A study of micro deep drawing process for Mg-Li alloy and Al-Cu composite material under various lubrication conditions

Various lubrication conditions have been investigated comprehensively on conventional deep drawing process, while the open and closed lubricant pockets theory and frictional size effects have been dispossessed micro deep drawing process to obtain benefits of lubrication conditions. Correspondingly, proper lubrication conditions have attained a severe concern in microforming. To superior advantages of microforming, including light and cost-effective parts, in this study, magnesium (Mg)-lithium (Li) alloy, which is an ultralight alloy, was nominated to form lightweight micro-cups with outstanding ductility. The Mg-Li is a relatively novel material in microforming. Accordingly, studies were conducted in-depth to determine the mechanical properties by various heat-treatments. Furthermore, the aluminium (Al)-copper (Cu) composite material was utilised to boost micro-cups properties. The conventional lubricants were exploited as the benchmarks to study influences of a novel lubricant, called 1 wt% TiO2 oil-based nanoparticle lubricant, for the Mg-Li alloy and Al-Cu composite materials in the micro deep drawing process. Finite Element Method (FEM) was accompanied, and the experimental and simulation results were in a good agreement. The novel nano-particle lubricant illustrates high performance to reduce the drawing force and improve the micro-cups quality. Moreover, the nano-particles resolved in the lubricant is capable of mitigating the frictional size effects