Two of the objectives of manufacturing research conducted at our group are 1) to better understand the mechanics of deformation/failure in the forming process and therefore design a forming process that maximizes material usage, and 2) to better detect/understand process variations and therefore have a systematic approach to increase the robustness of a process. These two objectives ultimately require a creation of an integrated system, which needs predictive modeling, sensors and process innovation. We have been practicing this overarching goal on sheet metal forming, composite sheet forming, and recently on microforming.
Microforming as a subset in micro-manufacturing which is defined as fabricating submicron to micro sizes three-dimensional features, has found applications in connecting pins, medical devices, optical lenses, etc. We designed a handheld microforming apparatus. The apparatus has allowed us to show the effect of material microstructure and specimen size on the geometry of deformed pins and on the frictional behavior in the process.
Sheet metal forming or stamping is one of the most widely used processes in the manufacture of automobiles (about 300 parts per vehicle) and is also employed in the production of aircraft, appliances, and many other products. Our past ten years work in this area contributes the knowledge in both computational modeling and experimental testing. We bridge applied mechanics, control and manufacturing together for solving the complex forming challenges.Composite sheet forming has great potential as a valuable alternative to facilitating mass production of structural composites in automotive components. Structural composites contain continuous or long fiber reinforcements, which yield outstanding mechanical and physical properties including high specific strength and low specific weight. Stamping could reduce the cycle time by at least four times in comparison to liquid molding, which is currently the most common method of forming complex structural composite products in medium volumes. Research in this area is relatively new, with many of the preliminary results leading to more questions than answers as we move from concept to realization. Our work focuses on material characterization and we have co-organized an international benchmark test for examining the capabilities of various models and testing methods.
Current Research Projects
- Enhancing the understanding of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thermostamping Woven Composites to Develop a Comprehensive Design Tool
- An Investigation of Surface Distortion in Line Dies
- Fabrication of miniature fuel cell bipolar plates
- Microchannel fabrication using incremental forming
- Microforming
- Enhancing Interface Peformance Through Surface Texturing
- Surface texturing via micro-indentation
- Surface texturing via laser ablation
- Tribological characterization of textured surfaces
- Building a State-of-the-Art Laser-Based Surface-Texturing Instrument
- GOALI/Collaborative Research: Integrated Sensing System for Stamping Monitoring and Control
- SGER/GOALI/Collaborative Research: Deformation Machining - A New Hybrid Process
- Tool wear of high strength stamping die
- A Predictive Model for Surface Distortion
- Enhancing the understanding of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thermostamping Woven Composites to Develop a Comprehensive Design Tool
Selective Past Research Projects
- A Multi-Scale Approach for Predicting Wrinkling and Its Experimental Validation
- A Stress-Based Wrinkling Criterion in Deep Drawing Processing
- A Simple 2D Model for Predicting Failure in 3D Parts
- CAREER: Tooling design and failure analysis in sheet metal forming
- Design algorithm for optimizing stamping steps of axisymmetric parts
- Analysis of the Soft Coil Problem in the Production of Laminate Coils
- Design of a Can Lid Considering Formability
- Material Variability and Stamping Robustness
- An Approach for Model Validation in Simulating Sheet Metal Forming Processes
- Intelligent Materials and Process Design for Stamping Structural Composites
