Innovation made for series production: titanium deep-drawing by STÜKEN

As a biocompatible material, titanium is a popular metal used in various applications in medical technology. In many situations, the metal was previously processed through machining because the material was considered too difficult to cold form.
Due to the special material properties, the components had to be normalized between each forming step with the aid of costly and time-consuming heat treatments.

For the economical production of cold-formed titanium components using deep-drawing technology, the following aspects are of vital importance:

• comprehensive material competence,
• a maximum effective process layout and
• high-precision serial tools

If large quantities are to be produced over long periods of time with guaranteed accuracy, a high level of technological competence and suitable infrastructures are also required. With the aim of replacing costly machined parts with efficiently cold-formed deep-drawn titanium parts, STÜKEN started the project to develop a suitable manufacturing process.

As a leading company for precision metal components, STÜKEN has extensive experience in the cold forming of demanding materials. After a thorough analysis of the requirements and an adjustment of the manufacturing processes, an intelligent solution for the multi-stage deep-drawing of titanium could be established. By using a tightly specified titanium alloy and taking into account the specific characteristics of the material during processing, the high quality expected from STÜKEN can be guaranteed. Despite the high degree of forming, the series production of complex titanium components becomes possible with the aid of precise high-performance tools.

The successful implementation of the innovative production technology for deep-drawing titanium is based on several aspects. STÜKEN's know-how from numerous successfully completed projects played an important role in designing and establishing the process. Another key success factor was STÜKEN's comprehensive competence in the cold forming of complex materials, supported by the expertise of the Research and Development department. The close support of the entire project by STÜKEN's toolmaking department and the continuous simulation of the complete process were also crucial on the way to achieving a stable process layout.

For our customers, the multi-stage deep-drawing of titanium offers significant advantages over, for example, the machining of parts: Due to the material-saving production and higher production capacity, the total costs are remarkably reduced despite the higher-quality material. Benefitting from the extremely economical deep-drawing technology, high quantities can be produced efficiently in constant quality. Compared to machining, material consumption is reduced to a minimum and resources are saved. Using various finishing processes, STÜKEN also carries out the necessary further processing, such as surface treatment, so that the components can be used directly by our customers.