Sheet Metal Forming
					Index
	Forming of sheet metal into finished shapes involves the plastic deformation of the material by bending, stretching and drawing. Shapes are also produced by shearing sections from a plate (blanking). The grain structure of the metal sheet and its ductility strongly influence the quality of the final product. These processes are illustrated in the diagram.
	The final shape produced by bending, stretching, or drawing involves both elastic and plastic deformation. When the deformation loads are removed, elastic strain is recovered and this must be recognized in product design. If the sheet metal has anisotropic plastic properties, anisotropic deformation occurs and material must be removed to obtain the desired shape. Surface texture also depends on deformation. Inhomogeneous plastic deformation associated with Luders bands in low carbon steels will produce surface texture. If both tensile and compressive deformation is used to form the shape, wrinkling may occur. From: "Manufacturing with Materials," Edwards and Endean (Eds.), Butterworth (1990)