Research on quick gas blow forming technology for AZ80 magnesium alloy sheet

Quick gas blow forming (QGBF) is a new forming technology derived from super plastic gas blow forming. This paper is to investigate the QGBF formability of 1.0 mm thick extrude-rolled AZ80 magnesium alloy sheet. The AZ80 magnesium alloy sheet was formed at 250~400℃ under 0.4~1.6 MPa to achieve a semi-sphere shape. The experimental results showed that the bulge height of semi-sphere part exceeded 38 mm at 350℃ under 0.8 MPa and the ratio of (height/diameter) is up to 0.95, which indicated an excellent QGBF formability. The empirical relationship between bulge height, bulging time and bulge height upon rupture was also obtained on the basis of the experimental data. Finally, a perfect 20 mm high rectangular part with good surface and edge quality was successfully fabricated through a 1.2 mm thin sheet material by applying the empirical function.