Key Problems in Microforming Processes of Microparts

From the viewpoint of production engineering, microforming is considered as an effective process to fabricate various microparts. Several key problems in microforming processes were investigated. A new microforming apparatus with a high stiffness piezoelectric actuator as the punch driver was developed to produce microparts.To improve the forming abilities and locate the billets, a floating microdie was designed. The size effects of the billets and die cavities on the microforming abilities were studied with upsetting and coining tests, respectively.And the isothermal microforming process of microgears was performed with the developed microforming apparatus. Several analysis methods were used to evaluate the forming quality of the microparts.

Microforming of superplastic 5083 aluminum alloy

The mechanical behavior of superplastic 5083 aluminum alloy during microforming process was investigated by finite element analysis.A micro V-groove die was modeled to analyze the effects of forming time,load and temperature on the microformability of the 5083 aluminum alloy.First,the microformability of the 5083 aluminum alloy was estimated using a microformability index.The simulation results show that the microformability increases with the forming load,time and temperature increasing.Superplasticity of the 5083 aluminum alloy during microforming using the V-groove die was also investigated in terms of the effective strain rate.The results show that the superplasticity of the 5083 aluminum alloy occurs in a specific part of the material for a specific period during the microforming process depending on the forming conditions and the microformability index.

Superplastic Microforming of Zn-A122 Alloy Ribs

Research on microforming of fine-grained superplastic Zn-AI22 alloy was carried out in this paper by means of superplastic forming. With the selected material, microformability tests have been carried out with the specially developed evaluation method by using two kinds of stainless steel dies. With these dies, micro-extrusion tests have been carried out and the characteristics of microformability of the material have been clarified. Effects of processing parameters and die structure on forming have been analyzed. SEM and metallographic microscope have been used to analyze the formed specimens. Through analysis of flow lines of the formed specimen, behavior of material could be understood well.

Grain size effect on the assembly quality of micro-scaled barrel formed by microforming

In this research,a method employing micro-extrusion was designed to produce the micro-scaled barrel-shaped parts with complex geometrical features to study the feasibility of the proposed microforming method and its grain size effect on the formability of the complicated internal features in terms of deformation behavior,material evolution,accuracy of dimensions and final components quality.The results reveal that the deformation behavior is highly affected by grain size and becomes unpredictable with increased grain size.In addition,assembly parameters including feature dimension,tolerance and coaxiality also vary with grain size,and the variation of grain size needs to be accommodated by different assembly types,viz.,clearance fit or transition fit.From the microstructural evolution aspect,it was identified there were two dead zones and four shear bands,and the formation of these deformation zones was barely affected by the variation in grain size.Though bulges,cracks,and fracture induced voids were observed on the surface of the final components,tailoring the microstructure of the working material with finer grains could significantly avoid these defects.This study advances the understanding of forming microparts by extrusion processes and provides guidance for microforming of similar microparts.

Size effects on process performance and product quality in progressive microforming of shafted gears revealed by experiment and numerical modeling

As one of the indispensable actuating components in micro-systems,the shafted microgear is in great production demand.Microforming is a manufacturing process to produce microgears to meet the needs.Due to the small geometrical size,there are uncertain process performance and product quality issues in this production process.In this study,the shafted microgears were fabricated in two different scaling factors with four grain sizes using a progressively extrusion-blanking method.To explore the unknown of the process,grain-based modeling was proposed and employed to simulate the entire forming process.The results show that when the grains are large,the anisotropy of single grains has an obvious size effect on the forming behavior and process performance;and the produced geometries and surface quality are worsened;and the deformation load is decreased.Five deformation zones were identified in the microstructures with different hardness and distributions of stress and strain.The simulation by using the proposed model successfully predicted the formation of zones and revealed the inhomogeneous deformation in the forming process.The undesirable geometries of microgears including material unfilling,burr and inclination were observed on the shaft and teeth of gear,and the inclination size is increased obviously with grain size.To avoid the formation of inclination and material unfilling,the punch was redesigned,and a die insert was added to constraint the bottom surface of the gear teeth.The new products had then the better forming quality.

Scale effect mechanism on micro rod upsetting deformation analyzed by crystal plasticity model

To analyze the effect of single grain deformation behaviors on microforming process, a crystal plasticity model was developed considering grains at free surface layer as single grains. Based on the rate-dependent crystal plasticity theory, the analysis of the scale effect mechanism on upsetting deformation of micro rods was performed with respect to specimen dimension, original grain orientation and its distribution. The results show that flow stress decreases significantly with the scaling down of the specimen. The distribution of the grain orientation has an evident effect on flow stress of the micro specimen, and the effect becomes smaller with the progress of plastic deformation. For the anisotropy of single grains, inhomogeneous deformation occurs at the surface layer, which leads to the increase of surface roughness, especially for small specimens. The effect of grain anisotropy on the surface topography can be decreased by the transition grains. The simulation results are validated by upsetting deformation experiments. This indicates that the developed model is suitable for the analysis of microforming processes with characteristics, such as scale dependency, scatter of flow stress and inhomogeneous deformation.

Experimental Investigation on Micro Deep Drawing of Stainless Steel Foils with Different Microstructural Characteristics

In the present work,austenitic stainless steel(ASS)304 foils with a thickness of 50μm were first annealed at temperatures ranging from 700 to 1100℃for 1 h to obtain different microstructural characteristics.Then the effects of microstructural characteristics on the formability of ASS 304 foils and the quality of drawn cups using micro deep drawing(MDD)were studied,and the mechanism involved was discussed.The results show that the as-received ASS 304 foil has a poor formability and cannot be used to form a cup using MDD.Serious wrinkling problem occurs on the drawn cup,and the height profile distribution on the mouth and the symmetry of the drawn cup is quite non-uniform when the annealing temperature is 700℃.At annealing temperatures of 900 and 950℃,the drawn cups are both characterized with very few wrinkles,and the distribution of height profile,symmetry and mouth thickness are uniform on the mouths of the drawn cups.The wrinkling becomes increasingly significant with a further increase of annealing temperature from 950 to 1100℃.The optimal annealing temperatures obtained in this study are 900 and 950℃for reducing the generation of wrinkling,and therefore improving the quality of drawn cups.With non-optimized microstructure,the distribution of the compressive stress in the circumferential direction of the drawn foils becomes inhomogeneous,which is thought to be the cause of the occurrence of localized deformation till wrinkling during MDD.

Size effects on flow stress of C3602 in cylinder compression with different lubricants

Micro parts are more difficult to be formed than macro parts because of size effects. The size effects on the flow stress of copper alloy C3602 with different lubricants were studied. Specimens were heat treated at 350℃ for 1 h and 700℃ for 3 h in nitrogen atmosphere, respectively. The initial diameters of the specimens were varied from 5 to 1 mm with a height-to-diameter ratio h0/D0 = 1.5. Cylinder compression was carried out in the lubrication condition with talc powder, without lubricant, with petroleum jelly, and with vegetable oil. The experiment was carried out at room temperature on a universal testing machine INSTRON 5569 with a strain rate of ε = 0.0025 A. The results show that with the same lubricant, the yield strength decreases with a decrease in specimen size for the specimens annealed at 350℃ for 1 b; however, it increases with a decrease in specimen size for the specimens annealed at 700℃ for 3 h. The yield strength decreases with an increase in grain size. The influences of lubricants on yield strength become larger with miniaturization of the specimens.

Performance characterization of Bi_2O_3/Al nanoenergetics blasted micro-forming system

This paper reports a novel micro-blast driven manufacturing process for micro-forming of Aluminum foils. The micro-blast is realized by using a nanoenergetic material system comprising of Bi_2O_3 microrods and aluminum particles. There is an enhanced need of forming of thin aluminum foil structures in small regions from point of view of drug packaging etc. The process developed caters to this need by using a single shot forming process using a micro-blast source. The micro-blast that is generated from an energetic composite system is made highly tunable by modulating the peak pressure generated through the blasting process and their impact in micro-forming of thin aluminum foils is observed through parametric studies. The engineering challenge involved in these experiments is to tune the blast pressure properties in order to address the forming of thin metal sheets with limiting boundary values as defined by the failure criteria. A variety of characterization techniques related to a thorough analysis of the synthesized material viz. X-ray diffraction(XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM) etc, are used to tune the functional properties like gauge blast pressure etc, of material system. We have found a material system that can generate a maximum peak pressure of 73.8 MPa with pressurization rate of 2460 GPas^(-1) and that is able to accomplish micro-forming on thin metal foils(around 0.3 mm thickness). Experimental investigations demonstrate that tunabilty aspect of the energetic composites when exercised can enable variant processes such as embossing, coining, drilling etc. which may be of significant utility to drug packaging industries. A proper mathematical modeling of the forming process and critical process parameters therein have also been detailed.

Mechanism of size effects in microcylindrical compression of pure copper considering grain orientation distribution

In microscale deformation, the magnitudes of specimen and grain sizes are usually identical, and size- dependent phenomena of deformation behavior occur, namely, size effects. In this study, size effects in micro- cylindrical compression were investigated experimentally. It was found that, with the increase of grain size and decrease of specimen size, flow stress decreases and inhomogeneous material flow increases. These size effects tend to be more distinct with miniaturization. Thereafter, a modified model considering orientation distribution of surface grains and continuity between surface grains and inner grains is developed to model size effects in micro- forming. Through finite element simulation, the effects of specimen size, grain size, and orientation of surface grains on the flow stress and inhomogeneous deformation were analyzed. There is a good agreement between experimental and simulation results.

Simulation study on fluctuant flow stress scale effect

Crystal plasticity theory was used to simulate upsetting tests of different dimensions and grain size micro copper cylinders in this study on the fluctuant flow stress scale effect. Results showed that with the decrease of billet grain quantity, flow stress fluctuation is not always increased, but there is a maximum. Through this study, the fluctuant flow stress scale effect can be understood deeper, and relevant necessary information was obtained for further prediction and control of this scale effect and to design the microforming process and die.

Flow stress and tribology size effects in scaled down cylinder compression

Microforming is an effective method to manufacture small metal parts.However,macro forming can not be transferred to microforming directly because of size effects.Flow stress and tribology size effects were studied.Scaled down copper T2 cylinder compression was carried out with the lubrication of castor oil and without lubrication.The results show that the flow stress decreases with decreasing the initial specimen diameter in both lubrication conditions,and the flow stress decreases by 30 MPa with the initial specimen diameter decreasing from 8 mm to 1 mm.The friction factor increases obviously with decreasing the initial specimen diameter in the case of lubricating with castor oil,and the friction factor increases by 0.11 with the initial specimen diameter decreasing from 8 mm to 1 mm.However,the tribology size effect is not found in the case without lubrication.The reasons of the flow stress and tribology size effects were also discussed.

迪卡龙原装化成设备的国产化

系统地介绍了迪卡龙原装化成设备国产化的原因及过程 ,对迪卡龙国产化化成设备的性能进行了介绍。还对国产老充电机的改造情况进行了简介 ,并提出了经济可行的网络化改造方法 ,讨论了控制电路的结构组成和功能 ,同时对电源改造的具体办法作了较为详细的陈述。

Variability of Carbonate Pedofeatures in a Loess-Paleosol Sequence and their Use for Paleoreconstructions

Carbonate pedofeatures were studied in details in a loess-paleosol pedocomplex near Kursk, in the central part of the European Plain. The soils studied included a modern Chernozem and five Pleistocene paleosols. Carbonate morphologies and distributions were described in the field. Various morphologies were sampled for further studies including micromorphology in thin sections and submicroscopic studies under a scanning electron microscope. The complex approach of investigation at macro-, micro-, and submicroscopic levels found that most of carbonate pedofeatures are secondary and multiphase. Many of them are related to cryogenic features. The general trend was of decreasing carbonate content in the older paleosols except for increased content in the 1St and 3rd paleosols. Most of carbonate morphologies are similar in the modern soil and paleosols, but pseudomycelium was found only in the modern Chernozem, while soft masses and impregnations are associated with the paleosols. Detailed study on carbonate attributes revealed their specific features in the modern soil and in paleosols. Veins have dissolution features under the modern environment and seem to reprecipitate in form of pseudomycelium. Coatings in paleosols at a depth of the Ist paleosol include specific fine tubes. Powdery soft masses and impregnations in the paleosols are strongly related to cryogenic fissures and paleopermafrost level. Under SEM they consist of tiny crystals, much smaller than in regular soft masses. Several types of hard concretions were identified：rounded, irregular and platy. Small concretions in the modern Chernozem have similar morphology and similar 14C-age as the rounded concretions of the upper paleosols. They are expected to represent the same generation of concretions. Platy concretions fill the bottom part of the large fissures. The 14C-age of hard concretions varies from 3310±80 yrs. B.P in the Ist paleosol up to 20 400 yrs. B.P. in the 3^rd. As a result we found the reflection of several wet-dry and cold-warm stages in carbonate morphologies and distributions. High variability of carbonates at macro-, micro- and submicroscopic levels indicates several generations and multiphase formation of carbonate pedofeatures in the loess-paleosol pedocomplex. Carbonate pedofeatures in the examined pedocomplex are more informative for the study of late Pleistocene and Holocene climatic cycles rather than characterization of a single paleosol.

Lipid-Protein Microinclusions in the Morphological Structures of Organelle Membranes Studied by Fluorescent Confocal Microscopy

Peculiar properties of morphological structures of organelle membranes were studied by fluorescent confocal microscopy. The list of objects in our experiments was represented by mitochondria, chloroplasts and vacuoles. During this study, identification of lipid microinclusions having the form of such lipid-protein structural microformations as lipid-protein microdomains, vesicles and membrane tubular structures (cytoplasmic transvacuolar strands and nanotubes) located in organelle membranes or bound up with them was conducted. Such membrane probes as laurdan, DPH, ANS and bis-ANS were used. Comparison of fluorescence intensity of these membrane probes was conducted. This investigation of the morphological properties of lipid-protein structural microformations was accompanied with analysis of 1) the phase state and 2) dynamics of microviscosity variations in the membrane elements of isolated plant cell organelles. Distributions of laurdan fluorescence generalized polarization (GP) values for the membrane on the whole and for the intensively fluorescing membrane segments were obtained. It was discovered that the microviscosity of intensively fluorescing membrane segments essentially differed from the microviscosity of the rest part of the membrane. In conclusion, some results of the study of peculiar properties of lipid-protein structural microformations related to the structure of organelle membranes and the discoveries made in this investigation are discussed.

Polyoxometalates-derived nanostructures for electrocatalysis application

The conversion of intermittent renewable electrical energy to chemical energy is of great importance which can not only mitigate current energy and environmental crisis but also contribute to the ongoing carbon neutrality national strategy.Electrocatalysis is serving as a low-carbon conversion technology that enables green and efficient energy conversion mainly through hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),carbon dioxide reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR),and nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR).The core of electrocatalysis is the design and construction of low-cost high-activity and high-stability electrocatalyst to drive reaction thermodynamics and kinetics.The employment of polyoxometalates(POMs)as platforms or precursors to construct different types of electrocatalysts has been widely reported.Herein,we systematically summarized the recent advances in POM-derived nanostructures for electrocatalysis application.The strategies for precursor design and electrocatalyst synthesis were briefly introduced.The morphology control,phase control,composite modulation,and heterostructure engineering in POM-derived nanostructures were presented in detail.The structure–activity relationship of POM-derived nanostructures is fully discussed for HER CO_(2)RR,and NRR applications.Finally,the current challenges and future outlooks of POM-derived nanostructures are summarized to provide insights toward high-efficiency electrocatalysts for energy conversion technologies.

Metal flow hysteresis behavior and shape control strategy during porthole die extrusion of micro heat pipe

The shape control strategy of micro grooves is still unclear and challenging during the porthole die extrusion of grooved micro heat pipe(MHP).Through the simulation and experiment of porthole die extrusion of a MHP profile,the metal flow hysteresis behavior within micro features and the effect of ram speed and extrusion temperature on it and the resulting forming integrity was elucidated.Innovatively,Taguchi design and variance analysis(ANOVA)were introduced to determine their influence magnitude on the metal flow uniformity calculated by simulation results.The main findings are given below.The metal flow hysteresis derives from part feature size effect.The negligible friction-affected area during conventional extrusion severely slows down the metal flow within micro features during the MHP profile extrusion,which is due to the surge in the area ratio of the friction-affected area to the region in which it is located.Neither ram speed nor extrusion temperature can change the distribution of the friction-affected area.However,increasing ram speed multiplies the metal flow hysteresis and severely reduces the forming integrity,whereas extrusion temperature has little effect.Following this strategy,batch extrusion of the profile with microgrooved width of 0.27±0.02 mm was achieved in industrialized conditions.

Feasibility evaluation of failure models for predicting forming limit of metal foils

Forming limit of metal foil is an important index to evaluate its formability,and is of considerable significance to improve the quality of products.The ductile fracture(DF)behavior in microscale plastic deformation is remarkably affected by the geometry and grain size.To explore the size-dependent forming limit curve(FLC),the Holmberg and Marciniak tests of SUS304 foils with the thicknesses of less than 0.1 mm and diverse grain sizes were performed.In addition,the validity and feasibility of three types of existing failure models including Swift/Hill,MarciniakKuczynski(M-K)and DF criteria for predicting the micro-scaled FLCs were discussed.It is found that the Swift/Hill model possesses the worst accuracy with predicting deviation above 50%.Four classical DF criteria including Freudenthal,Ayada,Brozzo and Oh show great difference,and Oh model considering plastic anisotropy presents the best precision.The predicted deviation of M-K model is aggravated with increasing grain size and decreasing foil thickness,which is attributed to the intensified free surface roughening and transformation of fracture mechanism with miniaturization.This research thus provides a deeper understanding and valuable reference for the widespread application of FLC in microforming.

Fatigue crack growth of titanium alloy joints by electron beam welding

Electron beam welding（EBW） has been widely used in the manufacture of titanium alloy welded blisk for aircraft engines. Based on fatigue crack growth tests on titanium alloy electron beam welding（EBW） joints, mechanism of fracture was investigated under scanning electron microscope（SEM）. The results show that fatigue crack growth rate increases as the experimental load increases under the same stress ratio and stress intensity factor range. At the beginning of crack growth, the extension mechanism of fatigue crack is the typical mechanism of cleavage fracture. In the steady extention stage, crack extends along the weld seam firstly.Then, crack growth direction changes to extend along the base metal. The extension mechanism of fatigue crack in the weld seam is the main mechanism of cleavage fracture and the extension mechanism of fatigue crack in the base metal is the main extension mechanism of fatigue band. In the instantaneous fracture stage, the extension mechanism of fatigue crack is the typical dimple-type static fracture mechanism.Crack growth was simulated by conventional finite element method and extended finite element method.

Simulation and Discussion on the Decreasing Flow Stress Scale Effect

The miniaturization of products requires the mass production of microparts.The microforming can well meet this requirement.Due to the emergence of decreasing flow stress scale effect in the micro scale,the traditional forming process and theory may fail.Based on the crystal plasticity theory,upsetting tests of micro copper cylinders with different dimensions and grain sizes were simulated,and the decreasing flow stress scale effect was studied and discussed.Results show that with the decrease of billet dimensions,the flow stress is gradually decreased,and the decreasing flow stress scale effect is emerged;with the increase of grain size,the decreasing flow stress scale effect is more remarkable.It can also be seen that the decreasing flow stress scale effect can be well simulated with the crystal plasticity theory,and the necessary relevant information is provided for deeper understanding on this scale effect,as well as the design of processes and die structures in the microforming.