Investigation of active-elastic blank holder systems for high-pressure forming of metal sheets

Hydroforming constitutes a subgroup of sheet metal forming processes utilizing a pressurized forming medium. Besides the hydroforming of hollow sections, the high-pressure forming (HPF) of metal sheets is demonstrably one innovative method for the production of complex sheet metal components and offers high potentials to improve the properties and qualities of sheet metal parts. This report describes investigations of a newly developed active-elastic blank holder technology, which is used for HPF of metal sheets. Unlike the use of semi-rigid blank holder systems, the active-elastic blank holder system shows improvements with respect to the material flow in the flange area and reduced sheet thinning in critical corner regions of the work-piece. In addition to numerical analysis concerning the development and design of the active-elastic blank holder, current experimental examinations will be presented. The focus is on a comparative evaluation of the simulation and production of rectangular metal parts, by using conventional semi-rigid tools and active-elastic tools.