Cold stamping formability of AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet undergoing repeated unidirectional bending process

Abstract

The repeated unidirectional bending (RUB) process was carried out on an AZ31B magnesium alloy in order to investigate its effects on the cold stamping formability. The limiting drawing ratio (LDR) of the RUB processed magnesium alloy sheet with an inclination of basal pole in the rolling direction can reach 1.5 at room temperature. It was also confirmed that cell phone housings can be stamped successfully in crank press using the RUB processed AZ31B magnesium alloy sheet. The improvement of the stamping formability at room temperature can be attributed to the texture modifications, which led to a lower yield strength, a larger fracture elongation, a smaller Lankford value ( r-value) and a larger strain hardening exponent ( n-value).