Metal Forming Techniques

Almost all technologies described so far are suitable for prototyping or small series production only. It simply takes a lot of time and is, therefore, costly to manufacture large numbers of microstmetures by laser ablation or wire erosion, milling, or SLM. This is not the case for the etching techniques. Here, large numbers of microstructure devices can be generated very easily. 

Another technique to obtain large numbers of microstructures is embossing. As shown earlier [19], even microstructures down to a few 10 pm size can be easily 

It is obvious that the choice of the bonding technique has to be made depending on the process parameters. It is not possible to run a device bonded by low-temperature soldering at some 100 °C. Thus, the most relevant parameters for the choice of bonding technique are process temperature, process pressure, and corrosivity of the process chemicals. 

In the past few years, SLM was also applied to ceramic and it proved to be successful. It is a new technology available now for ceramic materials. The principle of this technique has been described earlier. First preliminary experiments show promising results [21]. 

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Forming and Machining. Articles can be formed below the melting point with conventional metal-forming techniques. 

Addnl Refs on Explosive Fabrication of Metals, A) 1.1. Islamoff, Metal-Forming Techniques , NASA, SP-5017(May 1965)... 

With most metalworking techniques having their roots in processes developed hundreds if not thousands of years ago, it is unusual for a truly original bulk metal-forming technique to be developed. ECAE is just such a technique, and it... 

A selection of essential bulk metal forming techniques to be used for realizing near-net-shape technologies in part manufacturing is given in Table 3. 

TABLE 3 Bulk Metal Forming Techniques (Selection)... 

The wire drawing is also an old metal-forming technique. The word wire has been used in the Old Testament of bible ... 

Forming and Machining. Articles can be formed below the melting point with conventional metal-forming techniques. Tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene copol5miers are readily machined with the same tools and feed rates as are used for nylon and acetal. For best dimensional stability, the article should be annealed at the expected nse temperature before the final machine cut. 

Dieter, G. E., Mechanical Metallurgy, 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1986. Chapters 15-21 provide an excellent discussion of various metal-forming techniques. 

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