Experimental and simulation study on the warm deep drawing of AZ31 alloy

Abstract

The presented work aimed at studying the deep drawing process of a magnesium alloy sheet at elevated temperatures. This is because magnesium is being considered as a promising alternative for high strength steel and aluminium within many applications because of its low density and high specific strength. It is a well-known and recognised fact that fracturing and wrinkling during the deep drawing process can be minimised or eliminated by selecting an appropriate warm-forming temperature of the magnesium, as the formability of magnesium increases considerably as the temperature increases. Hence a warm formability study of AZ31 was performed and tested by experimental and simulation methods and resulted in superior formability at elevated temperatures in both cases. A 3D Finite element model was developed for the simulation of circular cup deep drawing and tested for different temperatures ranging from room temperature to 300 °C and it was found that the limiting drawing ratio (LDR) increased significantly with any increase in temperature. The experimental and simulation results were found to be in good agreement.