Micro Forming (ESR9, ESR12). ESR9 – Micro Sheet Metal Forming. State-of-the-art
Flexible forming is a sheet forming process with the application of soft materials tooling. It is a very promising approach for manufacturing next generation surgical tools which possess self-clean and anti-bacteria microstructures.
As using flexible tooling the finger-print from tooling to forming significantly influence the quality of the formed product, the current flexible forming studies are focused on the interactions of the forming tool with the work materials.
Fingerprint concept implementation
The novelty of the project is to investigate the finger print effect from the process chain level through developing a new multiscale modelling platform. An in-depth understanding of finger print effects in the process chain level and zero-defect flexible forming process are expected results of the project.
Expected progress beyond current state-of-the-art
The hybrid micromachining technique developed in the ESR9 project will help achieve 30% to 45% improvement of surface finish and longer tool life without using any coolant in machining forming tools and injection moulds. The process chain level multi-scale modelling tool to be developed in ESR9 will ensure optimal use of the fingerprint effects and achieve high throughput zero-defect netshape manufacturing of metal components which possess functional microstructures on the machined surfaces. The application targeted by ESR 9 for fingerprint validation will be for the next generation anti-bacteria surgical tools.