Quick Plastic Forming of a Decklid Inner Panel with Commercial AZ31 Magnesium Sheet

Experimental quick plastic forming (QPF) of commercially available magnesium alloy AZ31B sheet into Cadillac STS decklid inner panels was done successfully with existing QPF tools and processes developed for forming QPF-grade AA5083 aluminum sheet. This demonstrates that QPF parts designed for aluminum can be made with magnesium. The post-formed properties of the formed panel were investigated. Thinning of the magnesium alloy sheet in the successfully formed panel was limited to just under 50%, which is normally considered acceptable in QPF aluminum panels. The basal crystallographic texture of the sheet material was essentially maintained through the forming process. Tensile properties of samples cut from the formed panels exceed the specified minimums for the O-temper AZ31 sheet. Significant reduction in cycle time is expected based on the results of this work.