Fracture types and thickness distribution in superplastic sheets formed with plastic injection molding

This paper investigates the fracture types and thickness ratio distribution in superplastic Zn/Al sheets formed during a hybrid process combining superplastic sheet forming with plastic injection molding. Three types of sheet fractures, edge cracking, central cracking and combined cracking, are observed. The success of forming superplastic sheets with rib features using injection molding with various parameters, including melt temperature, injection pressure and mold temperature, are investigated. They are presented in the form of a molding area with areas of various fracture types. Central cracks occur when superplastic sheets are formed with injection molding with higher melt temperature, while edge cracks occur with higher injection pressure. When the melt flow is parallel to the sheet rolling direction, the areas of edge crack are enlarged. The sheet thickness ratio distribution is obtained for various injection parameters and rib depths. Observation of the sheet thickness distribution for variation parameters, the tendency of the sheet fracture type can be generalized. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.