Journal of Materials Processing Technology 213 (2013) 444452

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Pulsed electromagnetic attraction of sheet metals Fundamentals and

perspective applications
Yuri V. Batygin a, , Sergey F. Golovashchenko b , Andrey V. Gnatov a
a
b

Kharkov National Automobile and Highway University, Kharkov, Ukraine

Ford Research and Advanced Engineering, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, USA

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 28 January 2012
Received in revised form 3 October 2012
Accepted 7 October 2012
Available online 16 October 2012
Keywords:
Electromagnetic forming
Electromagnetic attractive force
Ferromagnetic materials
Low frequencies

a b s t r a c t
The paper is dedicated to the study of pulsed electromagnetic attraction processes which can deform ferromagnetic sheet metal materials such as low carbon steels using low frequency discharges. The analytical
model based upon the solution of Maxwell equations explains that magnetic forces are prevailing over
the Lorentz forces for low frequency discharges. For electromagnetic forming (EMF) processes employing
ferromagnetic sheet metal blanks of low electrical conductivity with relatively slow electric discharges,
the magnetic forces should be taken into account in order to achieve a correct representation of electromagnetic forces applied to the blank. An engineering estimate on the size of magneto-static forces and
Lorentz-forces is the outcome of the analytical work. In addition to analytical work and validation of the
proposed engineering estimate of attracting forces, a single turn coil is introduced which is more robust
than previous designs with multiple frequencies and interrupted discharges. The simplied setup only
requires a rather slow single frequency low voltage electric discharge which allows for using cheaper
and longer life capacitors, substantially reduces the safety implications and also extends the life of the
coil insulation.
2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Electromagnetic forming (EMF) is an impulse or high speed
forming technology which uses pulsed electromagnetic elds to
apply forces to tubular or sheet metal workpieces. The rst experiments on EMF were conducted by Kapitza (1924). A recent very
detailed review by Psyk et al. (2011) provided a historical perspective of EMF processes development and highlighted the state of
the art on modeling, coil design, sheet metal forming, tube forming, crimping, welding, cutting, calibration of parts to eliminate
springback and hybrid processes involving EMF. A lot of sources,
for example Belyy et al. (1977), indicate that good electrical conductivity for both workpiece material and inductor material is the
major requirement for traditional EMF processes to be efcient.
In the literature, for example Bruno (1968) or Davies and Austin
(1970), EMF processes are usually grouped with media pulsed
forming processes such as electrohydraulic forming or explosive
pulsed forming processes and media based quasistatic forming
processes, such as hydroforming, rubber forming and gas forming
Smith (1990). The common point of all these technologies is that
one side of the traditional stamping die is replaced by the pressure

Corresponding author at: Kharkov National Automobile and Highway University, Petrovskogo str., 25, Kharkov 61002, Ukraine. Tel.: +380 57 7073653.
E-mail address: batygin48@mail.ru (Y.V. Batygin).
0924-0136/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2012.10.003

of liquid, elastic media, gas or an electromagnetic eld. There is one

specic point which differentiates EMF from all these media based
forming methods: it does not require any physical media to ll the
space between the coil and the conductive blank to transmit pressure from its original source to the blank. However, EMF requires
the blank to be in close vicinity to the coil to make the process more
energy efcient.
All applications discussed by Psyk et al. (2011) are based upon
repelling Lorentz forces between the EMF coil and conductive
blank. In such a conguration, the coil and the tool (forming die,
mandrel to which the blank is welded or crimped, shearing edge
which is cutting the blank) are positioned from opposite sides of
the blank. In addition to such repelling processes, another conguration of EMF processes is possible, where the blank is attracted to
the coil.

2. Literature review on EMF attraction processes

Attracting forces are always present if magnetic elds interact with bodies consisting of ferromagnetic material. As long as
a reversion of magnetism is not important (i.e., the impressed current pulse is strongly damped or has the shape of a half-wave),
their amplitude is independent of the triggering frequency. However, they are about one to two orders of magnitude smaller than
those repelling Lorentz-forces arising in electromagnetic forming

Y.V. Batygin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 213 (2013) 444452

processes at typical frequencies. In case of typical electromagnetic forming processes, ferromagnetic interaction enters as a
higher order correction into the model. However, in electromagnetic attraction processes, the magnetic forces are playing a very
important role and must be taken into account.
Furth (1965) suggested the EMF process with a multiturn coil
and an additional turn with open ends. The electric discharge
employed for this process was rather slow and, therefore, allows
diffusion of electromagnetic eld through the blank. In this case,
electromagnetic pressure would arise from both sides of the blank.
In order to change the direction of electromagnetic pressure, Furth
(1965) suggested to eliminate the electromagnetic eld from the
side of the blank facing the coil. It was accomplished by introducing an additional single turn coil, which initially had open ends
and which had only inductive connection to the main coil. The
additional single turn coil then got short circuited by the spark
at the moment when difference of potentials at its ends reached
the breakdown value. At that moment, the electric current in the
additional turn generated an electromagnetic eld of the opposite
sign to the eld of the main coil. As a result, the electromagnetic
pressure from the side of the blank facing the coil was eliminated,
while the pressure from the diffused electromagnetic eld to the
opposite side of the blank attracted it to the coil. Technically, such
a device requires a lot of tuning and maintenance, since the breakdown threshold may depend upon many parameters and can also
change through the life of the coil due to the erosion occurring in
the area where the breakdown takes place.
The physical principle behind the process proposed by Furth
(1965) relies on generating two frequencies of discharge: slow and
fast. The fast discharge eliminates the slow eld from the side of the
blank facing the coil while the slow eld diffused through the thickness of the sheet metal deforms the blank. This physical principle
was incorporated in a number of coil designs and congurations:
Hansen and Hendrickson (1976) suggested a method and apparatus
for electromagnetically removing dents from conductive materials by introducing a slow discharge through a multiturn coil and a
rapid pulse of countercurrent; Hansen and Hendrickson (1979) further developed the coil system by introducing a ux concentrator
which is also known in the literature as a eld shaper. Hansen and
Hendrickson (1991) introduced a system of two coils and a portable
pulse generator generating both repelling and pulling forces to
correct both concave and convex areas of the dent; Zieve (1991)
introduced a crow bar system capable of shaping the pulse comprised of the fast and slow frequencies in the most favorable way
for the dent removal process.
Another concept of sheet metal attraction by a coil was
introduced by Shneerson (1981) based on sudden interruption of
a single frequency discharge. In this case, the diffused electromagnetic eld still produces the attraction forces. In general, this
approach is similar to the two-frequency method introduced by
Furth (1965) and further developments by Hansen and Hendrickson
(1976). The method introduced by Shneerson (1981) looks simpler than previously developed methods; however, its efciency is
dependent upon how fast the discharge can be interrupted.
To some extent, interruption of the discharge is similar to the
introduction of the secondary high frequency discharge which
eliminates electromagnetic eld on the side of the blank facing the
coil. Numerical modeling conrming that the EMF attraction can
be created if the discharge current is slowly ascending and then
quickly descending was conducted by Deng et al. (2007).
ODell (1988) suggested to use an electromagnetic device
including an electromagnet positioned at the exterior side of the
panel and a ferrous alloy tool positioned at the inner side of the
panel. The electromagnet is attracting the ferrous alloy tool which
is ironing the dents inner surface. To a large extent, this method is
similar to mechanical dent removal procedures.

445

The concept of a single frequency sheet metal attraction was

introduced by Batygin et al. (2004, 2006) for ferromagnetic materials. This concept was discovered during EMF experiments with steel
sheet metal material deformed by electric discharges with different frequencies. The suggested concept quickly found its practical
application in dent removal devices for automotive applications
where the majority of exterior panels are fabricated from low carbon steel. The specic coil designs as well as practical aspects
of dent removal in automotive panels are described by Meichtry
(2006).
The single frequency experiments initially discussed in Batygin
et al. (2004, 2006) for ferromagnetic materials indicated that
the direction of the electromagnetic pressure for ferromagnetic steel sheet metal blanks is a function of the frequency
of the discharge. At some limit, the applied electromagnetic
force was changing its direction: for high frequencies repulsion
took place, but for low frequencies attraction was displayed.
The effect of attraction is possible only for the low frequencies,
when
<<

1
,
  d2

(1)

where = 2f, f is the working frequency,  is the permeability of

the considered metal,  is the electric conductivity of sheet metal,
and d is the sheet metal thickness.
It should be understood that formula (1) provides only the
upper limit of the frequency where attraction can be expected.
The actual boundary frequency between attraction and repelling
can be one order of magnitude lower. Physically, formula (1) can
be further explained in the following way: it compares the sheet
metal thickness with the magnetic diffusion length at the given
frequency. It gives a rough estimate, if the magnetic elds energy
remains in the work piece, where it gives rise to eddy currents
and, hence, invokes Lorentz forces, or is mainly transferred through
it. However, without an estimate on the size of magneto-static
forces, it cannot be used as an indicator whether Lorentz-forces
or magneto-static forces prevail. Obviously, formula (1) provides a necessary but not sufcient condition of electromagnetic
attraction. An analytical method dening the boundary frequency between repulsion and attraction will be discussed in this
paper.
The objective of this paper is to provide a theoretical analysis of pulsed electromagnetic attraction of ferromagnetic materials
using a single frequency non-interrupted discharge and to provide
experimental results supporting the major conclusions of the analytical study. An engineering estimate on the size of magneto-static
forces and Lorentz-forces will be the outcome of the analytical
work. In addition to analytical work, the tooling design including a single turn coil coupled with the pulsed transformer will
be discussed. Compared to earlier versions of the EMF attraction
process (for example in Meichtry, 2006) where multiturn coils
were employed, the discharge frequency can be adjusted for each
individual material and sheet thickness without changing the coil
design.
In order to improve the electric efciency of the discharge, the
pulsed transformer was added to the discharge circuit between
the pulse generator and a single-turn coil. The employed pulsed
transformer had a multi-turn primary coil arranged on an external surface of the hollow cylinder with a longitudinal slot serving
as a single-turn secondary coil to the edges of which the single turn inductor for the electromagnetic attraction is connected.
Very simple modications in the pulsed transformer can adjust
the frequency of the discharge. Such modications usually include
changing the number of turns employed in the primary coil of
the transformer. This capability was enabled by fabricating the
multiple connectors to various points of the primary coil of the

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Y.V. Batygin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 213 (2013) 444452

transformer which allows to use only a certain portion of this coil

to adjust the frequency of the discharge. This version of the EMF
attraction process substantially simplies the requirements to the
EMF equipment: two frequencies of an interrupted discharge are
not necessary anymore. It requires a rather slow single frequency
low voltage electric discharge which enables usage of cheaper and
longer life capacitors, substantially reduces the safety implications
and also extends the life of the coil insulation.

3. Theoretical analysis of EMF attraction process for

ferromagnetic materials
The interaction between a single turn inductor and a ferromagnetic sheet metal blank is being analyzed.
The following assumptions were made in order to simplify the
mathematical model of the process:
1. The single turn inductor is sufciently thin (its thickness  0)
and transparent for the acting elds, so its metal has no effect
on considered electromagnetic processes.
2. The process is considered quasi stationary according to the criterion /cl  1 described in Landau and Lifshitz (1984) and
Knoepfel (1970) as well, where is the cyclic frequency of the
process, c is the light velocity for vacuum, l is the greatest typical dimension of the system under consideration. Physically it
means that the typical dimension of the system is substantially
smaller than the wavelength of acting electromagnetic eld. For
l = 0.1 m and c = 3 108 m/s,  3.3 109 Hz while for typical
electromagnetic forming process, the cyclic frequency would
not exceed 6 105 Hz, and for the electromagnetic attraction
process, it is more than one order of magnitude smaller.
3. The system has an axial symmetry, so / = 0 ( is the polar
angle).
4. The sheet metal blank is sufciently thin, and its radial dimension is sufciently large, so d/R1,2  1 and  1 ( = 1 d2 ,
, d are conductivity and thickness of the sheet metal blank,
R1,2 are the internal and external radii of the inductor).
5. The permeability of the sheet billet metal is constant and is
equal to 1 , 1 = 0 r , 0 and r are the vacuum permeability
and the relative permeability of the metal accordingly.
6. Reproduction of the mutual inductance of tool coil and work
piece is neglected.
7. The sheet metals motion is not taken into account.
8. Nonlinear behavior of ferromagnetic saturation is neglected
considering an average value of magnetic permeability.
9. Variability of conductivity as a consequence of temperature
rise due to Joule heating as well as due to magnetization is
neglected.
10. Reversion of magnetization is not taken into account.
The schematic of the process is shown in Fig. 1.
The Maxwell equations in the L-space for the electromagnetic eld components being excited with zero initial conditions
/ 0, Hr,z =
/ 0) can be presented in their well known form (for
(E =
example, according to Landau and Lifshitz, 1984):

where p is the parameter of the Laplace transform; E (p, r, z)L {E (t,

r, z)} ; Hr,z (p, r, z) = L {Hr,z (t, r, z} ; j (p, r, z) = L {j (t, r, z)} .

Fig. 1. The schematic of the single turn inductor (1) interacting with ferromagnetic sheet metal blank (2) where er , e , ez are the unit vectors in the cylindrical
coordinate system.

The current density in the right part of the Eq. (2) is assumed as
j (p, r, z) = (p 0 + ) E (p, r, z) + ji (p, r, z),

(5)

where ji (t,r,z) is the current density in the inductor,

ji (p,
r,
z) = j(p) F(r)
(z + h),
j(p) = I(p)/(R2 R1 ),
I(p) = L {I(t)}; F(r) is the function of radial distribution of
current in the inductor turn, which can be assumed in the
following form: F(r) = (r R1 ) (r R2 ); (z+ h) is the Deltafunction ;
a is the permeability of the environment, a =

0 , in the vacuum,
1 , in the ferromagnetic material.
In order to solve the formulated problem, the areas with homogeneous electrical physical characteristics have to be separated.
Such areas include: the air (nonconducting) (z (, 0]), sheet
metal blank metal (z (0, d])) and the air (nonconducting)
(z [d, +)). According to the assumption 1, the single turn inductor
is sufciently thin with its thickness  0 and transparent for
the acting elds, so the metal of the inductor has no effect on considered electromagnetic processes. Therefore, there is no dedicated
area for the inductor.
In each separated area, the system of differential Eqs. (2)(4) has
to be integrated taking into account the equation for the current
density (5). The axial symmetry of the system being considered
and the requirement of the limit value for the electromagnetic eld
intensity for r = 0 and r = allow to use the integral Fourier-Bessel
transformation described by Korn and Korn (1968).
General integrals of differential Eqs. (2)(4) include integration
constants which can be dened from the continuity condition for
the tangential components of the intensity of the electromagnetic
eld at the boundaries of the selected regions. Finally, the obtained
equation for the system under consideration will be dened by
mutual inuence of the elds in the selected regions. The solution
of the problem formulated above can be written in form of expressions for the currents and elds being excited in the ferromagnetic
sheet metal blank shown in Fig. 1, z [0, d].

Y.V. Batygin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 213 (2013) 444452

The current density:

)=

j (z, r,

2 jm

where J0 (xr/d) is the zero-order Bessel function.

 x h 

f (x) exp

k (r x)

k=0

x J1


k F1k (r x, z) dj( )

exp

x r 
d

k2 + x2

dx

(6)

where jm and j( ) in the convolution are the amplitude of the

current density in the inductor and its time function, which
will be further discussed in Section 4; in practical calculations
it is usually assumed as an exponentially relaxing sine function.
= t is the phase,
is the cyclic
frequency
of the

R
exciting current, f (x) = 1/d2 R 2 F (r) r J1 x r/d dr, F(r) is
1

the radial distribution of the current in the inductor, which

specic form is provided further in Section 4, J1 (xr/d) is
the rst-order Bessel function, k are the roots of the equation: tg(k ) = 2/(k /(r x) (r x)/k ), F1k ((r x), z) = (r x) sin
(k (1 z/d)) + k cos (k (1 z/d)), k (r x) = cos(k )[(r x)2 +
2(r x) k2 ] 2k sin(k )[1 + (r x)], x is the variable of integration.
The integration constants were found from the continuity conditions for the tangential components of the vectors of electrical and
magnetic intensity on the boundaries of the areas with different
electrical characteristics according to Landau and Lifshitz (1984).
The existence of the obvious limit transitions in the convolution
of two functions in the expression (6) should be emphasized.
dj( )
exp
d

k2 + x2

=
0


exp

k2 + x2


(

dj()
d

d =

j( ),  ,
dj( )
,  0.
d

(7)

According to Landau and Lifshitz (1984), for the skin-effect

regime ( ), the time functions of the induced current and the
inductor current are the same. For the regime of intensive penetration of the eld ( 0), the induced current is proportional to the
derivative of the exciting current.
The components of the magnetic eld intensity excited inside
the blank can be dened by the following equations:
a) the tangential r-component,
Hr (z, r,

2 jm
)=
( )

h
f (x) exp x
d

 2

F2k ((r x), z)
k

k=0

k (r x))


j( ) exp



k=0

x J1

k2 + x2

r
x
d

)=

2 jm
( )

f (x) exp x
0

k F1k ((r x), z)

j( ) exp
k (r x))

d
PL (r, t) = 1

(k (1 z/d)) k sin

(10)

PM =

0 r
1
2
2
2
2
H2z
)+
(H1r
H2r
) ,
(r 1) (H1z
2
r

(11)

where H1 ,2z and H1 ,2r are normal z and tangential r components

of the magnetic eld intensities on the boundary surfaces of the
blank facing the inductor (index 1) and on the opposite side of the
blank (index 2). The surface density of forces has similar sense as
pressure: in case of electromagnetic attraction, it can be considered
as negative pressure.
The analysis for the expression (11) shows the following:
The magnetic metal sheet is subject to a force proportional to
the difference between the squares of the normal and tangential components of intensities on the boundaries of sheet metal.
This force is acting in the direction of the larger amplitude of the
magnetic eld unlike the Lorentz forces which have the opposite
direction.
In the regime when r  1, the acting force will be determined
by the normal components of the magnetic eld.
The formulated hypothesis on the nature of the change of the
direction of forces acting on the ferromagnetic sheet metal can
be quantied by adding the Lorentz-force (10) and the force (11)
caused by magnetic properties of the sheet metal blank being
deformed.

dx ,

j (z, r, t) Hr (z, r, t) dz.

The formula (10) added by expressions (6) and (8) is the solution
of the problem describing the Lorentz-forces acting in the vectornormal direction to the surface of the blank.
The surface density of forces caused by magnetic properties
of the thin sheet metal blank can be dened by the well known
method, which is based on the energy balance for sufciently small
volume of ferromagnetic metal in the magnetic eld (for example,
presented by Landau and Lifshitz, 1984):

PS (r, t) = 1



The obtained formulas (6), (8) and (9) describe the distributions
of the electric current and the magnetic eld in the workpiece as
functions of the exciting current. The space-time function of the
magnetic pressure acting on the conducting ferromagnetic sheet
metal can be written according to Landau and Lifshitz (1984) in the
following form:

(8)

F2k ((r x),

z) = (r x) cos
where
(k (1 z/d)),
b) the normal z-component,
Hz (z, r,

447

d
j (z, r, t) Hr (z, r, t)dz
0

2
2
H2z
)+
(H1z

(r 1)
2



1
2
2
(H1r
H2r
)
r

(12)

The expression (12) with the formulas (6), (8) and (9) is the full
solution of the stated problem.
4. Numerical examples

h
d

x2 J0 x

k2 + x2

r
d



dx
(9)

The numerical calculations were performed for an experimental

inductor system with the following parameters: the single turn coil
has R1 = 0.025 m and R1 = 0.03 m; the gap between the coil and the
sheet metal blank is h = 0.0005 m. The current distribution in the
coil along the radial coordinate was approximated by the following
function: F(r) = (r R1 ) (r R2 ).
In the conducted experiments, the time function of the inductor current density has the shape of an exponentially relaxing sine

448

Y.V. Batygin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 213 (2013) 444452

Fig. 2. The distribution of the distributed Lorentz forces PL and distributed forces of the magnetic attraction PM excited in the ferromagnetic sheet metal blank by a 2 kHz
discharge: (a) the phase function and (b) the distribution along the radial coordinate.

that is j (t) = jm e0 sin , where jm = Im /(R2 R1 ) is the amplitude of the current density, Im is the current amplitude, 0 is the
relative decrement of relaxation, = t is the phase, is the cyclic
frequency.
The electrical conductivity of the sheet metal blank was
assumed to be  = 0.4 107 1/( m), and its thickness was
d = 0.00075 m. The relative permeability value of r 2.5 was
dened based upon the data published by Turowski (1968) where
relative permeability was studied as a function of magnetic eld
intensity.
The electric current amplitude in the inductor was Im = 50 kA,
and the frequency in the pulse was f = 28 kHz. The relative damping coefcient was calculated as the damping coefcient divided
by the cyclic frequency and was equal to 0 = 0.3.
The excited forces were calculated using formula (10) for the
distributed Lorentz-forces PL (known as magnetic pressure); the

distributed forces of the magnetic attraction PM (the analog of the

magnetic pressure but in the opposite direction) were dened
based on formula (11); the distributed total forces acting on the
ferromagnetic metal sheet in the magnetic eld PS were calculated based on formula (12). Results of calculations are presented
in Figs. 24. Phase functions for distributed forces PL ( ) and PM ( )
are provided for radial coordinates where they have maximum values: PL ( ) for r 0.9R2 and PM ( ) for r 0.85R2 . Radial functions
for distributed forces PL (r) and PM (r) are provided for phases where
they have maximum values: PL (r) for 0.628 rad (when 2 kHz),
0.942 rad (when 8 kHz) and PM (r) for 1.256 rad (the same
when 2 kHz and 8kHz).
A special comment should be made regarding the negative
values of distributed Lorentz forces. For typical electromagnetic forming processes, distributed Lorentz forces are usually
repelling, which might raise some questions how they can become

Fig. 3. The distribution of forces excited in the ferromagnetic sheet metal blank by an 8 kHz discharge: (a) the phase function and (b) the distribution along the radial
coordinate.

Y.V. Batygin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 213 (2013) 444452

449

Fig. 4. The resulting distributed force being excited in the ferromagnetic sheet metal blank by a 2 kHz discharge: (a) the phase function and (sb) the distribution along the
radial coordinate, where the repelling forces are positive, and the attracting forces are negative.

attractive at certain moments of the process being studied in this

paper.
In general, the observed attraction effect can be explained in
the following way. During the rst half wave of the triggering current, eddy currents of the opposite sign are induced in the work
piece, according to Lenz law. However, after the rst half wave has
terminated, the triggering current in the tool coil changes its sign,
while the induced eddy currents in the work piece still persist for
a further moment. This leads to a situation, where the triggering
current in the work piece and the induced eddy currents ow in
the same direction. Since currents that ow in the same direction
attract each other, an attracting force prevails for a short moment,
until the reverted triggering current makes the induced currents
ow in the opposite direction again. In general, the attraction forces
happen at any frequency, but there effect can be experimentally
observed only at low frequencies. Therefore, there is a substantial
difference of frequency of discharge in traditional electromagnetic
forming processes and in the process studied in this paper. In traditional electromagnetic forming, a substantially higher frequency of
the discharge is employed to avoid electromagnetic eld diffusion
through the thickness of the blank. Belyy et al. (1977) recommends
to select the coil and pulse generator parameters to satisfy this
requirement of eld non-penetration. In this case, the ideal model
of interaction of external electromagnetic eld of the coil with an
ideal conductor is valid. Technically, from engineering accuracy
perspective, the current in the coil (Icoil ) and the current induced
in the blank (Iind ) are identical functions with time shift of 
and equal amplitudes Icoil Iind I. This statement is valid only
for rather slow quasi-stationary processes where all the transient
effects can be neglected, as it was indicated in the assumption 2.
Therefore, Lorentz distributed force taken into consideration as
an interaction of two opposite electrical currents (Ampers law)
is always positive: P Icoil Iind I2 > 0. However, if penetration
of the electromagnetic eld through the thickness takes place,
the function of the induced current is different from the current
/ Iind , and Lorentz distributed force dened as a
in the coil: Icoil =
product P Icoil Icoil =
/ I2 becomes an oscillating function of time
which has negative values at certain periods of time. It should be
noted that even at high frequencies Icoil Iind should change its
sign, since it takes some time before the induced eddy currents
in the tool coil change their direction after the triggering current
has done so due to eld diffusion. Moreover, the normal situation is that the sum of triggering current and eddy currents in the
inductor has an opposite sign to the currents induced in the work
piece.

It should be emphasized that even though the electromagnetic

attraction process needs to be substantially slower than traditional
electromagnetic forming process, it is still a dynamic process with
the load duration of under 500 s. Even though, the electromagnetic integrated attraction force is growing with the decrease of the
frequency and decrease of the Lorentz force, it should be stressed
that further decrease of frequency to a direct current process is
not feasible. According to obtained experimental data and analytical calculations, the electric current required to produce dent
removal is in the range of 40 kA while the dynamic force is approximately 50% higher than estimated quasistatic pressure (4 MPa vs.
2.4 MPa). Getting the direct current value at the level of 40 kA is
not technically feasible because such a process would consume
an amount of power that could impossibly be provided by a local
device. Therefore, a charging and discharging sequence is really
necessary to accumulate the electric energy inside the capacitors
and then quickly discharge it to the high voltage circuit.
The comparison of the calculation results permits to make some
preliminary conclusions.
For low frequency about 2 kHz, the integral action (in time!) of
magnetic forces on the ferromagnetic thin sheet metal blank is
prevailing over Lorentz forces, and, as a result, the sheet metal
blank is being attracted to the inductor.
When increasing frequency up to 8 kHz, the Lorentz-forces are
growing more than factor of three while the magnetic forces are
remaining unchanged. The integral action of the Lorentz-forces
becomes prevailing while the attraction forces are getting rather
small: the electromagnetic repelling pressure on the sheet metal
blank takes place.
The obtained results provide an explanation of physical nature
of the attraction forces which were demonstrated by decreasing
the frequency of the discharge. Increasing the frequency of the discharge caused the repelling pressure to dominate over attracting
forces. Conducted analysis of repelling and attracting forces indicated that
The maximums of attracting and repelling forces are shifted
in time, as it is shown in Fig. 2a: the magnetic attracting
force amplitude takes place at max , M 1.256 rad independent
upon frequency. The repelling forces achieve their maximum at
max , L 0.628 rad for 2 kHz and at max , L 0.942 rad for 8 kHz,
which is caused by the different shape of the function f of
induced currents vs. time.

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Y.V. Batygin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 213 (2013) 444452

Fig. 5. An average integral force acting on the thin-walled ferromagnetic sheet as a

function of the frequency of acting eld.

The maximums of attracting and repelling forces are applied to

different areas, as it can be seen in Fig. 2b: the radial maximum
of the repelling forces are located under the center of the turn;
the attracting forces achieve their maximum nearby the edge of
the turn.
Based on these considerations, it is benecial to add the calculations of the integral force as a function of the working frequencies.
It should be noted that in previous equations, the distributed force
has the meaning of pressure, while in the equation below the pressure is integrated along the surface of the blank and, therefore, has
a meaning of force. The resulting force was calculated through integration of pressure through the radial coordinate and time, and then
its value was averaged through the time period of the acting eld.
The results of calculations are presented in Fig. 5.
According to Fig. 5, reducing the discharge frequency below the
critical value of 6 kHz leads to a change of the direction of the
integrated force: below the marked critical frequency, a thin sheet
of ferromagnetic metal is being attracted to the inductor; above the
frequency of 6 kHz, the sheet metal blank is being repelled by the
inductor.
This approach is really an engineering estimate convenient for
practical calculations. It attempts to replace the integration of solid
mechanics equation of motion coupled with a numerical solution of
the Maxwell equations. Such a numerical approach would provide
the oscillations of the sheet metal blank driven by attracting magnetic forces and repelling/attracting Lorentz forces. Obviously, the
simplied approach can never fully replace the numerical solution
of the problem with a substantially less number of assumptions.
Comparing the results of the numerical solution and the simplied analytical solution would be an interesting development of this
work for the future.
In addition, it should be emphasized that for the EMF processes
employing ferromagnetic sheet metal blanks of low electrical conductivity with relatively slow electric discharges, the magnetic
forces should be taken into account in order to achieve correct
representation of electromagnetic forces applied to the blank. Calibration of Advanced High Strength steels with EMF processes
discussed by Iriondo et al. (2011) can be one of such examples.

Fig. 6. Laboratory pulse generator for EMF attraction processes with maximum
charging voltage of 2 kV and accumulated energy of 2 kJ capable of producing multiple pulses repeating with frequency of 3.5 Hz. 1, pulsed current transformer; 2,
sheet metal samples; 3, pulse generator and 4, control panel.

5. Experimental validation
Experiments were performed using a laboratory pulse generator (Fig. 6) capable of producing multiple pulses repeating with
frequency of 3.5 Hz. The capacitors were charged to 1800 V corresponding to accumulated energy in a single discharge of 2 kJ.
The pulse generator has the internal frequency f0 7 kHz and
the internal inductance L0 430 109 H. A single turn massive
inductor with the internal diameter of 40 mm was connected to the
pulse generator via a current pulse transformer with the coefcient
of transformation of 5. The discharge frequency was measured as
1.9 kHz. The amplitude of electric current owing through the coil
was 38 kA. The Deep Drawing Quality (DDQ) steel samples possess
a thickness of 0.8 mm. The DDQ steel samples of at sheet were
positioned next to the single turn coil shown in Fig. 7. The samples were insulated from the coil with 1 mm layer of insulation.
Initially at samples were bulged by attraction inside the window
of the single turn coil. The bulge was axisymmetric and had the
maximum height of 1.5 mm at the symmetry axis of the coil.
Assuming that the bulge can be approximated as a spherical
arc, the equivalent quasi static pressure which would form such a
bulge can be calculated using the analytical formulas for a circular
diaphragm provided by Johnson and Mellor (1962). The radius of
the spherical arc was calculated as R = a (1 + (h/a)2 ) a/2h, where
a = 20 mm is half of the diameter of the bulged circular diaphragm,
and h = 1.5 mm is maximum height of the bulge. Based on these calculations, it was dened that R = 134 mm. The quasi static uniform
bulge pressure was estimated for a exible circular diaphragm as
p=

2 YS t
,
R

where YS is the yield stress of 200 MPa, t = 0.8 mm, and R = 134 mm.
The quasistatic attracting pressure can be estimated as p = 2.4 MPa.
From this estimate, it is obvious that an electromagnetic attraction process can develop substantially larger attraction pressure
than the vacuum dent removal discussed by Borchert (2003),
where pressure is limited to 0.1 MPa (atmospheric pressure). The

Y.V. Batygin et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 213 (2013) 444452

451

6. Potential applications of the EMF attraction process

Fig. 7. A single turn coil employed in the EMF attraction experiments for ferromagnetic sheet metals.

described electromagnetic attraction process provides the attraction pressure factor of 24 larger than atmospheric pressure.
The proposed estimate of the quasi static pressure necessary
to form the bulge can be used as an engineering estimate of the
necessary electromagnetic pressure. In Fig. 4, the amplitude of the
attracting pressure was estimated as 4 MPa, which is an indication
that some more bulging could be done at such a level of attracting
pressure.
After the initial bulge was produced on a at blank using the
described process of electromagnetic attraction, it was ipped over,
and then the dent removal process was physically simulated by
pulling the bulge back with the electromagnetic attraction process. The dent removal process resulted in reduction of the bulge
height of a factor of three. Further improvement of the process can
be accomplished by reducing the frequency of the discharge even
lower and also by increasing the energy of the discharge. The sample of DDQ steel after producing the initial dent on the at sheet
by the electromagnetic attraction process is shown as N1 in Fig. 8.
The result of dent removal is illustrated as N2 in Fig. 8, which was
produced by ipping the sample over and then removing the dent
by repeating the attraction process.

1) The EMF attraction process can be employed for the dent repair
procedures, as it was described in the literature review. The version of the EMF attraction process described above substantially
simplies the requirements to the EMF equipment: two frequencies of an interrupted discharge are not necessary anymore. It
requires a rather slow single frequency low voltage electric discharge which enables usage of cheaper and longer life capacitors,
substantially reduces the safety implications and also extends
the life of the coil insulation.
2) EMF attraction processes may offer additional capabilities to
traditional sheet metal forming operations. The attempts to distribute the strains in sheet metal blanks more uniformly during
stamping operations often require to introduce a third action
of the press or an additional preforming operation, as it was
described by Golovashchenko et al. (2011). The preforming operation can be combined with the drawing process by positioning
the attraction EMF coil inside the punch and stretching a portion
of the blank which usually does not undergo any plastic deformation. As it was indicated by Golovashchenko et al. (2011), this
approach can lower the level of maximum strains in the stamped
blank.
3) The EMF attraction process can also offer the capability of personalizing of mass produced products. For example, custom
feature lines, shapes or imprints can be formed on mass produced cars and trucks taking advantage of the EMF attraction
process as a truly single sided forming process. A substantial
advantage of this process is that it does not damage the paint on
a class A surface of the vehicle.
7. Conclusions
1. The suggested EMF attraction process can deform ferromagnetic
sheet metal materials such as low carbon steels using low frequency discharges.
2. The analytical model based upon the solution of Maxwell equations explains that magnetic forces are prevailing over the
Lorentz forces for low frequency discharges.
3. For relatively slow EMF processes applied to ferromagnetic sheet
metal blanks of low electrical conductivity, the magnetic forces
should be taken into account in order to achieve a correct representation of electromagnetic forces applied to the blank.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data associated with this article can be
found, in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
jmatprotec.2012.10.003.
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Fig. 8. A sample of DDQ steel sheet after electromagnetic attraction experiments:

No. 1, the sample after producing the dent on the at sheet by the electromagnetic
attraction process; No. 2, after removing the dent by repeating the attraction process
after ipping the sample over.

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