Process | Superplastic forming |
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This is an alternative to conventional drawing of sheet metal when free form geometry is desired. Tooling costs are much less but processing times larger (hours) and it is therefore used for small batches e.g. sportscar body parts.
Only the female part of the die is needed. The metal plate is fixed to the die, heated and moderate air pressure is added. Slowly over a couple of hours the plate will be pressed into the die by the air pressure. Only special types suplerplastic metals (aluminium, titanium and stainless steel) can be used. Improved properties can be achieved using age hardening. |
Danish Name
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Superplastisk formning |
Category
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Mass conserving processes, Sheet metal 3d shaping |
Materials
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Aluminium (special superplastic type) Titanium (special superplastic type) Stainless steel (special superplastic type) |
Typical products
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Sprotscar body part Underground train front |
Price notes
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Fairly low tool costs but long processing times (hours) |
Keywords
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Free form sheet metal Automotive body parts |
Photo
|
Thomas Nissen (Computer graphics) |
Copyright
|
© 1996-2019 Torben Lenau This page is part of Design inSite Disclaimer |