling, deep drawing, cold forming, and hot forming) of various nonferrous metals, including aluminum alloys, beryllium, copper and its alloys, magnesium alloys, nickel alloys, titanium alloys, and platinum metals. It discusses the formability, equipment and tooling, and lubricants used in the forming operations of these nonferrous metals.

The types of metal components used in lifting equipment include gears, shafts, drums and sheaves, brakes, brake wheels, couplings, bearings, wheels, electrical switchgear, chains, wire rope, and hooks. This article primarily deals with many of these metal components of lifting equipment in three categories: cranes and bridges, attachments used for direct lifting, and built-in members of lifting equipment. It first reviews the mechanisms, origins, and investigation of failures. Then the article describes the materials used for lifting equipment, followed by a section explaining the failure analysis of wire ropes and the failure of wire ropes due to corrosion, a common cause of wire-rope failure. Further, it reviews the characteristics of shock loading, abrasive wear, and stress-corrosion cracking of a wire rope. Then, the article provides information on the failure analysis of chains, hooks, shafts, and cranes and related members.