Potential and status of damage controlled forming processes

Abstract

In modern process design of metallic components, the influence of the metal forming process on the component properties can be taken into account. However, damage occurring concurrent to forming cannot be accounted for yet. Due to the complex multi-scale, multi-mechanism nature of damage, it is very challenging to predict its evolution through any metal forming process chain. In order to enable such damage controlled forming processes in the future three research questions need to be addressed in detail: How are the mechanisms governing the damage initiation and evolution in metals best characterized? How can the damage mechanisms be described and the damage evolution be predicted using models? How do forming processes influence the damage evolution? Answering these questions and considering damage during process design will in the long term lead to improved lightweight components that do not require conventional safety factors, as their performance is already fully known.