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 emphasizes the traits that are common to high-velocity forming operations. It describes general principles on how metal forming is accomplished and analyzed when inertial forces are large. The article discusses the principal methods of high-velocity forming, such as explosive forming, electrohydraulic forming, and electromagnetic forming. It provides examples that illustrate how these methods can be practically applied. The article concludes with information on the status and development potential for the technology.

This article discusses the numerical simulation of the forming of aluminum alloy sheet metals. The macroscopic and microscopic aspects of the plastic behavior of aluminum alloys are reviewed. The article presents constitutive equations suitable for the description of aluminum alloy sheets. It explains testing procedures and analysis methods that are used to measure the relevant data needed to identify the material coefficients. The article describes the various formulations of finite element methods used in sheet metal forming process simulations. Stress-integration procedures for both continuum and crystal-plasticity mechanics are also discussed. The article also provides various examples that illustrate the simulation of aluminum sheet forming.

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 tabulates the nominal compositions for nickel and cobalt alloys. It illustrates the comparison of strain-hardening rates of a number of alloys in terms of the increase in hardness with increasing cold reduction. The forming practice for age-hardenable alloys and the lubricants used in the forming processes of nickel and cobalt alloys are also discussed. The article summarizes the modification of tools and dies used for cold forming other metals, as the physical and mechanical properties of nickel and cobalt alloys frequently necessitate it. It discusses forming techniques for these alloys and provides several examples of these techniques, which include shearing, blanking, piercing, deep drawing, spinning, explosive forming, bending, and expanding/tube forming.

This article focuses on the technology breakthroughs that make forming simulation a routine work throughout the industry. It discusses many forms of the computer-aided engineering (CAE) methodology. The article describes several failure criteria to predict the failure of sheet metal. It explains the numerical procedure for sheet metal forming and reviews the important technical issues in CAE simulations. The article provides information on the applications and process of metal-forming simulation. It also reviews the capabilities of major systems that are popular among sheet metal forming users worldwide.

Drawing is a process by which a workpiece is pulled against a die to produce a wire, bar, or tube with smaller cross sectional area compared with the initial stock. This article discusses the variables that affect the drawing process and the parameters that influence friction, lubrication, and wear. These parameters include process, lubricant, workpiece, and tooling. The article provides information on dry and wet lubrication in wire drawing. The dry lubrication refers to use of solid lubricants while wet lubrication refers to the practice of providing a liquid lubricant to the workpiece-die interface. The article describes the most common types and causes of die wear: abrasive wear, adhesive wear, surface fatigue wear, thermal fatigue wear, and catastrophic failure. It concludes with a discussion on the surface treatment and texturing that are used to reduce die wear in drawing operations.

Sheet forming comprises deformation processes in which a metal blank is shaped by tools or dies, primarily under the action of tensile stresses. This article discusses the classification of sheet-forming processes for obtaining desired dimensional features. It describes different process-related developments, namely, superplastic forming of aluminum, forming of tailor-welded blanks, rubber-pad forming, and high-velocity metal forming. The article explains cost-effective approaches of evaluating tooling designs prior to the manufacture of expensive steel dies and dieless forming techniques such as thermal forming and peen forming. It provides information on the application of advanced high-strength steels, magnesium alloys, and various ultrafine-grain materials for superplastic sheet forming. The article concludes with information on the development and application of simulation, design, and control of sheet-forming processes.

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 introduces the basic characteristics, processes, and product forms associated with the five major categories of aluminum wrought products, namely, flat-rolled products (sheet, plate, and foil); rod, bar, and wire; tubular products; profiles; and forgings. It summarizes the various product forms in which commonly used wrought aluminum alloys are available. The article also provides design guidelines for aluminum extrusions and discusses various forming methods.

This article outlines several polycrystal formulations commonly applied for the simulation of plastic deformation and the prediction of deformation texture. It discusses the crystals of cubic and hexagonal symmetry that constitute the majority of the metallic aggregates used in technological applications. The article defines the basic kinematic tensors, reports their relations, and presents expressions for calculating the change in crystallographic orientation associated with plastic deformation. It surveys some of the polycrystal models in terms of the relative strength of the homogeneous effective medium (HEM). The article analyzes the anisotropy predictions of rolled face-centered-cubic and body centered-cubic sheets and presents simulations of the axial deformation of hexagonal-close-packed zirconium. The applications of polycrystal constitutive models to the simulation of complex forming operations, through the use of the finite element method, are also presented.

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.

This article explores the possibilities and limitations imposed by manufacturing processes and materials. Detailed design rules for the processes are presented. The article lists the main features of process groups in a tabular form. The physical characteristics and ratings of relative cost and production factors are also tabulated. The process groups include casting; deformation; powder processing; machining; noncutting; joining; ceramic, glass, and polymer processing; and composites manufacturing.

This article describes the characteristics of thermoplastic composites and its material forms. It presents the steps and considerations in manufacturing the thermoplastic composites. The article describes the various techniques of manufacturing, such as consolidation, autoclave molding, diaphragm forming, compression molding, roll forming, bladder molding, liquid molding, filament winding, and pultrusion.

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.

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.