Heated hydro-mechanical deep drawing of magnesium sheet metal

In order to reduce fuel consumption efforts have been made to decrease the weight of automobile constructions by increasing the use of lightweight materials. In this field of application magnesium alloys are important because of their low density. A promising alternative to large surfaced and thin die casting parts has been found in construction parts that are manufactured by sheet metal forming of magnesium. Magnesium alloys show a limited formability at room temperature. A considerable improvement of formability can be achieved by heating the material. Formability increases above a temperature of approximately T = 225 degreesC. This paper will give an overview about the heated hydro-mechanical deep drawing process of magnesium sheet metal. It will further show how the process parameters temperature and fluid pressure influence the deep drawing process. The main goal of these investigations was a decrease of the forming temperature by use of the hydro mechanical deep drawing process.