Superforming is a hot metal forming process that uses similar principles to thermoforming plastics, where a sheet of material is heated and forced onto a male or female form using gas pressure. The process is useful for producing complex surfaces. The technique was pioneered for use in
alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...
fighter jets, with a sheet of aluminum heated like "taffy" and then "blown" into a mold by a press system, allowing complex curves.
[ It heats the sheets to 500 degrees Celsius, and after molding, vacuums out the air.]
Use in transportation
The Jaguar I-Pace
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or ...
was the world's first structure to be made with superforming.McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
announced that the 570S Coupe used superformed aluminum body panels.Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
, the third-generation 2018 Bentley Continental GT
The Bentley Continental GT is a grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British automaker Bentley Motors since 2003. It was the first car released by Bentley under Volkswagen AG management, after the company's acquisition in 1998, and the fir ...
is the first production car ever to have an entire body side made from the Super Formed process.
Variations in process
The superforming process varies mostly in the way that the metal is introduced to the form; the main 4 variations are:
;Cavity forming: The metal in its plastic state is introduced to a negative form by gas pressure. It is good for large and complex parts such as automotive body panels and is excellent for shaping 5083 aluminium alloy.
;Backpressure forming: The metal in its plastic state is introduced to a negative mould by gas pressure similarly to cavity forming; however, the pressure differential between the front and back of the metal is kept small and within tight tolerances. This maintains the integrity of the sheet and means that "difficult" alloys can be formed. It was developed to produce structural aircraft components in 7475 alloys.
;Bubble forming: The metal in its plastic state is first expanded into a bubble with gas pressure; a positive form is then moved into the bubble cavity and the metal introduced to the form with reverse gas pressure. Suitable for deep complex components, especially where wall thickness needs to remain relatively constant. This process can be used to manufacture geometries that are impossible to achieve using any other forming process.
;Diaphragm forming: A non-superplastic metal is introduced to a negative form by a superplastic metal which is itself being moved by gas pressure. It is used to shape complex sheet geometries in non-superplastics alloys such as 2014, 2024, 2219 and 6061. making the process ideal for producing structural components.
Superforming process is used to create complex sheet geometries from a single piece of material and this process has been rapidly growing in many applications, including aerospace, automotive, buildings, trains, electronics, furniture and sculpture. [Rob Thompson. Manufacturing Processes For Design Professional. Thames & Hudson]
References
External links
Super Plastic Forming Presses
Metalworking
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