Introduction

The pressing and deep drawing operations are based on shaping sheet metal
by plastic deformation. The deformation is achieved by forcing the sheet
metal into a formed female die using a male shaped punch. For the pressing
operations the process involves relatively shallow dies with little plastic flow
of the sheet. For deep drawing the die is relatively deep and significant
plastic flow result. The simplest pressing process is bending.

Bending and forming

The process of simple bending and forming using press tools is shown in the
figure below.

Deep Drawing

The important features of deep drawing are shown in the figure below. The
pressure ring bears on the upper surface of the blank preventing wrinkling of
the metal as it is drawn radially over the upper surface of the die. There is
the option of applying pressure to the base of the cup using a pressure pad.
Thinning results from this process, the worst being at the bottom radius as a
result of drawing the full disc diameter inward under the pressure ring. The
thinning is the least at the top of the cup

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If the deep drawing process can not produce a cup sufficiently deep in one
operation then it is possible to split the operation into a number of stages.
Also a redrawing operation is used. The drawing process results in work
hardening and therefore the component may need to be bright annealed
between drawing operations. The redrawing operation is shown in the figure
below. The indirect redrawing operation has the advantage over the direct
one in that the material bending is all in one direction i.e. there is no
bending-unbending ( as occurs in the direct method).

Spinning

Spinning is the process of forming a circular shape e.g. a cone, hemisphere,

deep cup, etc. from a disc of sheet material by forcing it against a shaped
former as the disc and former are rotated. The mandrel is held on the drive
headstock spindle. The forcing tool is controlled either manually or using an
electohydraulic drive system.

The actual forming process is progressive. The disc being gradually formed
as shown in the figure below.

This process is ideal for low quantity ( ≤ 1000 ) processes or for production
of prototype shapes. The process can be used for sections of 0,1 to 2m dia
or more.
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Shear Spinning /Flow Turning

In simple spinning the section of the formed is essentially the same as the
disc. When shear spinning the maximum diameter of the formed section is
the same as blank disc but the thickness of the formed section is
substantially reduced compared to the blank disc. This process results in the
final shape after one pass of the roller. This process results in significant
shearing of the material being formed and high forces are required from the
roller.

If T is the thickness of the blank disc and t is the thickness of the formed
section then

t = T sin α

This process is also used in tube production as shown below. In this process
the increase in length of the tube is directly related to the reduction in
thickness. i.e if the thickness is reduced to 50% of the orginal tube thickness
the length will be doubled

Materials and Sections

Most ductile materials can be formed using these processes including

aluminium and copper, steel.

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Equipment

Pressing operations and deep drawing operations are generally completed

using mechanical presses using flywheels to provide kinetic
energy. Hydraulic presses are also used. The various spinning operations
can be completed on heavy duty centre lathes or special pupose machines
which form a similar function to centre lathes..