Material efficient production of complex (hybrid) components using semi solid forming processes

By means of lightweight design and lightweight material structures, weight of single components and of resulting component assemblies should be reduced and, additionally, existing functionalities, reliabilities and material properties should be preserved. Therefore, on the one hand novel materials and hybrid material combinations are investigated and on the other hand weight reduction is realized by material efficient component designs. With regard to the manufacturing of such complex component geometries with high dimensional accuracy and relating to the realization of hybrid material concepts, semi solid forming technology offers promising prospects. This paper deals with two research projects recently conducted at the Institute for Metal Forming Technology (IFU, University of Stuttgart) in the field of this forming technology. First project is concerned with the manufacturing of hybrid components with integrated sensor and/or actuator functions and second project is in the field of material efficient manufacturing.