Research Line Sheet Metal Forming and Cutting Processes

The Department of Sheet Metal Forming and Cutting Processes at the Institute of Metal Forming Technology has been engaged for decades in the new and further development of forming processes, the fundamental investigation of process-related and, in particular, tribological boundary conditions, and the numerical modeling of these forming processes. The focus is on deep drawing and stretch forming of large components as well as shear cutting of high-strength sheet materials. New solutions for existing and emerging forming problems are also part of this work. The research projects carried out are oriented towards current trends such as progressive digitalization, increasing demands on the sustainability of production processes and the implementation of modern lightweight construction concepts and deal on the one hand with topics from basic research and on the other with current, practice-oriented topics from industry. The focus is on the processing of aluminum, deep-drawing steels, stainless steels and high-strength steels. As part of the research work, the properties of finished components are also examined in more detail and conclusions are drawn from the material analyses on the forming process itself or on the improvement of its process simulation.