When we are working on precision hardware stamping and deep drawing parts, we often hear the term "work hardening". However, many new stamping enthusiasts cannot have a deep understanding of work hardening, which leads to various problems encountered during precision hardware stamping and processing. During the plastic deformation process of metal materials, as the degree of deformation increases, the deformation resistance also increases, resulting in an increase in the strength and hardness of the deformed material, while the plasticity and toughness decrease. This is known as work hardening.

Work hardening is an important factor that can shape precision hardware stamping and processing. In deep drawing, metal sheets first undergo plastic deformation in areas with low deformation resistance. Due to work hardening, the deformation resistance of the data in this area gradually increases, and the subsequent deformation is transferred to other places, thus obtaining a uniformly thick and thin drawn part.

From this, it can be seen that sheet materials used for stamping and deep drawing should have a certain degree of hardening ability, and sheets with weak hardening ability should not be used for deep drawing. Metal sheets with strong work hardening can achieve uniform deformation in the same degree of deformation, reduce local thinning of the billet, and increase the ultimate deformation parameter.

For the deep drawing of disorderly shaped curved parts, the above effect is more obvious. The unfavorable side of work hardening is that the occurrence of work hardening reduces the plasticity of the data, preventing further stamping processing. For example, the punched sheet metal will form a layer of surface hardening structure on the surface of the shear zone. This hardening layer is extremely detrimental to the plastic deformation of the next process of the sheet metal, such as bending, deep drawing, flanging, etc. It can cause cracks or fractures in the workpiece. In multiple deep drawing processes, continuing without considering work hardening can cause the semi-finished parts to break. In order to eliminate work hardening and continue stamping, a central annealing process is required. This increases the production cost of precision metal stamping and prolongs the production cycle.