An experimental study on the springback in bending of w-shaped micro sheet-metal parts

In sheet-metal bending, defects relating to the component-forms such as springback are common. This is due to the elastic deflection that occurs in the material after the bending process takes place. The objective of the research is to study on the springback behaviour in micro sheet-metal parts. This paper reports an investigation concerning the influence of the material rolling direction on springback in the case of w-shaped bending parts. Micro bending parts using 316 L annealed stainless steel strips having thickness of 50 mu m, 75 mu m and 100 mu m respectively were formed. The tensile and bending behaviours of the parts were observed through the experiment by considering the effect of rolling direction and size-effect related errors. The results revealed that various parameters influence the springback, such as thickness of the sheet, force applied, material rolling-direction and holding time during the sheet-deformation. The scale of the springback was also observed to be random among the parts made with a same sheet material.