Chapter 8 - Forming of micro-sheet-metal components

Sheet metal components are used extensively in various applications such as vehicles, aircraft, electronics products, medical implants and packaging for consuming goods, typical parts/components including car panels, aircraft skins, cans for food and drinks, frames for TV/computer screens/monitors/displays, etc. Basic process configurations for the forming of macro-products include shearing, blanking, bending, stamping, deep drawing (including mechanical and hydromechanical), hydroforming, stretching forming, super-plastic forming, age forming, spinning, explosive forming, and incremental forming. Some of these processes may be equally applied to the forming of miniature and even micro-products, if the issues related to “size effect” can be handled successfully. The manufacture of micro-sheet metal products, such as those used in electronics products and MEMS (micro-electric-mechanical systems), often needs bending to produce 3D profiles/sections. Typical applications include micro-electric contacts/fingers/switches, 3D profiles for mechanical and thermal-mechanical sensors and 3Dsheet metal frames/housing for optical devices and micro-sensors.