Dry Metal Forming – a Green Approach

In metal forming, lubricants are used to reduce friction between work piece and tool and to increase tool life. However, avoiding lubricants in metal forming would reduce the number of process steps in production by eliminating subsequent cleaning operations, thus reducing environmental impacts and generating substantial economic benefit. Challenges arising from dry metal forming can be addressed by the choice of tool or coating material. The use of diamond tools is an example of an appropriate approach in the field of micro metal forming.