Shape calibration of high strength metal sheets by electromagnetic forming

Electromagnetic (EM) forming is an emerging technique that is gaining acceptance for its complementary benefits to conventional metal forming techniques. In this work an innovative application of this impulse forming technique has been demonstrated: the EM shape calibration and correction of springback (sidewall curl) of DP600 and TRIP700 high strength steel (HSS) workpieces. This method has been applied as a second corrective step to previously deep drawn U-channels. The experimental results confirm the sidewall curl angle correction, achieving them with a 22 kJ discharge for DP600 samples and 24 kJ for TRIP700. On the other hand, an uncoupled multiphysical simulation strategy has been carried out in order to virtually validate the EM shape calibration method. The EM fields were simulated by Maxwell 3D and then the Pamstamp code was used to obtain the deformation process. (C) 2013 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.