Effects of lubrication conditions on micro deep drawing

Micro deep drawing of cylinder cups is a reliable mass production and low cost process if the forming parameters are reasonably chosen. Micro cups with a drawing blank diameter of 2 mm were formed and the effects of lubrication conditions on micro deep drawing were studied. The specimen material was copper alloy Cu-FRHC with a thickness of 40 μm which was thermally treated at 873 K for 12 h in nitrogen atmosphere. The experiments were carried out at room temperature on a universal testing machine without lubrication and under the lubrication of polyethylene (PE) film, soybean oil, and castor oil at a drawing velocity of 0.1 mm/s. The results showed that the micro cups were formed accurately with a minimum diameter of 0.9 mm. The PE film which results in the minimum drawing force, maximum limit drawing ratio (LDR), and good surface quality was better than other lubrication conditions and can be chosen as a proper lubricant in micro forming.