Several Factors Affecting the Electroplastic Effect During an Electrically-Assisted Forming Process

Recent development of electrically-assisted manufacturing (EAM) processes proved the advantages of using the electric current, mainly related with the decrease in the mechanical forming load and improvement in the formability. From EAM experiments, it has been determined that a portion of the applied electrical power contributes toward these forming benefits and the rest is dissipated into heat, defined as the electroplastic effect. The objective of this work is to experimentally investigate several factors that affect the electroplastic effect and the efficiency of the applied electricity. Specifically, the effects of various levels of cold work and contact force are explored on both Grade 2 and Grade 5 Titanium alloys. Thermal and mechanical data prove that these factors notably affect the efficiency of the applied electricity during an electrically-assisted forming (EAF) process.