Low Temperature Warm Forming of Magnesium ZEK 100 Sheets for Automotive Applications

Cosma R&D investigated a low temperature warm forming process by which a magnesium ZEK 100 door inner part with a single-stage draw depth of 144 mm was successfully formed. The warm forming process is comprised of three steps: 1) heating pre-lubricated blanks in an oven at temperatures ranging from 215°C to 260 °C, 2) robotic transfer of the heated blank to a mechanical stamping press, 3) forming of the panel in room temperature stamping die at speed of about 160 mm/s. The effect of process parameters on the formability of the part, as well as, the post-forming properties including the mechanical properties, microstructure evolution and deformation thinning are also presented. The result indicates that Magnesium ZEK 100 exhibits superior low temperature warm formability over Magnesium AZ31B, and the developed warm forming process is promising and potential for volume production of magnesium automotive parts.