Component optimization via structuring

Ecological and economic reasons are forcing industry to improve efficiency and to save energy and resources. Especially for the automotive and transport industry - but also for all other industrial branches dealing with accelerated masses - lightweight design is a key issue for achieving this goal. Higher process stability, improved material exploitations, and general shortening of process chains are the most important aims of Fraunhofer IWU. The requirements of the future car achieve the lightweight construction concepts, in which materials, design and manufacturing process harmonize optimally. A target-oriented design helps to save weight by using optimally adapted structures. To enable the design of the structuring, the influence of structures manufactured by different forming technologies including electromagnetic forming (EMF), forming by elastomer tools, and hydro-mechanical deep drawing, was systematically analyzed through complementing numerical and experimental investigations. Knowledge about the influence of the structuring technology and the process parameters on the resulting structure and the part performance allows conclusions regarding the optimization of the part functionality via a suitable selection and design of the process.