Shear edge characteristics for magnesium micro-blanking process in various velocities

Micro-blanking is a shearing process of a part in the submillimeter dimension range and serves as a preliminary process in sheet metal forming such as micro-stamping or micro-bending. It has become one of the promising methods developed to meet the demand for micro-scale magnesium products in implant applications due to its distinctive advantages such as massive production, high efficiency, and low cost. Meanwhile, magnesium is a suitable material for a biodegradable implant because of its biocompatibility and unique properties which are comparable to human bone. The characteristics of magnesium micro-blanking products can be defined by the quality of sheared surface, dimension precision, and accuracy. Hence, the large ratio of the smooth and shiny area represents a good micro-blanking product. The study of other materials for aluminum and copper alloys has found that the quality of the edge part was improved by applying high blanking velocity while magnesium has a tendency for a crack, especially at a high strain rate. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate magnesium micro-blanking at different blanking velocities at room temperature. The results showed that the smooth surface was expanding with a remarkable fracture as the blanking velocity increased.