Effect of temperature on the forming of steel based fibre metal laminate systems

In this study, fibre metal laminates (FMLs) have been made of one layer of consolidated woven glass-fibre reinforced polypropylene (Twintex) sandwiched between two layers of galvanised steel, and their formability during various stamp forming operations has been assessed. The FML blanks were formed until failure occurred using a hemispherical punch in an open-die configuration. The experiments were performed on the blanks at room temperature and at preheated temperatures of 110 and 140 degreesC under a range of blank holder forces. Three-dimensional photogrammetry has been used to measure the strains on the lower surface of the blank in real-time during forming and the evolution of strain during forming has been used to elucidate the deformation behaviour.