Sheet metal forming of magnesium wrought alloys — formability and process technology

New developments at the Institute for Metal Forming and Metal Forming Machine Tools show that magnesium sheets possess excellent forming behavior, if the process is conducted at elevated temperatures. For the evaluation of mechanical properties relevant for forming of magnesium sheets, uniaxial tensile tests have been carried out at various temperatures and strain rates. Deep drawing tests with magnesium alloys AZ31B, AZ61B, and M1 show very good formability in a temperature range between 200 and 250°C. Besides temperature, the influence of forming speed on limit drawing ratio has been investigated. The obtained results lead to the conclusion that it is possible to substitute conventional aluminum and steel sheets by using magnesium sheet metal wrought alloys.