ME206 – Manufacturing Process I

Lecture 14 – Sheet Metal Processing

Amber Shrivastava
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Acknowledgement: Prof. Pradeep Dixit

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Sheet metal applications

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 Sheet metal operations - video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHC7-glsokY
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 What is sheet metal and operations
• Sheet metal : thickness from 0.15 mm and 6.35 mm (1/4” inch).
– Thickness < 0.15 mm : foil
– Thickness > 6.35 mm : Plate.
– Common materials: mild steel, aluminum, copper
– Large surface area to volume ratios
• Sheet metal thickness is generally measured in gauge.
– Higher the gauge number, thinner the sheet metal.
• Performed at relatively low temperature hence under the “cold
working”
• Applications:
– Automobiles and trucks/ Airplanes/ Railway cars and locomotives
– Farm and construction equipment/Office furniture
– Computers and office equipment/Outer body of mobile phones
• Advantages:
– High strength, Good dimensional accuracy, Good surface finish
– Relatively low cost , Economical mass production for large
quantities
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 Sheet Metal Processing 5

Bending Deep drawing

Punching/Shearing
 Main sheet metal operations
• Cutting (shearing), bending (V/Edge), deep drawing
• Cutting Operations:
– Shearing to separate large sheets,
– Blanking to cut part perimeters out of sheet metal
– Punching to make holes in sheet metal
• Bending:
– The sheet material is strained by punch to give a bend shape
(angle shape) usually in a straight axis.
• Deep (or cup) drawing: (different from wire drawing)
– Forming of a flat metal sheet into a hollow or concave shape like a
cup, is performed by stretching the metal in some regions.
– A blank-holder is used to clamp the blank on the die, while the
punch pushes into the sheet metal. The sheet is drawn into the die
hole taking the shape of the cavity.
• Shearing:
– This is nothing but cutting of sheets by shearing action.
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 Sheet Metal Cutting - stages

• (1) just before the punch contacts work;

• (2) punch begins to push into work, causing plastic deformation;
• (3) punch compresses and penetrates into work causing a smooth cut
surface;
• (4) fracture is initiated at the opposing cutting edges which separates
the sheet.

• Three stages in shearing action:

– Plastic deformation, Fracture and shearing 7
 Mode of metal deformation and failure

• In the start of punching/blanking process, the workpiece bends and is

pulled downwards by the punch movement
• Tensile and compressive stress are produced in the metal sheet
• The grains near the punch corners are elongated (near B and D)
• Local strain is maximum at the corners of die and punch, so a crack is
generated near the corner of punch and the metal sheet ruptures.
• Fracture happens along line BY and later meets the another line
originating from die corner D

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 Shearing, Blanking, and Punching
• Three principal operations in press working that cut sheet metal:
– Shearing, Blanking and Punching
• Shearing: Sheet metal cutting operation along a straight line between
two cutting edges
– Typically used to cut large sheets

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 Blanking and Punching
• Blanking - sheet metal cutting to separate piece (called a blank)
from surrounding stock
• Punching - similar to blanking except cut piece is scrap, called a slug
• In blanking operation, the designed size is decided by the die size,
while in punching, it is decided by the punch size

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 Punching process at industrial scale

Computer numerical control turret press Several sheet metal parts produced on a
(photo courtesy of Strippet, Inc.) turret press, showing variety of hole
shapes possible

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 Punching/Blanking

• In blanking operation, removed part is the desired one, while in

punching operation, the remaining portion is the desired
• In Punching/blanking, finite volume of material is removed by using a
die and punch. Die opening (𝑑𝑑 ) is a little bit larger than the punch size
(𝑑𝑝) by clearance (𝑐), such that 𝑑𝑑 = 𝑑𝑝 + 2𝑐
• Amount clearance c depends on the thickness of metal sheet (𝑡)
• As the punching/blanking is basically a shearing operation, Sharp
corners are provided on the circumference of die/punch.
– Opposite to drawing operation where a fillet is provided on the
corners of die/punch
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 Punch and Die Sizes
• In blanking operation, final size is
decided by the die size, while in
punching, it is by the punch size
• For a round blank of diameter 𝐷𝑏:
– Blanking punch diameter =
𝐷𝑏 - 2𝑐
– Blanking die diameter = 𝐷𝑏
– where c = clearance
• For a round hole of diameter 𝐷𝑕:
– Hole punch diameter = 𝐷𝑕
– Hole die diameter = 𝐷𝑕 + 2𝑐
– where c = clearance

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 Clearance in Sheet Metal Cutting
• Clerance (c): Distance between punch cutting edge and die cutting edge
– Typical values range between 4% and 8% of stock thickness (t)
• If clearance is too small, fracture lines pass each other, causing double
burnishing and larger force
• If too large, metal is pinched between cutting edges and excessive burr
results
• Recommended clearance is calculated by: 𝑐 = 𝑎𝑡
where c = clearance; a = allowance; and t = stock thickness
• Allowance a is determined according to type of metal

Metal group a
1100S and 5052S aluminum alloys, all tempers 0.045

2024ST and 6061ST aluminum alloys; brass, soft cold rolled steel, 0.060
soft stainless steel
Cold rolled steel, half hard; stainless steel, half hard and full hard 0.075

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 Importance of clearance
• Whether the fracture is clean or
not, depends upon the amount of
clearance
• If the clearance is too small,. The Too small clearance
Optimal clearance Too large clearanc
fracture lines miss each other and
a secondary deformation happens
• If the clearance is too large,
significant drawing action takes
place and the quality of the
workpiece is again poor.

𝑡 2.3 exp 𝜀𝑓 −1
• Optimal clearance (empirical relation) = 1.36 exp(𝜀𝑓 )
𝑐0 2 exp 𝜀𝑓 −1

• True fracture strain 𝜀𝑓 = ln(1 + 𝑒𝑓 );

– 𝑒𝑓 engineering fracture strain
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 Angular Clearance
• Purpose: allows slug or blank to drop through die
• Typical values: 0.25 to 1.5 on each side

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 Determination of punching force

• Once the rupture start at B and D, a slight progress of the punch causes a
complete rupture of the complete sheet.
• The maximum force is obtained by determining the force required to cause
the rupture of the area
• Rupture area = length of cut x optimal clearance (𝑐0 )
– Length of cut is circumference of punch 𝜋𝑑𝑝
• Maximum force 𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝜎𝑓 𝜋𝑑𝑝 (𝑐0 ) Natural fracture strain 𝜀𝑓
– 𝜎𝑓 true rupture stress
𝜀𝑓 = ln(1 + 𝑒𝑓 )
𝑡 2.3 exp(𝜀𝑓 )−1
– 𝑐0 can be find: 𝑐 = 1.36 exp(𝜀𝑓 ) 2 exp(𝜀 Engineering fracture strain 𝑒𝑓
0 𝑓) −1
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 Determination of punching force

• Variation of the force F with travel of the punch is shown above

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• Work required for the punching operation: 𝑊 = 𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑝
2
– 𝑝 is the depth of penetration
• For a straight punch:
• 𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝜎𝑓 𝑐𝑏

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 Shearing operation – Punch with shear

• To help in the shearing action, slight shear is provided on the punch

• Maximum force occurs when the punch travels up to the penetration
depth p
• The average force for a width b is the maximum punch force with
shear.
• Amount of shear (s) is commonly expressed as the difference in the
height of the two extreme ends of the punch
• For a straight punch 𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝜎𝑓 𝑐0 𝑏

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 Cutting Forces
• For any punching/blanking operation, we need to find the press size
that can supply enough force
• Press size is expressed in terms of tonnage
• Required force 𝐹 = 𝜏𝑠 𝑡 𝐿
where 𝜏𝑠 = shear strength of metal;
𝑡 = stock thickness, and
𝐿 = length of cut edge
• Shear strength (𝜏𝑠 ) is roughly 0.7 times of yield strength (𝜎𝑌 )

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Deep drawing

𝐶 : clearance
𝐷𝑏: Blank diameter
𝐷𝑝: Punch diameter
𝑅𝑑 : die corner radius
𝑅𝑝: punch corner radius
𝐹 : drawing force
𝐹𝑕: Holding force

Sides of punch and die

separated by a clearance c
given by:
c = 1.1 t
where t = stock thickness
In other words, clearance is
about 10% greater than stock
thickness
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 Deep drawing
• Also known as deep or cup drawing (not wire and bar drawing)
– Combination of bending and stretching
• Sheet metal forming to make cup-shaped, box-shaped, or other
complex-curved, hollow-shaped parts
– Products: beverage cans, ammunition shells, automobile body panels
• Sheet metal blank is positioned over die cavity and then punch pushes
metal into opening
• The sheet is held flat on the die surface by using a blank holder.
• Punch is always smaller than the opening of die dimension.
– This difference is known as „clearance‟
– Clearance „c‟ ~ 10% of sheet thickness „t‟.
• If the clearance between the die and the punch is less than the sheet
thickness, then ironing occurs.

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Stages in deep (cup) drawing

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 Stages in deep drawing
• As the punch pushes the sheet, the sheet is subjected to a bending
operation which occurs over the punch corner and die corner.
– The outside perimeter of the blank moves slightly inwards toward
the cup center.
• In this stage, the sheet region that was bent over the die corner will
be straightened in the clearance region at this stage, so that it will
become cup wall region.
• Friction between the sheet and the die, blank holder surfaces restricts
the movement of sheet into the die opening.
– The blank holding force also influences the movement. Lubricants
or drawing compounds are generally used to reduce friction forces.
• Other than friction, compression occurs at the edge of the sheet. Since
the perimeter is reduced, the sheet is squeezed into the die opening.
Because volume remains constant, with reduction in perimeter,
thickening occurs at the edge.
• The final cup part will have some thinning in side wall.

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 Basic terms in drawing operation
• Drawing ratio (DR) Indicates severity of a given drawing operation
• For cylindrical shape, DR is defined as ratio of blank diameter to punch
diameter
𝐷𝑏
– 𝐷𝑅 =
𝐷𝑝

– Db = blank diameter; and Dp = punch diameter

– Upper limit : 𝐷𝑅 ≤ 2
1 𝐷𝑏 −𝐷𝑝
• Reduction (r): for cylindrical shaped: 𝑟 = 1 − =
𝐷𝑅 𝐷𝑏
• Thickness-to-diameter ratio (𝑡 𝐷𝑏 ):
– Ratio of thickness of sheet metal (stock) to the diameter of blank
– Desirable for t/Db ratio to be greater than 1%
– As t/Db decreases, tendency for wrinkling increases

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 Blank Size Determination
• The starting flat sheet is known as blank
• For final dimensions of drawn shape to be correct, starting blank
diameter Db must be right
– Blank diameter: Too large > wastage;
– Too small >> drawing operation will fail
• Solve for Db by using volume conservation:
– Sheet metal blank volume = final product volume
• To facilitate calculation, assume negligible thinning of part wall

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 Blank size determination in deep drawing
• Exact size determination is difficult due to thinning of sheet during
the drawing process
• Based on volume and surface area conservation, approximate blank
size can be determined.
• For “cylindrical shells” having thin walls and outer size (d), the
blank diameter (D) can be known:
• 𝐷= (𝑑 2 + 4𝑑𝑕); 𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑛 𝑑 20𝑟
• 𝐷= (𝑑 2 + 4𝑑𝑕) − 0.5𝑟 ; 𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑛 20𝑟  𝑑15𝑟
• 𝐷= (𝑑 2 + 4𝑑𝑕) − 𝑟 ; 𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑛 15𝑟  𝑑10𝑟
• 𝐷 = 𝑑 − 2𝑟)2 + 4𝑑 𝑕 − 𝑟 + 2𝜋𝑟(𝑑 − 0.7𝑟) ; 𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑛 10𝑟 < 𝑑
– 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑟 = 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑕, 𝑕 = 𝑕𝑒𝑖𝑔𝑕𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑠𝑕𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑑 =
𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑠𝑕𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝐷 = 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟
• For practical purposes, additional allowances (i.e., trim allowance)
are provided for trimming of the uneven and irregular rim of the
deep-drawn cup.
• Trim allowance: 3 mm for the first 25 mm cup diameter, additional 3
mm for each of the additional 25 mm of cup diameter
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 Percentage reduction in drawing
• Percentage reduction in a single drawing depends on the ductility
– Higher ductility > higher reduction in a pass
• Ductility in affected by the max strain material can take
𝐷𝑝
• Percentage reduction : 100 1 −
𝐷𝑜
– Dp: punch outer dia (outer dia of cup) , Do= blank dia
• Percentage reduction upto 50, but normally, kept upto 40%
– Max reduction for Al alloy, Cu, Low carbon steel: 45%
• Recommended percentage reductions
– Upto 40% (in 1st pass), 25% (in 2nd pass), 15% (in 3rd pass), 10%
(in 4th and subsequent passes),

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 Example
• A symmetrical cup of circular cross section with an 40 mm dia (d)
and 60 mm height (h) needs to be made. Corner radius (r) 2 mm.
Workpiece is 0.6 mm thick Low carbon steel. What will be the
number of drawing passes required?
• Solution:
– 1. Find the corner radius/ diameter (2/40) 𝑑 20𝑟
– 2. Find the blank size diameter 𝐷 2 = 𝑑 2 + 4𝑑𝑕
– 3. Amount of drawing passes required
𝑑
• Total percentage reduction: 100 1 − ~ 64%
𝐷𝑜
• 2 passes will be required (40%, and 25% reduction)

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 Deep Drawing Basics
• Basic deformation modes: bending and stretching
• Key variables: punch diameter (Dp), blank diameter (D0), blank
thickness (t), punch force (P), punch radius (Rp), die radius (Rd),
punch-die clearance (c), blank holder force

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 Deep Drawing Basics
• Punch force can be estimated by:
𝐷0
– 𝑃𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝜋𝐷𝑝 𝑡0 (𝑈𝑇𝑆) − 0.7
𝐷𝑝
• Punch-die clearance affects “ironing”

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 Drawing force and Blank holding force
• Drawing force depends upon the cup material and its dimensions
• For cylindrical shells, empirical drawing force (𝑃):
𝐷0
• 𝑃 = 𝜋𝑑𝑡𝜎𝑡 −𝐶
𝐷𝑝
– 𝑃 = 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑁 ; 𝑡 = 𝑡𝑕𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 (𝑚𝑚);
– 𝜎𝑡 = 𝑦𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑕 (𝑀𝑃𝑎); 𝐶 = 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒: 0.6 − 0.7
• For other shapes, the formula will only give approximate results
• Blank holding force:
– Difficult to determine.
– Maximum limit is one third of the drawing force

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 Limiting drawing ratio (LDR)
• LDR - the maximum ratio of blank diameter to punch diameter that
can be drawn without failure (=Do/Dp)
• LDR is affected by normal anisotropy, R
𝑤 𝑤
ln 𝑤0 ln 𝑤0
𝜀𝑤 𝑓 𝑓 𝑅0 +2𝑅45 +𝑅90
• 𝑅= = = 𝑤𝑓 𝑙𝑓 =
𝜀𝑡 𝑡0
ln 𝑤 𝑙 4
ln 𝑡𝑓 0 0

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 Forming Limit Diagram (FLD)
• Formability: ability of sheet metal to undergo the desired
deformation without failures such as necking and tearing
• FLD used to estimate formability of sheet metal in deep drawing

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 Forming Limit Diagram (FLD)
• Bulge tests performed for various sheet widths
• Each sheet has circular grid marks etched on it

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 Forming Limit Diagram (FLD)
• Major and minor strains of deformed grid marks plotted
• Failure occurs above a forming limit line;
– material is safe below the line

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 Defects in deep drawing

wrinkling in flange and cup wall tearing earing surface scratches

• Wrinkling in flange and cup wall: This is like ups and downs or
waviness that is developed on the flange. If the flange is drawn into the
die hole, it will be retained in cup wall region.
• Tearing: It is a crack in the cup, near the base, happening due to high
tensile stresses causing thinning and failure of the metal at this place.
This can also occur due to sharp die corner.
• Earing: The height of the walls of drawn cups have peaks and valleys
called as earing. There may be more than four ears. Earing results
from planar anisotropy (∆R), and ear height and angular position
correlate well with the angular variation of R.
• Surface scratches: Usage of rough punch, dies and poor lubrication
cause scratches in a drawn cup.
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 Bending of sheet metals
V-bending

Edge bending

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 Bending of sheet metals
• V-Bending • Edge-Bending
– For low production – For high production
– Performed on a press – Pressure pad required
brake – Dies are more complicated
– V-dies are simple and and costly
inexpensive

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Various bending operations

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 Sheet Metal Bending
• Straining sheet metal around a straight axis to take a permanent
bend
• Metal on inside of neutral plane is compressed, while metal on
outside of neutral plane is stretched
• Types of Sheet Metal Bending:
• V-bending - performed with a V-shaped die
• Edge bending - performed with a wiping die

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 Spring back in sheet metal

• Spring back in bending is a decrease in bend angle and an increase in bend

radius:
– (1) during bending, the work is forced to take radius Rb and included
angle b' of the bending tool,
– (2) after punch is removed, the work springs back to radius R and angle
„.
• Increase in included angle of bent part relative to included angle of forming
tool after tool is removed
• Reason for spring back:
– When bending pressure is removed, elastic energy remains in bent part,
causing it to recover partially toward its original shape
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 Other processes

• Iorning: • Embossing:
– Makes wall thickness of – Used to create
cylindrical cup more indentations in sheet,
uniform such as raised (or
– Examples: beverage cans indented) lettering or
and artillery shells strengthening ribs

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 Stretch Forming

Stretch forming: (1) start of process; (2) form die is pressed into the work with
force Fdie, causing it to be stretched and bent over the form. F = stretching force

• Sheet metal is stretched and simultaneously bent to

achieve shape change

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 Roll Bending/Forming

• Large metal sheets and

plates are formed into • Continuous bending
curved sections using process in which opposing
rolls rolls produce long sections
of formed shapes from coil
or strip stock

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 Spinning

• Metal forming process in which an axially symmetric part is

gradually shaped over a rotating mandrel using a rounded
tool or roller
• Three types:
– Conventional spinning
– Shear spinning
– Tube spinning
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 Spinning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0D4YKXMjKo
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Forming process to make 2-piece aluminium can

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Forming process to make 2-piece aluminium can

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