Warm Stamping of Cell-Phone Cases with AZ31 Magnesium-Alloy Sheets

The stamping process for manufacturing cell phone cases with magnesium alloy AZ31 sheets was studied using both the experimental approach and the finite element analysis. The formability of AZ31 magnesium-alloy sheet at elevated temperatures was studied first. The experimental results reveal that the forming of AZ31 sheets becomes possible as long as the sheet is heated to an elevated temperature and 200oC is an optimum forming temperature to start with. An optimum stamping process, including die geometry, forming temperature, and blank dimension, for manufacturing the cell phone cases was examined by the finite element analysis. The finite element analyses performed for the cell phone were validated by the good agreement between the simulation results and the experimental data. It also confirms that the cell phone cases can be produced with AZ31 magnesium-alloy sheets at elevated temperature by the stamping process. It provides an alternative to the electronics industry in the application of magnesium alloys.