Superplastic Forming Process and Its Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Superplasticity is the property exhibited by worked/processed metals and alloys which involve, under tensile loading, very high elongation without necking until failure. Superplastic forming (SPF) is mostly an excellent technique for gas forming complex shaped sheet components based on superplastic metals. The major limitation of SPF is the slow forming time due to material’s intrinsic characteristics. This long cycle time is not a problem for small volume production as in aero-industry, and SPF is very advantageous in forming Ti alloy, which is hard to deal with by using other manufacturing processes.

However, a car body using aluminum alloy sheet adopting SPF can be practical only when forming cycle time is reduced. Due to this demand, quick plastic forming (QPF) was evolved and General Motors Corporation led the way in developing it to make some models with AA5083 such as the Chevrolet Malibu.

Quick Plastic Forming is essentially a pseudo-SPF process using a slightly lower processing temperature and higher gas pressure. In recent years, attempt to employ QPF in manufacturing consumer products other than car bodies, such as smart-phone cases, have been studied.

Concurrently, using SPF and DB (Diffusion Bonding) is an advanced technology which can achieve even more novel structure. This SPF/DB process has successfully made a hollow fan blade that was installed in airplane engine. Any other SPF/DB processed product would be highly encouraged.

The main aim of this Special Issue is to present recent advances in the superplastic forming process.

This Special Issue includes high-quality original research papers, review papers, and case studies dealing with every aspects of SPF, QPF, and SPF/DB.

Prof. Dr. Shyong Lee
Guest Editor

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• superplasticity
• metals and alloys
• superplastic forming
• quick plastic forming
• diffusion bonding