Several Factors Affecting the Electroplastic Effect During an Electrically-Assisted Forming Process

Abstract

Recent development of electrically-assisted manufacturing (EAM) processes proved the advantages of using the electric current, mainly related with the decrease in the mechanical forming load and improvement in the formability. Erom EAM e.xperiments, it has been determined that a portion of the applied electrical power contributes toward these forming benefits and the rest is dissipated into heat, defined as the electroplastic effect. The objective of this work is to experimentally investigate several factors that affect the electroplastic effect and the efficiency of the applied electricity. Specifically, the effects of various levels of cold work and contact force are explored on both Grade 2 and Grade 5 Titanium alloys. Thermal and mechanical data prove that these factors notably affect the efficiency of the applied electricity during an electrically-assisted forming (EAF) process.

Investigation of thermal and mechanical effects during electrically-assisted microbending

“…Recall that heat treating the specimens roughened the surface (see Table 2) and a rougher surface leads to worse electrical contact. Other researchers have observed similar temperature profiles with higher temperatures at the die contact compared to the center of the specimen (Salandro et al, 2011).…”

Effect of pulsed current on the deformation behavior of AZ31B magnesium alloy

“…One of the methods is the application of magnesium alloy while it has a high specific strength but with a low formability, which limits its application [1,2]. Although the relatively high deformation temperature greatly improves the plasticity of magnesium alloy, hot deformation has many drawbacks such as the increase of thermal stress, the coarse surface, the high expense of energy, the weak dimensional accuracy and the decreased strength of the die [1,3] etc.…”

“…Although the relatively high deformation temperature greatly improves the plasticity of magnesium alloy, hot deformation has many drawbacks such as the increase of thermal stress, the coarse surface, the high expense of energy, the weak dimensional accuracy and the decreased strength of the die [1,3] etc. Then, electrically-assisted forming is considered as an alternative and more excellent processing due to the extra effect of current called electroplasticity effect, which reduces the stress and improves the formability of workpieces [1][2][3][4].…”

Single-point incremental forming of 6061-T6 using electrically assisted forming methods

“…EAF is a process where the yield and flow stress of a material are reduced by electron interaction with dislocations while passing high-density current through the material during forming. 10–13 Unlike resistive heating, however, the temperature rise accounts for only a small portion of the formability increase observed. 14…”