Optimisation of Forming Parameters to Reach Near Net Shape

Demands to the manufacturing industry have always been that the overall production expenses for a given component should be decreased. In the metal forming area, one way to reduce the expenses is to increase the complexity of the component and to reduce the number of steps in the production and thereby reduce the overall production time. This can be achieved by producing the component as close as possible to the final shape which means that subsequent working can be minimised or even unnecessary. This philosophy - Net Shape Forming - has been thoroughly investigated in a number of projects at the Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Technical University of Denmark. This paper describes some of the main activities in Net Shape Forming and gives examples of how improvements can be achieved.