Electromagnetic forming and joining of tube and sheet metal

Based on the use of innovative materials it is necessary to find the suitable forming technologies for specific material properties. The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU has been developing new forming technologies for applications of sheet metal and tubes for many years. In addition to the conventional forming technologies, electromagnetic forming (EMF) offers the possibility to shape new geometries by very small energetic power consumption. The most important application of EMF is joining by compression of tubular work-pieces. Electromagnetic forming makes use of the interactions between materials with good electrical conductivity and high power magnetic fields created by a pulsed current flowing through a tool coil. The target-oriented exploitation of the process specific advantages of EMF for the economic production of parts is an important aim of our research.