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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Superplastic forming is the ability of certain alloys, to undergo very

large elongations, prior to fracture without neck formation. Material with
more than 200% elongation during hot tensile testing are said to have
superplastic forming capability. Some materials have more than 1000%
elongation. Ahmed et al (1977) have reported a maximum elongation of
4850% in Pb-Sn eutectic alloy.

1.1 HISTORY OF SUPERPLASTIC FORMING

First paper on superplasticity was published by Bengough in 1912.

Bengough describes that brass exhibited maximum elongation of 163%
at 700 C. Underwood (1962) reviews the ductility of Zn/Al alloy having
650% of elongation at 250 C. In 1964 Bakofen demonstrated the first
superplastically formed bubble. The first superform male forming machine
was installed in 1974. In 1990 Rohr Industries produced more than 20,000
components using superplastic forming (SPF). Friction stir processing helps
in the reduction of grain size, which produces uniform wall thickness in
superplastic forming. In 2003 Friction Stir Processing reigned creating
enhanced superplasticity Mahony et al (2003). Quick Plastic Forming was
adopted by General Motors in Krajewski and Schroth (2006). Quick Plastic
Forming adopted the techniques of mechanical preforming and superform
bubble forming. The production rate was increased by Quick Plastic Forming.
Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis was adopted by Ghosh and
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Hamilton(1988). From the Finite Element Method the accurate thickness

predictions of complex shapes can be obtained. Gas Pressure Forming profile
can be directly calculated from those predictions. The latest software allows
us to visualize the movement of the sheet throughout the entire forming
process. Now the market for SPF aluminum has been mimicked in Aircraft,
Trains and Automobiles. More than forty companies involved in production
of aircraft and twenty companies in the automobile sector were using
superplastically formed aluminum components. Later in this chapter some
examples are given to exemplify successful applications of superplastic
aluminium forming in a variety of high value added end markets. Magnesium
and Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites have low density, high-specific
stiffness and strength, but brittle in nature and cannot be formed under normal
conditions. For instance this limitation can be overcome by using superplastic
forming as mentioned above. The recent development in production of
superplastic forming removes this limitation and allow complex, light-weight
structures to be made by SPF.

1.2 REQUIREMENT OF SUPERPLASTICITY

1.2.1 Grain Size

The average grain size of less than 10µm is required to attain

superplasticity. Later in this chapter the deformation mechanism in
superplasticity will be discussed. The main mechanism of superplastic
forming is grain boundary sliding. Smaller grain size is easier to rotate and
slide over one another, to accommodate large strains before failure. But
superplasticity in coarse grained magnesium Liu and Wu (2002) alloys has
been reported. Aluminium with 36µm grain size also was reported.
Superplastcity can be achieved even with grain size more than 10µm.
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1.2.2 Hot forming Temperature

Different alloys have different forming temperature. In general

superplasticity takes place relatively at elevated temperatures. Forming
temperature for superplastic forming is more than one half the melting
temperature of the material. Some of the composite materials exhibit
superplasticiy at higher temperatures Tong and Chan (1997). Higher the
forming temperature, larger the deformation can be obtained before failure.
By combining the effects of both the grain size and temperature,
superplasticity can be achieved at small grain size and low temperature or
large grain size and high temperature.

1.2.3 Strain Rate

Superplastic forming is usually formed between the strain rate of

10 to 10 s-1. The alloys are formed at slow strain rate superplastic forming
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of 10-3 – 10 -5 s-1 Chan and Tong (2000). Aluminium Metal matrix composites
are formed in high strain rate superplastic forming between 10-2 – 100 s-1.
Kim et al (2002).

1.3 TYPES OF SUPERPLASTICITY

1.3.1 Fine Structure Superplasticity

The fine structure superplasticity occurs in the grain size of less

than 10µm in alloys and less than 1µm for ceramics. For fine structure
superplasticity the strain rate sensitivity index is in the range of 0.5 and the
materials are deformed by grain boundary sliding mechanism. For grain
boundary sliding the grain size for metals should be small. The strain rate for
superplasticity increases as grain size decreases. Strain rate is inversely
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proportional to the grain size raised to the second or third power (Nieh et al
1992).

(1.1)

- strain rate
d - grain size
p = 2 or 3

The grain size plays an important role in the strain rate of

superplatic forming of materials. Low applied force is required for fine grain
material superplastic forming.

1.3.2 Internal Stress Superplasticity

Internal stress has been developed by very less tensile load and
thermal cycling process or pressure cycling. Thermal cycling process in
composite materials has different thermal expansion coefficients, which helps
in the development of internal stresses. The Internal stresses induce
considerable tensile plasticity and high strain rate sensitivity index. Internal
stress superplasticity exhibit ideal Newtonian viscous behavior. This type of
superplastic materials deform by slip-controlled methods (Wu et al 1984).

1.3.3 High Strain Rate Superplasticity

The conventional superplasticity has only low strain rates, typically

about 10 – 10-3 s-1. High strain rate superplastic forming was done at the
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strain rates of 10-1 – 101 s-1. These reduce the forming time significantly. High
strain rate superplastic forming is having significant technological impact on
the commercial applications of superplastic materials. Nieh and Wordsworth
(1991) have pointed out that a fine grain size is necessary for high strain rate
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superplastic forming. The high strain rate superplasticity phenomenon is

apparently related to the presence of liquid phases at grain boundaries.

1.3.4 Superplastic Forming Flow Equation

Superplastic flow equation may be described as

m
=k (1.2)

– True stress
- Strain Rate
k – Strength coefficient
m – Strain rate sensitivity Index

For superplastic forming ‘m’ value should be between 0.3 – 1. A

high m value imparts resistance to localized deformation such as necking, so
that the material can undergo large deformation without failure. The ideal
value of m = 1, would correspond to Newtonian viscous flow which leads to
completely neck free tensile elongation. The logarithmic stress / strain rate
curve for superplastic forming material is shown in Figure 1.1. The slope of
the curve at any point represents the value of the strain rate sensitivity index
(m) at that point.

The curve can be divided into three main regions where different
microstructural mechanisms dominate the deformation behavior. Superplatic
forming behavior occurs only in the region II. In this region the strain rate
sensitivity index (m) has high values at moderate strain rates and the material
will have large elongations. The strain rate sensitivity index resists the neck
formation and increases the elongation. In this region the grain boundary
sliding is accompanied by diffusion (or) dislocation. Glide and climb
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dominates the mechanism. By increasing the forming temperature or by grain

refinement the region is shifted to the right (towards high strain rates).

Figure 1.1 Logarithmic stress/strain rate curve and the corresponding

bell-shaped sensitivity curve for a superplastic material

1.4 DEFORMATION MECHANISM OF SUPERPLASTIC

FORMING

High-temperature deformation mechanisms are based on three

major processes. The processes are diffusional creep, grain boundary sliding
(GBS) and dislocation creep. Generally, Nabarro-Herring creep is likely to
occur at temperatures in excess of half the melting temperature for which
lattice diffusion controls the rate. Coble creep occurs at lower temperatures up
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to one-tenth of the melting point, for which grain boundary diffusion controls
the rate.

The deformation mechanism of superplastic forming is given below

(Siegert and Werle 1994)

(i) Grain boundary gliding

(ii) Dislocation movement
(iii) Diffusion creep at grain boundaries
(iv) Dynamical recovery processes
(v) Recrystallization process

1.4.1 Grain Boundary Sliding

During grain boundary sliding the neighboring grains were moving

along the common grain boundary, the rotation of neighboring grains and the
exchange mechanism of neighboring crystals.

1.4.2 Dislocation Movement

A group of grains with a favorable orientation moves as a block

relative to its neighbors as shown in Figure 1.2. The stress concentration in
the grain in which the slip plane exists and acts as a slip barrier, produces new
dislocations which once again cause a slip through the grain, stopping at the
next grain boundary and leading to a dislocation pile-up. The stress rise then
causes slip to initiate and proceed through the blocking grain. Furthermore,
the mobility of dislocations increases by the mechanism of climb.
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Figure 1.2 Gliding of Dislocations

Figure 1.3 illustrates the exchange mechanism of grains in

superplastic forming processes with the aid of a deformed layer of soap
bubbles. The exchange between neighbors can be divided into two groups. In
the permutation model, the grains in a layer rearrange themselves without any
increase in the layer surface area as shown in Figure 1.4. In the displacement
model, a grain from the neighborhood is inserted between the individual
grains, so that the surface area of the layer is increased. The permutation
model is based on observations of the behavior of soap bubbles between two
glass surfaces. With increasing deformation, the soap bubbles exchange their
neighbors

Start of Deformation State 1 State2

During Deformation Further Deformation

Figure1.3 Exchange mechanisms of grains

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Figure 1.4 Super Plastic Forming by Diffusion

1.5 SUPERPLASTIC ALLOYS

1.5.1 Aluminium Alloy

Initially the investigations on superplasticity involved much work

with Al- Cu eutectic alloy. At the room temperature ductility of this alloy was
limited, further work was concentrated on the production of an alloy with
small addition of Zr for the stable microstructure at the temperatures of
superplastic forming. This led to the development of Al-6Cu-0.5Zr and its
variants, which is being marketed as supral alloys. Al-4Mg-5Mn alloys are
used for façade elements, automobile parts and mass production sheets. These
alloys have maximum elongation of 300% at 540 C. Aluminum-lithium based
alloys are used as an example to illustrate the general principles for producing
fine structure superplasticity in aluminum alloys. Aluminum-lithium alloys
are primarily of great interest for aircraft and aerospace industries because
Lithium is one of only three elements that significantly increases the elastic
modulus and simultaneously decreases the density of aluminum.
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1.5.2 Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites

Discontinuously reinforced metal matrix composites are attractive

for many structural applications because of their high specific strength and
their modulus of elasticity. These materials have relatively lower ductility
than matrix alloys. Even at elevated temperatures, they show limited tensile
ductility. Discontinuously reinforced aluminium metal matrix composites
having superplastic forming behavior at high strain rates was first
demonstrated by Nieh et al (1997).

1.5.3 Titanium Alloys

Ti alloys are the most employed material in SPF formed parts. It is

used mainly for casings and hot parts around engines, ducts handling hot air,
exhaust nozzles and engine components in fan, compressor and auxiliary
systems. One of the titanium alloys which have been extensively studied in
aspect of superplasticity is the widely used Ti-6Al-4V alloy. This alloy
published in world scientific literature indicates meaningful progress in
evaluation and applications of superplastic forming in 30 years. Maximum
elongation of 1000% was observed at the strain rate of 10-4 s-1. Now a days
new group of superplastic forming Titanium alloys are Ti-Al intermetallic
based alloys. These intermetallic alloys have good strength and high
temperature creep (Sieniawski and Motyk 2007).

1.5.4 Magnesium based Alloys

Magnesium alloys have the inherent advantage of being light. They

are less dense than fiberglass and just over half as dense as aluminium.
Magnesium alloys having potential opportunities in automotive derive train
components. This is the consequence not only of magnesium’s relatively low
density which can directly and substantially reduce vehicle weight, but also
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have good damping characteristics, dimensional stability, machinability and

low casting cost. Primarily superplasticity was found in Mg-6Zn-0.5Zr alloy.
In AZ61A alloy elongates more than 600% at the temperature of 290 C.
ZK60A has elongation more than 700% at 310 C (Curtis 2005)

1.5.5 Iron based Alloys

Superplasticity in iron based materials has been reviewed by Nieh

et al (1997). Plain carbon steels have 1000% elongation by thermal cycling
process. The hyper eutectoid steels have superplasticity at the temperature of
800 C at the strain rate of 10-5-10-3 s-1. In steels containing about 1 to 2 wt%
Mn and 0.1 to 0.4 wt % C superplastic elongations of about 300 to 500% was
obtained at the temperature of 800 C. The mechanical work on the steels in
the austenite-cementite region to precipitate the carbides at austenite grain
boundaries followed by cold working and recrystallization treatment produces
superplastic deformation of 500% at 800 C.

1.5.6 Nickel based Alloys

Superplasticity has been observed in a variety of nickel based

alloys including cast and wrought alloys (Nieh et al 1997). The utilization of
superplasticity in Nickel base super alloys was considered during the powder
metallurgy process known as Gatorising. Gatorising utilizes the low flow
stress at high temperatures of the compacted alloy powders to produce
forging with extreme close tolerances. The most significant progress in the
area of Ni base alloys is probably the development of superplastic Inconel
718(Ni-30Cr-5Al) alloy. It is widely used in jet engine parts such as
compressor and turbine disks and rings, turbine shafts and fasteners.
The elongation value of over 700% can be obtained at a strain rate of 1.33 x
10-5 s-1. Some other nickel alloys are IN – 100, MA 6000 and MA 754).
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1.6 SUPERPLASTIC FORMING TECHNIQUE

It is the large ductility observed in superplastic materials that

attracted many investigators to the potential benefits in the area of metal
forming. Superplastic Forming (SPF) technique is the process used to form
this class of materials and considered a near-net shape forming process, with
tremendous cost and weight saving potentials over conventional forming
operations. Blow forming of superplastic sheets uses a single die surface
rather than the matched dies used in typical sheet metal forming operations.
The superplastic sheet material is usually formed onto a fixed die cavity,
shaped to the geometry of the desired part, using pressurized gas in one single
step. This is schematically illustrated by Figure 1.5.

Figure 1.5 Schematic diagram of super plastic forming

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1.6.1 Advantages of Superplastic Forming over other Conventional

Forming Process

(i) The superplastic materials undergo large strains without

fracture. Hence complex shapes requiring large amounts of
deformation can be formed in single stage by superplastic
forming. This offers a considerable flexibility in design.

(ii) The ability to form very hard materials, with relatively small
flow stresses.

(iii) As superplastic forming involves low flow stress, lower

capacity of forming equipment leads to lower capital cost of
equipment.

(iv) The possibility of diffusion bonding combined with superplastic

forming result in elimination of welding or use of fasteners
where assembly of formed parts is involved.

(v) Reduced number of forming steps, since SPF is usually carried

out in one single step.

(vi) Fine grain size present in formed component result in improved

strength, ductility and fatigue strength.

(vii) Greater design flexibility and dimensional control.

1.6.2 Limitations of Superplastic Forming

Superplastic forming has also few limitations.

(i) Slow and speed-limited forming process, which makes it

unfavorable for mass-production applications.
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(ii) Expensive pre-forming steps, like the preparation of the fine

grain-structured material, and heating to the desired forming
temperature.

(iii) Limited predictive capabilities of deformation and failure,

mirrored by the trial and error practices in forming operations.

(iv) Lack of comprehensive data regarding superplastic materials.

1.6.3 Superplastic Forming Applications

The aerospace industry is the biggest market for SPF yet

automotive, medical, sports, cookware and architectural applications have
their share too.

Aerospace titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V is the most popular

superplastic alloy used in aircrafts and submarines, covering almost one third
of SPF applications in these fields. Superplastic forging of nickel-base alloys
has been used to form turbine discs with integral blades. The aluminium 5083
alloy has been formed successfully by the superplastic forming technique
which is used for producing electric devices, ticket vending machines,
window frames for trains and gate panels. This material and other aluminium
alloys can be used in the fabrication of airframe control surfaces and other
small scale structural elements, where lightweight and high stiffness are
required. Figure 1.7 and Figure 1.8 shows several aeroplane components
formed from different aluminium alloys, produced by Superform Aluminium
(www.super-form.com). Figure 1.6 shows the possible superplastic forming
components in aero engines (David Serra 2008)
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Figure 1.6 Possible superplastic forming components in Aero Engines

Figure 1.7 Superplastically formed air intake lip skin

Figure 1.8 Superplastically formed wing tip

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All exterior body panels of the new Aston Martin Vanquish are
superplastically formed using aluminium as shown in Figure 1.9, with each
panel hand tailored to the central structure to ensure a perfect fit. The Morgan
Motor Company’s all-new supercar (Aero 8) is a completely new car with
advanced aluminium chassis, superplastically-formed and hand-formed
highly-detailed, light yet strong aluminium outer body panels. (www.super-
form.com)

Figure1.9 Superplastic forming in automotive applications

One of the areas of application where superplastic forming

capabilities clearly surpass other forming processes is the medical field. The
components shown in Figure 1.10 are superplastically formed using titanium,
a metal known for its bio-compatibility (Curtis 2005). Such highly detailed
profiles can’t be produced efficiently by any other forming process.

Figure 1.10 Superplastic forming application in Medical applications

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In sports, different titanium alloys have been used to produce some

equipment by superplastic forming; a successful example is the golf-club
head produced by Yamaha Duplex stainless steel is superplastically formed
into different cookware equipment, and sink decks for passenger aircrafts.
This superplastic material covers almost 30% of the Japanese market demand
for such applications Osada (1997).

Finally, even artists and architects sighted the capabilities of SPF in

producing intricate geometries, and used it in many occasions. In the
development of Victoria Station in London, McColl Architects used a multi-
barrel vault design that required bull nosed terminal detailing around the
arches at the junction with glazed walls. Due to the complexity and high
specification, SPF was considered the only viable process for the production
of the component (www.super-form.com). Some other exciting examples are
found in the art sculptures shown in Figure 1.11, where SPF eliminates
wrinkles and ensures very smooth surfaces.

Figure 1.11 Superplastic forming used in art and architecture applications

Some other applications are Fuel tank for two-wheeled vehicles,

Leisure boat, Floor sheet and interior panel for vehicles, Exterior wall,
interior wall, ceiling and access floor sheets for buildings, Door, gate and
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fence for residence, Casting of electronic equipment applications, Ornaments,

craftworks, etc.

1.7 OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH

The specific objectives of the research work are

(i) To investigate the effect of temperature, gas pressure on the

Superplastic forming behavior from dome height and thinning
factor

(ii) To investigate the biaxial and uniaxial superplastic forming

mechanism through microstructure analysis

(iii) To compare the superplastic forming behavior by experimental and

simulation analysis

(iv) To optimize the superplastic forming parameters through taguchi

optimization technique

(v) Find the influence of process parameter in the superplastic forming

by ANOVA.

1.8 ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS

Chapter 1 presents the introduction to the superplastic forming

process, advantages and limitation of superplastic forming process,
mechanism of superplastic forming and applications of superplastic forming
process. It also provides the need and objectives of the present study.

Chapter 2 gives a description of the published literature from

history of superplastic forming and its applications, Preparation of composite
materials, applications of metal matrix composites, Grain refinement through
thermomechanical treatment, Determination of material parameters,
superplastic forming mechanism, effect of liquid phase in superplastic
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forming, superplastic forming in composites, Thinning Factor, cavitation

analysis in superplastic forming, thermal cycling process, optimization
method and finite element method.

Chapter 3 describes about selection of the material, preparation of

composite materials and thermomechanical treatments.

Chapter 4 describes about the experimental set up and procedure of

biaxial and uniaxial superplastic forming process.

Chapter 5 explains the procedure followed in the simulation

analysis of superplastic forming through ABACUS software.

Chapter 6 presents the design of experiments by taguchi technique

and find the influence of parameter by ANOVA technique.

Chapter 7 presents the results and discussion of the research work

Chapter 8 gives Conclusions drawn and gives some suggestions for

further work in this area.