Abstract
<jats:p>In the process of electromagnetic forming, a capacitor bank, forming coil, field shaper, and electrically conductive workpiece are used to generate the pressure of a pulsed magnetic field, which is employed in the production of aircraft components. The extremely intense magnetic field, created by the discharge of the capacitor bank into the forming coil, lasts only a few microseconds. The resulting eddy currents, induced in the conductive workpiece placed near the coil, interact with the magnetic field, causing a repulsive force between the workpiece and the forming coil. The magnitude of this repulsive force is sufficient to stress the workpiece beyond its yield strength, resulting in permanent deformation. The conductivity of the workpiece and the eddy currents interacting with the coil’s magnetic field produce a net pressure on the surface of the workpiece. As the surface of the workpiece moves inward under this pressure, it absorbs energy from the magnetic field. To maximize the portion of available energy used for forming and minimize energy losses due to the permeability of the workpiece material (which dissipates energy as resistive heating), the forming pulse is kept short. In most forming applications, pulse durations range from 10 to 100 microseconds.</jats:p>