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ABOUT FORMPLANET

THE PROJECT

New testing methodologies to increase productivity

FormPlanet is one of European Union’s Open Innovation Test Beds (OITBs) for characterisation, aiming at increasing the productivity of the sheet metal forming industries through the development of new experimental and modelling methodologies to assure zero-defects production and optimise sheet material development, production and performance.

FormPlanet develops unique testing methodologies for more accurate materials characterisation and modelling for high strength sheet materials, adressing processability and quality parts problems in the sheet manufacturing sector.

FormPlanet novel testing techniques limit productivity losses due to crack defects and innacurate quality assessment, resulting in a boost of a wide usage of high strength sheet materials for high-added value products in different applications.

Start: January 2019 – End: December 2021

Duration: 36 months

Funded under: H2020-EU.2.1.3. – H2020-EU.2.1.2.

FORMPLANET OPEN INNOVATION TEST BED

RESEARCH BEYOND THE STATE OF THE ART IN THE SHEET METAL FORMING VALUE CHAIN

New multi-scale characterisation techniques for defect-free material production – Development of a new approach for proper characterisation of sheet fracture and formability, based on the fundamental damaging micro-mechanisms and relevant material properties.
Novel characterisation techniques to predict part performance– Development of new methodologies to predict in-service part behaviour (crashworthiness, H-embrittlement resistance, fatigue and fracture resistance at room and high T) of high-performance sheet materials to shorten the time-to market of new materials.
Quality control of material properties and part integrity by NDT – Novel non-destructive techniques (NDT) for in-line assessing part integrity and material properties in high quality products made with processing sensitive materials.

Novel finite element modelling to predict part manufacturing and performance,and to shorten part design phase – Implementation of material properties, obtained from the developed tests, affecting process sensitivity and final part performance.
Generation of a complete material database for smart material selection – Collection and properly compilation of material properties to generate smart material properties database.
Contribution to the setting of future standards – FormPlanet results promoted to be included in future standards to facilitate their implementation for all actors in the value chain.
A certification methodology and a traceability procedure will support final end-users of the Test Bed to purchase materials ensuring conformity with Product certification requirements and safety and regulatory standards.

GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT

WITH FORMPLANET TRIFOLD

A WORD FROM THE PROJECT'S COORDINATOR

FormPlanet TestBed responds to the sheet metal forming industry challenges in the manufacturing of high-performance metal parts with new high-strength materials with novel testing methodologies reducing production costs up to 20% and time-to-market by 25%.

– Eduard Piqueras, FormPlanet Coordinator –

THE SHEET METAL FORMING INDUSTRY

The sheet metal forming sector is one of the most important manufacturing processes to obtain high performance metal parts from steel and aluminium for almost every industrial production sector.

Generating over €400M in 2016, the sector faces new challenges related to the manufacture of high-performance parts with new high strength materials. Such high strength makes them processing sensitive, so forming parameters and sheet properties must be assessed to assure a zero-defect production and part quality, avoiding unexpected defects that cannot be predicted at the product design stage using traditional experimental or computational approaches.

Sheet metal fabrication market by sectors. [Sheet Metal Fabrication Services Market -Transparency Market Research Aug. 2017]

INDUSTRAL DEMONSTRATORS

The potential of novel approach will be proven in several industrial demonstrators in the automotive, packaging and home appliances sector.

8 industrial partners representing the sheet metal forming industry value chain will validate the FormPlanet solution to reduce product’s cost and time-to-market.

Automotive

New AHSS with improved crashworthiness through crash performance tests at lab scale

Automotive

Optimised cold rolled steels for fineblanking through more accurate mechanical properties data at lab scale.

Cosmetic Packaging, Automotive

New Al alloys 5xxx with optimised mechanical properties and formability.

Automotive – electric vehicles

Formability prediction of advanced sandwich materials through Finite Elements (FE) simulation and advanced characterisation tests.

Automotive

Ligthweighting of car body Al component, merging of components to one structural component and better predictions of forming conditions and springback.

Home Appliances

Lightweighting of a compressor shell through more accurate inputs to predict forming behaviour. Optimisation of clinch forming process on drum sheet performance through more accurate mechanical characterisation.

Automotive

Edge-cracking prediction in B-pillar node parts of Al and AHSS for ligtweighting solutions. Implementation of an on-line diffusible H measurement control to prevent H-embrittlement in AHSS during the hot press forming of a floor rail component.

Automotive

Reduction of thermal and thermal acoustic insulation parts cracking during forming through more accurate inputs of edge-cracking resistance.

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