Research on the drive electromagnetic forming of aluminum alloy and parameter optimization

Electromagnetic forming is a forming method that employs the electromagnetic force to accomplish deformation of metal workpiece and is greatly suitable for high conductivity metals. Therefore, for the alloy with high conductivity such as aluminum, direct electromagnetic forming method is commonly used. However, for some low-conductivity workpieces such as stainless steel and titanium, the electromagnetic force generated on the workpiece is small, which is not enough to shape the workpiece. Drive forming method is usually used to solve this problem. This method employs a high conductivity metal as the drive plate and generates a large Lorentz force on the drive plate to form the low conductivity metal. This paper uses drive forming method to improve the forming result of aluminum alloy. Copper is used as the drive plate. By simulation and experiment, the mechanism of the drive forming and the effect of the size of the drive plate, the thickness of the workpiece, and discharge frequency on forming result are studied. It is found that the drive plate slows down the deformation speed and enhances the action between the coil and the forming part, which results in a higher Lorentz force. Compared with direct electromagnetic forming, the drive forming with appropriate parameters can effectively increase the forming height and improve the uniformity of the forming contour, especially when the discharge frequency is low or the thickness of workpiece is relatively thin.