Process and Material Property Effects in the Progressive Forming of Micro-Pins

A progressive forming process for micro-components was developed to circumvent the issue of handling of small micro-parts while keeping in mind the need for high manufacturing through-put. The mechanical properties and microstructure of the material have been found to play a significant role in the forming of micro-components. In this work, the effect of mechanical property on the forming of copper micro-pins by the progressive forming process is highlighted. Empirical results show that the forming load decreases for forming micro-pin with 0.3mm diameter after annealing but the pin height obtainable decreases as well compared to that prior to the heat treatment.