Experimental and numerical evaluation of micro flexible deep drawing technique using floating ring

Abstract

A novel micro flexible forming technique utilizing floating ring, as a primary die, is presented in this work. The essential functions of the floating ring part is to overcome the minor wrinkling commonly occurs through flexible forming processes as well as produce micro cups with high accurate dimensions particularly at the shoulder profile. The influence of thickness and surface angle of the floating ring, and blank diameter are investigated. The well-known commercial software Abaqus/Standard is employed to build FE models for micro forming processes. Accordingly, a number of micro deep drawing experiments are conducted to verify the simulation results. To perform the experimental work, a special set up is developed with particular design aspects to satisfy the FE model conditions. The results reveal the feasibility of the floating ring technique adopted in production of micro cylindrical cups with high quality in terms of geometry profile and thickness distribution as well as relatively high aspect ratio.