Experimental Study of Electromagnetic Sheet Metal Forming Process

Electromagnetic forming is a high strain rate forming process used for shaping metals. The increasing need for high strength-to-weight ratio in automobile bodies, stimulated automobile industries to opt for aluminium alloy which has abundant formability and high strength to weight ratio. An experimental setup to test the high speed forming of a clamped circular work piece in an electromagnetic forming system is made. The free bulging of the IS 19000 EIC annealed aluminium sheets is studied. Experiments are conducted on various thicknesses of aluminium sheets by varying the energy. Two different spiral coils are tried. Metallurgical studies are carried out on aluminium sheets. This includes measuring the hardness of the work piece before and after deformation and a microstructure study using the Scanning Electron Microscope.