4 - Forming of shallow parts using rubber tools

Abstract

This chapter introduces four rubber-pad forming techniques for the pressing and drawing of components from thin sheet metals. The Guerin process is the simplest form of rubber-forming technique that enables the production of shallow sheet metal parts with complex contours and bends. Free forming is another technique used to drawing near hemispherical shells using rubber medium. Different bending processes can also be conducted using rubber pad as a flexible die. Multi-point forming is applied to form complex three-dimensional sheet metal parts with discrete dies and rubber cushions. The fundamentals of these techniques and the effect of process parameters on the results are investigated in this chapter.