Experimental and numerical study on shaping of aluminum sheets with integrated piezoceramic fibers

Force-fit integration of piezoceramic fibers in micro-formed structures is a new approach for functionintegration in structural sheet metal parts. In a first step, a micro-structured surface is formed in a planarsemi-finished sheet metal part by micro-impact extrusion. Piezoceramic fibers are then assembled intothis micro-structured surface with a small assembly clearance. The fibers and the structured surface ofthe sheet metal are joined by a forming process. In the next step, the sheet metal with piezoceramicfibres within a locally micro-formed substructure is shaped by deep drawing into a 3D-geometry. In thispaper, results of the micro-impact extrusion and the joining by forming experiments are presented. Fur-thermore, the design constraints for assembly and joining due to the dimensional and form deviations ofthe piezoceramic fibers are discussed. Results of a numerical study of micro-forming, joining by formingand the global loading during a deep drawing process step were in good agreement with the experimen-tal investigations. The direct comparison between experiment and numerical simulation increases theprocess knowledge and shows further improvement potential