Two-stage cold stamping of magnesium alloy cups having small corner radius

A two-stage cold stamping process for forming magnesium alloy cups having a small corner radius from commercial magnesium alloy sheets was developed. In the 1st stage, a cup having large corner radius was formed by deep drawing using a punch having large corner radius, and the corner radius of the cup was decreased by compressing the side wall in the 2nd stage. In the deep drawing of the 1st stage, fracture was prevented by decreasing the concentration of deformation with the punch having large corner radius. The magnesium alloy sheets were annealed at 500 °C to increase the cold formability. Circular and square cups having small corner radii were formed by the two-stage cold stamping. For the circular cup, the height of the cup was increased by ironing the side wall in the 1st stage. The radii of the bottom and side corners of the square cup were reduced by a rubber punch for applying pressure at these corners in the 2nd stage. It was found that comparatively shallow magnesium alloy square cups used as cases of laptop computers and mobile phones can be satisfactorily formed at room temperature without heating by the two-stage stamping.