Analysis of size-effects in the miniaturized deep drawing process

With the increasing trend towards miniaturization and the enhanced demand for small components, reliable processes for mass production are needed. Today the deep drawing process is already used to produce large numbers of small parts (diameter < 1 mm) at low costs per part. But a better understanding of the process in relation to miniaturization is required to improve process stability, because several aspects of the process change when scaled down. For example, product accuracy and process parameters can be influenced by changing the ratio of surface to volume or the ratio of grain size to foil thickness. For the analysis of these effects experiments with geometrically scaled deep drawing tool sets from 8 mm to I mm punch diameter have been carried out, using CuZn37 foils in different annealed conditions and a foil thickness ranging from 0.3 mm to 0.04 rum. Additionally, the deep drawing process is simulated via FE-methods to consider influences that cannot be measured using the available experimental setup, such as temperature conditions resulting from the heat generated due to plastic dissipation and friction.