Development of an innovative process to fabricate ultra-fine grained bimetallic thin sheets for microforming applications
Primary Information
Domain
Manufacturing
Project No.
8144
Sanction and Project Initiation
Sanction No: 41-2/2015-TS-I(PT)
Sanction Date: 01/09/2016
Project Initiation date: 16/02/2017
Project Duration: 36
Partner Ministry/Agency/Industry
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Role of partner:
1) To monitor the project on timely basis
2) To support 50 % of the project cost
Support from partner:Financial support @ 50% of total project cost
Principal Investigator
Dr. Sushanta Kumar Panigrahi
IIT Madras
Host Institute
Co-PIs
Prof. M.S. Shunmugam
IIT Madras
Prof. Satyam Suwas
IISc Bengaluru
Scope and Objectives
The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a novel hybrid severe plastic deformation based manufacturing process aimed to produce ultra-fine grained (UFG) bimetallic thin sheets which can be used in making a diverse range of products for consumer electronics, MEMS, telecommunication devices, biomedical tools, automobile and aerospace applications. The prime objectives of the project are: i) To develop the processing route for the development of UFG Al-Cu bimetallic sheets by using the proposed novel manufacturing process and establish the scientific base for manufacturing of such bi-metallic UFG sheets. ii) To establish the scientific base for manufacturing of such bi-metallic UFG sheets. iii) To evaluate microformability and mechanical properties of UFG bimetallic sheets and correlate these properties with crystallography texture and microstructure.
Deliverables
1) A custom designed setup for fabricating bimetallic ultrafine-grained (UFG) sheets
2) High-quality UFG bimetallic sheets: Our industrial partner M/S Shivalik Bimetallic Control is interested in exploiting the UFG bimetallic sheets. They believe such high-quality bimetallic sheets can provide technologically superior products and can increase the rising demand for bimetals in Indian industries
3) Bimetallic macro/micro components: Our industrial partner Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has recommended that our proposed technology is superior to the existing techniques to fabricate bimetallic sheets, especially in microforming applications.
Scientific Output
The 1st step of the proposed novel manufacturing route for development of UFG bi-metallic sheets is to develop ultrafine grained sheets of Al and Cu. To develop such sheets, cryorolling was adopted. An extraordinary rise in strength (2 to 4 times compared to base material) is observed both in the case of cryorolled (CR) Al and Cu. This rise is the tensile strength is attributed to effective suppression of dynamic recovery due to subzero deformation temperature, which minimizes slip activities during rolling. CR Cu undergoes a higher degree of strengthening due to its lower stacking fault energy. Electron microscopy of the CR Al and Cu reveals well defined nanogranular structures in CR Al. This is due to activation of poly-slip deformation phenomenon due to its higher stacking fault energy.
Results and outcome till date
i) Successfully developed the custom-designed facility to fabricate UFG Al-Cu bimetallic sheets.
ii) Completed the first step of the hybrid SPD process in which UFG Al and UFG Cu sheets have been developed and characterized.
iii) The processing window for the development of UFG Al-Cu bimetal sheet has been established by a combination of FEM simulation and laboratory scale experiments.
iv) The UFG Al-Cu bimetals have significantly higher interfacial hardness compared to their coarse-grained counterpart.
Societal benefit and impact anticipated
Bimetallic components have many applications ranging from electronics, heating devices to avionics. It is possible to incorporate two mutually independent properties in bimetals which make it a high demand material in industries. The present method aims to develop Al-Cu bimetallic sheets with high bond and base metal strength and superior macro/micro formability. This will enhance the life of bimetallic components and will reduce their manufacturing costs. This may lead to an overall reduction in costs of electronics and heating appliances.
Next steps
i) Upscaling the UFG Al-Cu bimetallic sheet development based on the established processing window.
ii) Detailed characterization (microstructure and mechanical properties) of the bimetallic interface.
iii) Tool design and development for microforming of the bimetallic sheets.
iv) Microformability evaluation and microstructural correlation by experiment and simulation.
Publications and reports
A part of this work has been communicated to "13th International Conference on Numerical Methods in Industrial Forming Processes (NUMIFORM 2019)". This will be published in International Journal of Metal Forming.
Scholars and Project Staff
Bheemreddy Prathyusha , Ph.D. Scholar Abhijeet Dhal, Project Officer
Challenges faced
The 1st objective of this project was to design and develop a custom designed Asymmetric/Roll bonding set up at IIT Madras. After designing and finalizing the specification of the setup at IIT Madras, none of the Indian manufacturers have agreed to develop such equipment as per our design in the initial phase. Finally an Indian manufacturer "New Field Engineer Pvt Ltd." agreed to develop such custom-designed equipment. The developed machine is now housed in IIT Madras.
Financial Information
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Total sanction: Rs. 166.92 lakhs
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Amount received: Rs. 145.5 lakhs
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Amount utilised for Equipment: Rs. 0
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Amount utilised for Manpower: Rs. 0
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Amount utilised for Consumables: Rs. 0
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Amount utilised for Contingency: Rs. 0
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Amount utilised for Travel: Rs. 0
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Amount utilised for Other Expenses: 0
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Amount utilised for Overheads: Rs. 0
Equipment and facilities
Custom designed facility for the development of UFG bimetallic sheets
